Athletes have to burnout their body to the large extent due to regular matches and training. They are always on go. The longer and harder exercise regime without adequate sleep, nutrition and recovery becomes taxing on their physical health. The continuous wear and tear of muscles backfires and decreases performance levels. The result is origin of overtraining syndrome.  Before the condition gets worse, and result into both physical and psychological deterioration, it is important to consider the warning signs of overtraining syndrome:

1. Excessive fatigue:Buddy you haven’t been taken a rest from a longer period of time, and we are sure your body must be aching. That’s excessive fatigue where legs are expected to be heavy at times. When the body’s energy is totally consumed, it starts pulling off the fuel from its own energy houses (Carbohydrates, proteins & fats). This result into tiredness and you may usually feel sleepy.
2. Elevated heartbeat: Do you face the abnormally elevated heart rate all day long or during exercise? Clearly overtraining Syndrome is taking a toll on your body. The signal becomes clearer when; it takes longer for you to return to normal state after a workout. The continuous high heart beat makes a person difficult to concentrate on Sports, hence it becomes important to get rid of the overtraining syndrome.
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   3. Insomnia: Night time is about rejuvenation and repair. But, you won’t be able to enjoy this privilege if there is an overproduction of stress hormones. It does not allow the one to have sound sleep time. If your night time is spent off tossing and turning. And when you get up in morning, you feel not even an iota of freshness. Chances are you are suffering from overtraining syndrome. Sleep ideally offers the body time to rest and repair itself. But lack of it infuses lethargy and may germinate the seed of overtraining syndrome.
3. No more hunger pangs: The rule is more training, more appetite. However, with overtraining syndrome, the result is opposite; in spite of rigorous training and workout regime, the satiety mechanism gets adverse and affect hunger badly. The hormonal imbalance caused due to overtraining syndrome often lands up to appetite suppression.
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   5. Agitation and mood swings: Overtraining syndrome hits stress hormones including epinephrine and cortisol badly. And the result is unusual continuous irritability and difficulty to concentrate.
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   6. Chronic injuries: Overtraining syndrome magnet more infections and leads to low bone mineral density with decreased testosterone levels. Overused muscle and joints cause constant aches and joint pain. If the pain does not get subside within two weeks, then it must be considered as a notable injury. It denotes that it’s a peak time to overcome overtraining syndrome, before it leads to further injuries.
4. Psychological stress: No doubt, long term energy loss lowers cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous and reproductive systems. But, its adverse affects can also be seen psychologically. A person suffering from overtraining syndrome may often feel depressed and frustrated without any particular reason. Not only this, he may also feel sense of hopelessness and mind gets filled with negativity.
5. Decreased performance: Overtraining syndrome leads to decreased agility, endurance and strength that also lead to slower reaction time and running speed. And the result is decreased match performance.
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   ‍Being an athlete, rests can be frustrating, but taking a rest of 1 or 2 day(s) in a week is far better than spending days in a hospital bed. The rest period would not only results into greater productivity, but would also gift you better fitness. Rest mode is must for athletes, make most of it!

‍Special thanks to Dr Sudeep Satpathy – The Sports Medicine Physician of Badminton World Federation for sharing his knowledge regarding Overtraining Syndrome.