The End of Overtraining

Quick answer: Overuse injuries and overtraining syndrome are both training errors, not bad luck. Three running experts break down the difference between them, the warning signs to watch for, and how the 80/20 rule, along with genuine rest days, can help you build fitness without breaking down.

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Perhaps this sounds familiar: You've just gotten into running, or back into it after a long hiatus; you've got a big race coming up in a few months; you think this is the year you can finally BQ. Whatever your big motivator is, you throw yourself into training with the fervor of a spawning salmon swimming upstream, and, wham, you end up with an injury.

Overuse injuries are common among runners because it's easy to push too hard, too fast, and a body can't sustain that kind of stress for any length of time. But overuse injuries aren't inevitable, say three running experts we polled for this article.

Here are their tips on how to avoid overtraining, how to spot the warning signs that you might be pushing too hard, and what to do if you sustain a dreaded overuse injury.

Overtraining Syndrome vs. Overuse Injuries

When we asked Jason Fitzgerald, a USATF certified running coach and host of the popular Strength Running Podcast, about overtraining, he told us, "It's important to distinguish between overtraining syndrome, which is a metabolic condition where you are essentially training too hard while under-recovering, versus overuse injuries, or repetitive stress injuries."

It's possible to sustain an overuse injury after a single run, if that first run is especially long, or done in poor footwear, for example. In most cases, though, they're the result of ramping up either volume (number of miles or minutes of training), intensity (pace and/or challenging terrain), or both too quickly, putting acute stress or strain on a body part that fails.

Overtraining syndrome, on the other hand, is the result of weeks, months, or even years of training too often, or too hard, with too little recovery, which can wear the body's systems down little by little over time.

Both situations are the result of training errors, whether overly ambitious programming or unwise in-the-moment decisions, and neither is desirable.

Warning Signs That You're Overtraining

Dr. Rena Eleázar, a physical therapist practicing in New York City, says, "Some warning signs of overtraining include prolonged soreness, tightness, or pain more than 48 hours after running, feeling overly fatigued or having low energy, and experiencing significant performance dips in runs, as in, they feel unusually difficult."

While up to one-third of runners will experience overtraining syndrome, overuse injuries are, unfortunately, much more common. Often, the only warning sign with an overuse injury is a milder version of the eventual, full-blown injury, so don't ignore that tight hamstring, that sore Achilles tendon, those achy knees, or that hip that hurts when you open up your stride.

It's far better to be proactive by implementing a training regimen that's just hard enough to make gains, but conservative enough to avoid injury

How to Avoid Overtraining: Eighty/Twenty/Zero

Dr. Kelton Cullenberg, a physical therapist with Steady State Health in Portland, ME, reiterated that, "Overtraining injuries almost always come from increasing the load on your body faster than it can adapt to," and he says that can look very different for different runners. "Everything is relative and depends on your current status, your history, and your goals. A hundred miles a week is a lot for some runners, and fifteen is a lot for others."

Fitzgerald noted that overuse injuries are a load management issue, saying that risk is highest among "whoever makes the biggest training errors and doesn't respect their individual need for recovery."

Listening to your body is key, but spotting the warning signs of overuse or overtraining is reactive. It's far better to be proactive by implementing a training regimen that's just hard enough to make gains, but conservative enough to avoid injury, what Fitzgerald calls "sound progression."

Finding that balance can be tough, so working with an experienced coach is a good idea. Our experts provided some general guidelines, though.

"To avoid injuries," Cullenberg says, "treat any significant increase as bigger than it feels and change only one variable [pace, distance, etc.] at a time. Give your body multiple weeks at a new stimulus to adapt."

Most avid distance runners practice some form of the 80/20 rule, keeping 80 percent of their training time very easy, and only twenty percent hard. Still, there's another, possibly more important number to focus on for injury prevention: zero.

Eleázar said, "Runners should have complete rest days built into their weekly routine to allow their body to recover." All runners need these zero-effort days on the calendar, but they become increasingly important as we age. Not respecting the rest is a recipe for an overuse injury.

What to Do If You Suffer an Overuse Injury

If you start having recurring, nagging little aches, Dr. Cullenberg says taking one or two extra days of rest may be all you need to resolve the issue. It's a sign that something is off, though, so don't just ignore it or you may find yourself with a full-blown injury.

When that happens, Dr. Eleázar says a trip to the physical therapist's office is in order. "A physical therapist will know how to modify a runner's training regimen so that there is the least amount of deconditioning and loss of strength. They should also be able to identify specific factors that contributed to the injury, and focus on those or refer out if necessary."

To address a specific injury, check out Dr. Cullenberg's Injured Runner's Roadmap, a free download. Both Cullenberg and Eleázar stressed that unless you determine why you got injured and address the issue, you're much more likely to suffer the same injury again in the future.

Hopefully you can avoid the injury/rehab cycle altogether by reigning in your ambition just a bit and following the experts' advice: smart programming, gradual progression, complete rest days.