Di: 0:01

Welcome back to the Bodyholic with Di podcast. Today we're going to get into the spectrum of post-workout fatigue. So I want us to get into understanding the body's response to intense exercise. Welcome to Bodyholic with Di. No fads, just facts. I'm Dee and I'm here to help you ditch the noise and build a life you love. Let's go. Oh, but wait, I'm not a doctor, so use your common sense. Now let's dive in.

Di: 0:32

You know that familiar ache. Everybody knows that fatigue that settles in after a challenging workout, so that, if you're like me and a lot of people, I know that can be a rewarding sensation, like a testament to effort and the precursor to increased strength and endurance. You'll hear people say, like my muscles are singing right. This post-exercise discomfort typically signifies that the body has been pushed and is now in the process of adapting, so it's a positive thing. Now, today, what I want us to do is focus on the. I want us to learn to discern between this beneficial fatigue that I just described and signals the red flags that indicate the body is under excessive stress, and understanding the nuances of different states of post-exercise fatigue, including functional overreaching. We're going to get into that. Non-functional overreaching also overtraining syndrome and delayed onset muscle soreness. Understanding the nuances is paramount for optimizing training regimens and preventing potential setbacks and ensuring long-term athletic well-being. So the first thing we need to do is decode the terminology.

Di: 2:02

All right, so let's get into FOR, which is functional overreaching. For is a planned and strategic increase in training volume or intensity over a very short period of time. You're intentionally pushing the body beyond its usual limits, so this is a deliberate overload that leads to a temporary decline. All right, so, like you know this in advance, a decline in athletic performance and an increase in fatigue. Increase in fatigue this strategy is often employed by competitive athletes as a calculated risk to elicit after that greater physiological adaptations. The key characteristic for FOR, for functional overload and this is really important is that it is followed by a period of adequate rest and recovery, and this actually allows this is what allows the body to adapt to the increased stress. This adaptation process culminates in what is called super compensation where performance, super compensation where performance. Not only does it return to the original baseline level, but it actually surpasses it, hopefully resulting in improved athletic capabilities. Okay, so the intended decrease in performance during the overreaching phase is therefore short-lived, with a return to baseline or, hopefully, an improvement typically observed actually in just a few days.

Di: 3:58

All right, it's a pretty short period of time. So implementing functional overreaching involves usually a significant increase in training volume, potentially as high as 40 to 50% above the athlete's normal load, and just for a very brief duration, so typically no more than one week. Sometimes you can hit two weeks, but typically you don't want to push more than one week. Sometimes you can hit two weeks, but typically you don't want to push more than one week. And following this high volume period is the return to athletes, a custom training load which allows the accumulated fatigue to dissipate and pave the way for super compensation. And, by the way, it could even be less than that. It can be a little bit more of a rest than just going back to baseline. And it's important I want us to note this that for effective, the effectiveness of functional overreaching is super reliant on the subsequent recovery period. Without sufficient rest, the athletes actually just go right ahead and risk progressing into a state of non-functional overreaching, which we'll get to in a minute, which is not what we want. Um FOR, as opposed to NFOR, can lead to performance improvements. Some evidence actually suggests that the super compensation achieved might be less pronounced compared to adaptations resulting from managing fatigue without inducing a performance decrement. So the physiological adaptations that occur during FOR extend beyond just the muscular system, involving neurological, structural and hormonal changes as the body strives to meet this new and increased demand.

Di: 6:02

Now, when the demolition lingers, that is called non-functional overreaching, nfor. Nfor represents a state where there's a very delicate balance between training, stress and recovery. The balance is disrupted, often arising from inadequate recovery following the period of functional overreaching. So in NFOR, the fatigue experienced is prolonged and it's noticeable, and there's a sustained and this is the biggie the sustained decrease in athletic performance occurs. Unlike functional overreaching, where performance rebounds relatively quickly, the recovery from NFOR takes significantly longer, often requiring weeks and, in really nasty cases, months of reduced training or complete rest.

Di: 7:14

So let's take it a step further. Nfor can be accompanied also by disturbances in mood and psychological wellbeing-being, including things like anxiety and depression and increased irritability. So I want you to look at this as a critical warning sign that the training load is exceeding the body's capacity to recover and it is now becoming counterproductive. So physiological markers such as changes in heart rate recovery, heart rate variability and decreased sleep quality may also be the big indication of NFOR, and it's important to recognize that NFOR exists actually on a continuum with and here's another biggie overtraining syndrome, ots, and it actually NFOR can be. What I'm saying is NFOR can be a precursor to OTS, which is a much more severe condition if the imbalance between stress and recovery persists and goes on and on. And that is why I'm here recording it, because early identification can really push you to rest properly and achieve your goals and prevent from just extreme progression into NFOR or OTS or NFOR2 OTS. So you want to monitor your training load and the body's response is essential because you want to minimize the risk of non-functional overreaching right, so you're paying attention to fatigue that can last for weeks, all the way to months.

Di: 9:17

Prolonged and intensified training without sufficient recovery can also lead to a stagnation or a decrease even in performance. This is another characteristic. And also, if recovery is inadequate, the intended benefits of pushing training limits are completely lost. So we're not getting anywhere, we're going backwards, and the athlete will also often find him or herself in a state where their body is just constantly struggling to adapt. Okay, so that's the demolition. When the demolition goes wrong, all right. Now let's talk about the absolute abyss. Okay, ots, overtraining syndrome, bis, okay, ots overtraining syndrome.

Di: 10:14

This represents the most severe and chronic form of training-induced stress. It's characterized basically by a persistent and debilitating cluster of symptoms that can have long, long-lasting consequences. So how to get to OTS? It's because you are in a prolonged imbalance between the high training loads and the insufficient recovery, and it often involves also the complex interplay of factors beyond just physical exertion. This includes psychological stressors, inadequate nutrition, underlying illnesses, insufficient sleep and all kinds of environmental conditions.

Di: 11:00

The hallmark of OTS is a significant and prolonged decline in athletic performance that persists despite continued or even increasing training efforts. The spectrum of symptoms associated with OTS is super broad, all right, so let's get into it so you can recognize these flags. It can include chronic and unremitting fatigue, just constantly, or persistent muscle and joint pain, or increased susceptibility to infections and illnesses, and disturbances and sleeve patterns Insomnia is another red flag. Or just waking up and feeling unrefreshed constantly If you have changes in appetite, changes in your weight, hormonal imbalances like high cortisol, high testosterone and growth hormone or low, just complete disarray and a range of psychological disturbances like depression and anxiety and irritability and a loss of motivation. Or you might just hate training at one point, even though you're training but you might just hate training at that point.

Di: 12:22

So recovery from OTS is more elongated than the non-functional overreaching. It could even go from months to years of rest and careful management, which actually usually necessitates and I would highly advise going for professional medical intervention in this case Also for professional medical intervention in this case, also using the professional medical intervention already in the NFOR in order to, you know, make sure you're on track and recovering properly. So, and, by the way, I just want to say that OTS can absolutely lead to the end of an athlete's career, and diagnosing OTS is actually pretty complicated. So it requires a thorough medical evaluation to really rule out any other underlying conditions that actually might be similar in terms of the symptoms. So you want to recognize a diverse physical, mental and emotional warning sign or all these different signs, because they are crucial for early detection of OTS.

Di: 13:44

And so if we kind of get into a comparative analysis and really understanding the key differences between functional overreaching, non-functional overreaching and overtraining syndrome, the comparison and understanding, it is so crucial for athletes and for coaches to really navigate the complexities of training and recovery, that super important balance, and these three states that we just talked about basically represent a continuum in the body's response to functional stress, to training stress. So again, functional overreaching is a planned and relatively short-lived state that, with proper recovery, leads to positive, fantastic adaptations. And then non-functional overreaching occurs when the stress exceeds the body's ability to recover and that results in prolonged fatigue and performance decrements. If this state is ignored and training continues without adequate recovery, it can progress to the more severe overtraining syndrome, the OTS, which is characterized by chronic symptoms and significantly longer recovery periods. The crucial factor determining the progression along this continuum is the adequacy of recovery in relation to training load. All right, so I want us to also get into the post-workout buzzkill, even though some people don't think it's a buzzkill. So delayed onset, muscle soreness, doms let's make sure that we cover this as well and understand the difference between this and everything we just talked about.

Di: 15:49

Doms is a common experience for individuals who engage in physical activity, particularly after strenuous or and this is really important to understand unaccustomed exercise. So you know, you've got the muscle pain and the stiffness that typically develops 12 to 24 hours after exercise, with the peak soreness actually occurring between 24 and 72 hours post activity, and the symptoms will generally resolve within four to seven days Okay, four to seven days and you are technically good to go. Common symptoms of DOMS you know the muscle stiffness, the pain when you're moving Sometimes I'm just like I need help getting off the toilet, you know maybe even localized swelling. There could be a temporary reduction in range of motion and there, you know, obviously there could be a short term. Short term, that's the key decrease in muscle strength.

Di: 16:59

And the primary cause of DOMS is well, it used to be believed that it is microscopic tears in muscle fibers that result from the mechanical stress of exercise, specifically on the eccentric contractions, like where the muscle lengthens. So if I'm doing a bicep curl, it's when I'm bringing the hand down and away from the shoulder. So the microtrauma triggers the inflammatory response within the muscle tissue and this is actually why there's the pain, not the actual tears. It's basically the body's response and it could also just be, you know, the. What you're feeling is actually everything that's going on in your body in order to recover the muscle and adapt to what you just threw at it. So the lactic acid burn, by the way, is typically let's get into that because that's a common question is typically cleared up from the muscles within an hour after exercise and actually it is not correlated to the delayed onset to the DOMS.

Di: 18:17

And if you want to really manage the DOMS symptoms, of course you need to include rest. And what's really interesting is light active recovery. Um, what's really interesting is light active recovery? Uh, you can also applicate. You can do the application of heat and cold.

Di: 18:36

Essentially, domes is uncomfortable, but it's also generally considered a positive physiological sign. It's the indication that your muscles are adapting and becoming stronger in response to the exercise stimulus. So the predictable and relatively short timeline of DOMS, that is the key distinction from the more prolonged fatigue and performance decrements that we see in the things like non-functional overreaching and overtraining syndrome and repeated exposure to a specific exercise, by the way. So you know you, you often domes comes from the fact that we are just not familiar with the exercise. So repeated exposure reduces the domes response. That's called a repeating bout effect. That just goes to highlight the muscles adaptive capacity. It's also important to understand that domes is not actually associated with long-term muscle damage or reduced muscle function.

Di: 19:56

All right, okay, now we're going to get into the unsung hero, the super crucial role of sleep in recovery. Sleep, my friends, plays a vital and often underestimated role in facilitating muscle recovery and repair processes after exercise. So during sleep, the body actively engages in numerous physiological responses that are absolutely essential for muscle regeneration and adaptation. One of the most significant of these processes is this is so important is the release of human growth hormone, known as HGH, which peaks during deep sleep and is critical for repairing damaged muscle fibers and building new muscle tissue. Sleep also actually enhances the protein synthesis, which is the process by which the body repairs and builds muscle proteins, and that way ensures that the micro tears caused by exercise are effectively addressed, like the point of the exercise happens when you're sleeping. And there's also the muscle glycogen stores, where the primary source of energy for muscle contractions during exercise is being replenished, ensuring that the body has sufficient fuel for future workouts. That is thanks to sleep.

Di: 21:53

Another thing with sleep the regulation of key hormones involved in muscle growth and recovery, like testosterone and cortisol. They are significantly influenced by sleep. Testosterone, which promotes muscle growth, is primarily released during sleep, while sleep helps to maintain a healthy balance of cortisol, the stress hormone that can actually hinder muscle recovery if the levels are just constantly elevated. Right, we know that about cortisol. We keep hearing about it, and sleep is one of the best ways to reduce it. Also, sleep plays an active role in reducing inflammation in the body. So the body's natural response to exercise-induced muscle damage through the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines that basically is happening during sleep stages, and deeper sleep stages increase blood flow to the muscles and delivering vital oxygen and nutrients that are necessary for repair and regeneration.

Di: 23:21

So this is what I want you to really understand with sleep that it's not just inactivity, it's actually an active phase of restoration where critical repair and regeneration occur at the cellular and hormonal level. It is crucial. So you want to optimize sleep quality and you want to do so with consistent schedules and relaxing routines and conducive sleep environment, and all this can really enhance muscle recovery. You can also go back to the conversation that I had with Nancy Rothstein really get into how to stimulate better sleep. I also want to say that there's a strong documentation with the correlation between inadequate sleep and significantly increased risk of developing non-functional overreaching or overtraining syndrome. So, in other words, let's just look at the bad side for a second.

Di: 24:30

Not sleeping enough definitely impairs the ability to overcome and recover from stress through exercises and it hinders the release of growth hormone, which is really essential for muscle repair and growth, sleep deprivation. It also really disrupts what we've been talking about, that super delicate, super important balance between rest and recovery and therefore also the delicate balance of hormones and balancing cortisol versus testosterone. This all plays such an important role in recovery and muscle adaptation. Lack of adequate sleep can also lead to systematic inflammation, which can impede muscle repair and overall recovery, which can impede muscle repair and overall recovery. And again, one more thing I want to repeat is the restoring of mycoglycogen or glycogen for the subsequent workouts. This is also impaired by inadequate sleep. So one more thing actually, the immune system is absolutely weakened with lack of sleep. I see it all the time with my kids Like I, I will sleep well and I will remain healthy. I won't sleep well and I'll just catch whatever they're throwing at me, whatever they bring home with them.

Di: 26:02

Um, there's also, by the way, an interesting bi-directional correlation with excessive training, which can lead to poor sleep quality, and then, conversely, insufficient sleep can increase the likelihood of overtraining, just because you're not recovering, just because you're not recovering. So inadequate sleep also, of course, damages your cognitive ability, your decision-making, your ability to focus, as well as mood, which, like I mentioned before, can lead to irritability, anxiety, feelings of depression, which then also affect the training motivation. So there is a lot of things are overlapping and bi-directional. So you want to prioritize sufficient and high quality sleep if possible. It is beneficial, but it's actually crucial, like I want you to really see it as part of your training regimen, um, and it is your medicine or your prevention for non-functional overreaching and the more severe overtraining syndrome.

Di: 27:18

So, uh, something that does kind of make me concerned on a regular basis is the college athletes. Between their academic life, the extreme stress of performance and training and their social life, they are really that group that is super at risk for overtraining. So, to my college athletes out there, you've got to listen to the signals to the coaches, even more so because you might have more control. Here. There's domes, and then there's the warning signs of overreaching and overtraining, and the warning signs are essential for any active individual, especially those wonderful college kids who just want to do everything. So, yes, recovery is crucial, it is a crucial step in the process, it is part of the process. Okay, not, like I said before, it's not just beneficial, it is crucial. Um, you want to keep your eyes open and, um.

Di: 28:34

I just want to say one more thing about OTS the persistent and excessive fatigue that doesn't improve with normal rest and um Doesn't improve with normal rest. And the muscle soreness that actually is unusually severe and lasts longer than the typical DOMS timeline the typical four to seven days. The noticeable sustained decline in athletic performance, negative changes in mood, disturbances in sleep, increased susceptibility to minor illnesses, loss of motivation for training, changes in heart rate, changes in heart rate variability and increased perception of effort during workouts. This is for the coaches. All right, that list, you can go back, you can rewind, look at that list, make sure that you are aware of your players, of your athletes, and that's it Basically. It is just all about keeping your eyes open and staying mindful, and that's it, it's.

Di: 29:51

It's really not something that we often can see for ourselves about ourselves. But you really want the professional and then, and when you start seeing those red flags, you really want the professional medical, uh, expert to look at this, because the adequate rest and recovery is so much more, you're so much more in need for it and it also has to be so much more precise. You want to be monitored for training overload. You want to be monitored for recovery responses, responses and all this can really help identify and mitigate the overreaching. So it is about finding the balance between train hard, recover smarter and understanding the spectrum of post workout fatigue right. It's a big spectrum that we just went over. It's crucial for optimizing athletic pursuits and safeguarding long-term health.

Di: 30:53

Again, functional overreaching can be a strategic tool for performance gains only when followed by the adequate rest, while non-functional overreaching serves as a critical warning that the body's recovery capacity is being exceeded. And then overtraining syndrome really represents a severe and chronic condition with far reaching consequences. Like I said before, I can last years requiring very significant recovery, and very often and I suggest that you do, if this is, you know, god forbid the case you do go for medical intervention and delayed onset. Muscle soreness is, of course, the normal and transient response to intense or new exercise, which is very distinct from the more prolonged fatigue of overreaching. So the paramount importance and I want to end with this of sufficient and high quality sleep. I cannot overstate this. It is the cornerstone of effective muscle recovery. It acts as the primary defense against overreaching and overtraining.

Di: 32:14

We want a balanced and holistic approach to training that prioritizes really pushing your physical limits. We want that. But also incorporating intelligent want that but also incorporating intelligent, smart recovery strategies, including active, adequate rest, proper nutrition. It could be active recovery as well, stress management. And, to my coaches out there, really develop a keen, strong awareness of your athletes and if you're, you know just, even if you're a non-professional but you're super competitive and you're hitting the gym, understand your body, really, allow yourself to recognize and ensure this vital, vital harmony between intense training and smart recovery. Hey, thanks so much for tuning in and if this hit home, please share it with your crew Likes, comments, shares. Show your loved ones you care. The Bodyholic Production.