This is a guest post by Melvin Wong, Founder of Qoach and FanXT (Acquired), mentor of AngelHack and The South Bay Entrepreneurial Center in Los Angeles. Global business experience in 17 countries. Enter Melvin,
The mental and physical demands that are usually placed on players during soccer training can lead to diminished performance. Undergoing prolonged and heavy soccer training may bring about something called overtraining syndrome, burnout or staleness. Additionally, having too many games done within a very short period can lead to poor performance and could increase the chances of injury and illness. The article will look at the various symptoms or signs of overtraining and the causes behind it.
The Causes
Overtraining occurs when the given recovery time is not enough, and the player continues to train beyond the body’s ability to recover. Furthermore, the physiological adaption to the exercise tends to stop. Therefore, when the player tries too hard to improve his performance the physical trauma and stress experienced will be much faster than the body’s ability to repair the damage. For a chronically overtrained athlete, having a decline of 15 percent in their physical performance is not that uncommon. The mains causes of overtraining have been listed below.
Energy depletion – If the player has inadequate carbohydrate intake over a long period, it could cause fatigue. Lack of adequate vitamins, protein and minerals and the insufficient intake of fluids can affect the energy levels of the player, and the body’s capacity to effectively regenerate.
Training - If the player has inadequate recovery time, this is between the matches and the soccer training; it will not allow the body’s regenerative process to take place adequately. Additionally, having the excessively high-intensity type of training, intense strength training or a sudden change in the exercise load could also cause problems.
Psychological and social factors – Various types of factors could also be a leading cause of overtraining syndromes such as a loss of drive, confidence and motivation typically called “burnout”. Furthermore, anxiety could lead the player to psychological staleness. A player who feels they are not meeting their intended goal could train harder, and this could increase the risk of overtraining.
The signs to be aware of
An overtrained soccer player will suffer from prolonged physical and mental fatigue and will underperform in both the competition and soccer training. Both the psychological and physiological problems could occur, which in turn leads to the diminishing performance levels of the individual. In this situation, the player will be struggling to keep up with the squad and would require a greater amount of time to recover; as a result, their technical skills could also suffer.
Some physiological signs you would need to be aware of:
l Fluctuations in their blood pressure
l Having elevated morning heart rate, during and after exercises as well as at rest
l Experiencing chronic muscle soreness or having a weak feeling in their muscle
l Excessive sweating
l Increased and frequent susceptibility to illness and infections
l Weight loss or some fluctuation in weight
l Having poor concentration
l Chronic fatigue
l Gastrointestinal disturbances, this is having nausea and diarrhoea
l Experiencing some hormonal changes, such as cortisol-testosterone ratio
l Headaches
There is no single psychological or physiological component that could indicate a player is overtrained. However, when they symptoms are considered together give a fair picture of whether the player could be suffering from overtraining or if they are approaching the stages.
About Author
Melvin Wong
Founder of Qoach (http://qoach.co) and FanXT (acquired). He’s now on the mission to discover the next soccer champion by using online soccer training methodology. He’s a mentor at AngelHack and South Bay Entrepreneurial Center in Los Angeles and has business experience in 17 countries