The select few people that have read these Schaudt Out’s know that I always include the hashtag #TrainBIG at some point in the post (solely inspired by Cyrus). It is true that to be great at your sport you need an extraordinary work ethic, but can you #TrainTooBIG? The answer is yes.

Overtraining is defined as the excessive frequency, volume, or intensity of training that results in extreme fatigue, illness, or injury. This is not to be confused with overreaching, which is excessive training on a short-term basis. Overreaching can be much easier to recover from and therefore is commonly implemented in training programs. Overreaching for too long can lead to the slow excruciating athletic performance death that is overtraining

The most frequent prelude to overtraining is the steepness of the progression in the volume and intensity (most of the times both) of workouts over several weeks or months. Dedicated single-sport preadolescent and adolescent athletes that have not fully developed can easily fall in this category when an overzealous coach is at the helm.

The best medicine for overtraining is that beautiful four letter word: REST! Taking time to properly rest may be difficult for perfectionist athletes in particular, but can increase your performance substantially in the long run (XC pun intended).

For any of you current athletes that are reading this and are now convinced that your coach is 110% most definitely overworking you, let me remind you that there is a thing called periodization and a coach that uses it effectively will know to push you hard at certain parts of the year to make you better at other parts…so for the sake of your lactic acid threshold, do your research before stomping into his/her office.

This Schaudt Out topic was recommended by fellow coach, former teammate and friend, Becca Rhodes. If you would like to recommend a topic please let me know and remember…#TrainBIG + #RestBIG = #WinBIG!

Schaudt is out!