Immunological aspects of overtraining syndrome

Intensified training is a widely accepted approach to improving athletic performance. To achieve consistently high performance, athletes require a balance between training and recovery. Without adequate recovery and muscle rest, an athlete may progress from optimal training to overreaching and, ultimately, to overtraining syndrome, which negatively affects physical health and performance.

The issue of overtraining syndrome remains an underexplored area in sports medicine. Monitoring of pre-competition training is crucial for adjusting training programs. Various physiological and biochemical markers are commonly used to assess athletic conditioning. Changes in these markers help coaches and athletes understand physical status and training effects as they reflect muscle condition, endurance, fatigue, and inflammation response in tissues. However, the sensitivity of individual biomarkers in detecting overtraining is limited, and reference ranges for different training levels are not clearly defined. Systematic assessment of pre-competition preparation and diagnosis of overtraining syndrome remain challenging as the factors, signs/symptoms, and mechanisms of maladaptation are individualized, sport-specific, and understudied. Thus, identification of biomarkers that could aid in monitoring athletic conditioning and preventing and diagnosing overtraining syndrome is a critical research objective.