Overtraining: what it is, and what it usually isn’t

“Overtraining” gets used for any week that felt hard. In sports science it means something narrower. This page covers what the term means, how it differs from a normal hard stretch, what studies of lifters found, and how to plan so it doesn’t come up.

Overreaching vs overtraining

A 2013 joint consensus statement from the European College of Sport Science and the American College of Sports Medicine describes a range:¹

• Functional overreaching: a short-term drop in performance after hard training that leads to an improvement after recovery. ¹
• Non-functional overreaching: what can occur when the balance between training and recovery isn’t respected.¹
• Overtraining syndrome: a prolonged maladaptation that involves several systems of the body, not only a tired muscle.¹

Telling the last two apart depends on how things turn out and on ruling other causes out. The statement says diagnosis involves excluding organic disease and infection, and that no single marker yet meets all the criteria to detect it.¹ That’s a doctor’s job, not a checklist on a web page.

What studies of lifters found

• The syndrome is rarely shown. A 2020 systematic review of overtraining in resistance exercise found 22 studies. Twelve reported a drop in performance, eight of them with follow-up testing, and ten reported none. The authors concluded that few studies had properly established overreaching or overtraining syndrome in resistance training.²
• Many reported an unexplained drop. In a 2021 international survey of 605 competitive athletes in sports with a large resistance-training component, about 71% said they had had a drop in performance they couldn’t explain, and general fatigue was the symptom reported most often.³ The authors noted that fatigue has many dimensions and varies between people, which makes it hard to name symptoms that reliably point to overreaching or overtraining.³

So a slump is worth paying attention to, and lifting research has rarely established it as the syndrome. Check the plan, the sleep and the rest of life first.

How to keep the balance

The consensus statement’s core advice is that training needs overload but must “avoid the combination of excessive overload plus inadequate recovery.”¹ In practice, for people who lift a few days a week:

• Add load a little at a time. Progressive overload means small steps, not a jump in sets, weight and days in the same week.
• Stop most sets short of failure. Reps in reserve is the simplest way to keep effort high without grinding every set.
• Keep real rest days. Rest days covers how many and where they go.
• Plan easier weeks. A deload week is a planned lighter week, not a sign something went wrong.
• Protect sleep. Sleep and muscle growth covers what short nights did in lab studies.
• Log your lifts. A workout log shows a slump as a pattern across weeks instead of a feeling on one day.

These are practical habits, not a treatment. If you feel worn out for weeks even with extra rest, your performance keeps falling, or you feel unwell, see a doctor. I’m a fitness coach, not a doctor.

Common questions

Can you overtrain lifting weights?

In the 2020 review of resistance exercise, few studies properly established overreaching or overtraining syndrome.² If your lifts slip, start with rest, sleep and the plan, and see a doctor if that doesn’t help.

What’s the difference between overreaching and overtraining?

Functional overreaching is a short dip after hard training that turns into progress after recovery. Overtraining syndrome is a prolonged maladaptation, diagnosed only after other causes are ruled out.¹

Am I overtraining if I’m sore all the time?

Soreness after hard sessions is common; muscle soreness covers what it is and how long it usually lasts. If it never fades, look at the plan first, and see a doctor if you also feel unwell.

Do I need a whole week off?

Not usually. An extra rest day or a lighter week is the first step; a deload week shows how. If a lighter week doesn’t help, talk to a doctor.

If you’d rather not plan it alone

Getting the dose right is the hard part of training: enough to progress, not so much that the weeks start going backwards. A weekly check-in is where that gets adjusted. Coaching with weekly check-ins explains how it works, and apply tells me where you’re starting.