What does overtraining mean?
Overtraining is the condition that results when someone trains more intensely or continuously than their body or performance can recover from. It is especially common in competitive sport, athletics, and animal training, but the term can also describe excessive preparation in other demanding activities. Symptoms may include persistent fatigue, declining performance, disturbed sleep, irritability, frequent illness, and increased susceptibility to injury. Overtraining differs from ordinary exercise fatigue: the latter usually improves with rest, whereas the effects of overtraining can persist and may require a substantial reduction in workload or a longer recovery period. The concept is also associated with the principle of progressive overload, which encourages gradual increases in training rather than sudden or excessive ones. Although the word often implies physical strain, it can be used metaphorically for situations in which excessive practice, preparation, or workload undermines performance rather than improving it.
nounExcessive training that leaves a person fatigued, injured, or performing below their expected level. It may also refer to the condition or effects resulting from such training.
- The condition of having trained excessively, resulting in fatigue, reduced performance, or injury.
- The act of training an athlete or animal more intensely or for longer than is beneficial.
"After weeks of escalating mileage without adequate recovery, she realized that she had crossed the line into overtraining."
"The coach reduced the team's workload because several athletes were showing signs of overtraining."
"In animal training, overtraining can make a previously cooperative subject less responsive and less willing to perform."
The plural is grammatical but uncommon; overtraining is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The report noted repeated overtrainings during the competitive season."
More training is not always better: pushing beyond the body's ability to recover can undo the very gains the training was meant to produce.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does overtraining come from?
Overtraining is a modern English compound formed by combining the prefix over- with training. The prefix over- has long been used to indicate an excessive degree or amount, while training derives from train, a word with roots in the practice of drawing or guiding. The compound became established especially in athletic and scientific contexts as research into workload, recovery, and performance developed during the twentieth century.
Related word forms
How overtraining is actually used
Most common in sports, exercise science, and animal training, where it denotes training beyond the point at which it is productive or safe. It is also used more broadly for excessive preparation in other demanding fields. As a count noun, it is uncommon; the word is normally used in the mass.