Overtraining in Parkour
�En avance toujours.� During a hard training session, we�ve all brought this phrase, or a similar English facsimile, to mind. As it is our quest to constantly progress, we must always push ourselves to advance. This means that with every training we must focus on looking at our current selves and how we can move just one step past it. In this process, we may sometimes press too hard and for too long. When we�ve crossed the practical threshold, our bodies let us know. We�ll come home with a new niggling injury, movement may be impossible the next day, or at worst we�ll develop a dreaded case of tendonitis. Certain intangible problems can also quietly arise when effort isn�t properly managed; sleep may become difficult, you may become moody and unstable, the mind can suffer just as much as the body! So what exactly happens once we�ve ignored warnings and over-trained? Not surprisingly, it bears the name Over-training Syndrome.
Over-training Syndrome (OTS) is best described as the result of subjecting your body to long periods of physical duress without providing sufficient recovery time. This can take place in a single day, or over the course of many days and weeks of poorly planned training.(1) The important thing to remember is that the longer you over train, the longer it takes to recover. It is also of equal importance not to confuse OTS with delayed onset muscle soreness.(2) After any good session, one should expect a certain amount of discomfort or pain the following day. Those who have been active for a longer period of time will experience less pain than someone new. If at this point you are questioning that pain in your lats, don�t worry; minute muscle pain is a constant throughout the community. It is our goal as traceurs learn when this pain is unwelcome, to learn how to differentiate between when hard work and over-work. With this in mind, we reach the first of three points critical to preventing OTS: knowing how to identify our limits.
From experience, OTS usually appears after successive training sessions involving similar exercises and little diversity. This could vary from spending a week working exclusively on climb-ups to a regime that primarily focuses on drops. During each session we inevitably tear muscle, bump bones, and stretch and abuse soft tissue in the process of safe progression. Problems only begin to arise when these small tears and bruises are repeatedly traumatised without suitable time to repair or adjustment. This results in a decrease in performance and introduces a very complex dynamic to training.(3) Since, as traceurs, we are obsessed with improvement, it�s compelling to work past the pain. However, once you�ve over-trained this becomes impossible. That deep pain in your elbow may seem like a simple obstacle preventing you from 10 muscle-ups in a row, when in reality it�s the joint being stressed beyond practical boundaries. Your ability will only decrease if you haven�t been paying proper attention to your body. Knowing how to spot the break between enough and too much will prevent damage.
If you�ve forgotten or don�t know your limits, identifying when you�ve over-trained may be difficult. A quick diagnosis is difficult since medical community has listed over 200 mental and physical symptoms of over training. OTS is even more puzzling when one considers that many of the symptoms and effects are identical to those elicited from intelligently altering your training to force improvement(4). If soreness and a performance decrease are encountered, you should expect both areas to improve after a period of rest or active recovery.(5) If your condition doesn�t improve, you�ve likely over-trained. As a result, extra rest is required and your regime must be altered.(6)
To avoid OTS, intelligently planning one�s trainings is paramount. At the core, training regimes must include a warm up, full body exercises (such as tree climbing and quadrupedal movement), and a cool down period. The warm up prepares the body for the rigours of training and the cool down relaxes it. The full-body exercises employ a large number of muscles and allow it to move in a variable fashion. Movements are uniform but allow for stresses to be spread throughout the body, not allowing the same tissues and joints to be overused and quickly over stressed. Keep in mind; these exercises are not a catchall. Too much of any exercise or stretch will result in injury. It is integral to know what feels right and what feels wrong before you commit to any serious regime.
Lastly, there is an important evaluation that should be made before every training. Before setting your resolve to begin the day�s struggle, you should make an attempt to thoroughly evaluate your body. French Traceur Stephane Vigroux has stated that before training he would make a general survey of his body, finding what areas were strong and what areas were weak. If his lower body did not feel right he would train his upper body and vice versa. To expand, it would be safe to assume that if nothing felt right, some light exercise and stretches would be sufficient for that day. What we can take from these last few paragraphs are the final two points critical to preventing OTS; know your body and know when to rest.
With these three, �knows,� the risks of over-training decrease exponentially. For those of you who are just beginning Parkour, it is of utmost importance to allow your body to adjust to its stresses by conditioning extensively.(7) Tips can be found on our forums and questions can be answered by our many members. There is a mass of likeminded people in this community who are willing to give both online and in person advice without the slightest hesitation. By starting slow and properly preparing your body we become able to last and advance far more efficiently than if we hadn�t. To everyone, know your limits, know your body, and know when to rest. Train Hard.
Most common symptoms of OTS (8 )
- Underperformance/Usual workouts feel more difficult
- Muscle weakness/Early fatigue during workouts
- Chronic fatigue
- Faster heart rate with less effort
- Constant sore muscles
- Increased perceived exertion during exercise/Physical challenges seem too hard
- Reduced motivation
- Sleep disturbance
- Increased early morning or sleeping heart rate
- Loss of appetite
- Gastrointestinal disturbance
- Frequent colds or infections
- Feelings of irritation or anger
- Difficulty concentrating
1. Christopher J. Hawley and Robert B. Sch�ne, �Overtraining Syndrome Why Training too Hard, too Long, Doesn't Work� The Physician and Sportsmedicine, Vol. 31, No. 6. (June 2003)
2. DOMS � Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
3. Michael Gleeson, �Biomechanical and Immunological Markers of Over-Training� Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, Vol. 11. No. 2
4. Gleeson
5. Hawley, Courtenay Schurman, Active Recovery,
6. Gleeson
7. Overuse Knee Injuries,
8. Gleeson, Hawley
-Ken