Overtraining and Testosterone: What Are The Effects?
Overtraining and Testosterone Levels
Let’s begin with a few simple questions. Do you value your sex drive? Your sperm count? And your overall health?
Chances are you probably do – but you might be compromising the very things you hold dear, in the name of health and fitness, ironic, right?
It’s the elephant in the room nobody talks about in the macho fitness industry – men too manly to rationally consider the possibility of “too much training” as it flies in the face of their tendency to worship the idea of pushing the limits.
That is the general status quo you experience when you go out there, meet people, study online forums, and look at the majority of fitness programs > you can never train enough.
They have taken the idea of overreaching and have run with it so far beyond its spirit, utility, and context, that they have created a “no limit“ theory on how much you can train.
But make no mistake about it overtraining can destroy testosterone levels and fry your central nervous system.
Overtraining and Testosterone Levels
Clichés are clichés for a reason. Wisdom as old as the hills have been around for so long because of the inherent value it carries.
But when it comes to the fitness industry, the age old widely accepted wisdom of training and rest balance being key to progress, was lost, in the name of the masculine reputation of training beyond all limits. But there is a limit. There is a threshold.
And when you go past this threshold your body will suffer
For every man this threshold is different, factors such as age, daily stress levels, and the hormonal profile of the person all play a big factor in how much exercise is too much.
Overreaching should not be confused with overtraining. Overreaching slightly, and then allowing for proper recovery, is the key to progress.
But continuous rigorous training beyond the threshold (which varies person to person), can result in a medical condition called overtraining, yes, it’s not just a buzzword and it has serious health implications. And research as old as 1988, addresses overtraining and specifies it as follows:
“Overtraining is an imbalance between training and recovery. Short term overtraining or ‘over-reaching’ is reversible within days to weeks. Fatigue accompanied by a number of physical and psychological symptoms in the athlete is an indication of ‘stateness’ or ‘overtraining syndrome”.
A very important point to highlight here is the specific mention of short-term overtraining as being reversible in a short period of time. That is what overreaching essentially is.
Does Overtraining Lower Testosterone (Studies)
Here are some studies that show how overtraining can lower testosterone levels:
1) One study was done on rugby players who had their testosterone levels checked and compared to questionnaires they filled out. The results of this study showed that all the men who reported the symptoms of overtraining had a 20-30% decline in testosterone.
2) Another study done in Spain showed that overtrained cyclists taking part in the Tour of Spain had a massive 50% drop in sperm count. These cyclists were professional athletes and it took them 3 days of recovery for sperm levels to return to normal.
3) This study showed how stress from overtraining can wreak havoc on the immune system. This can result in colds, flu-like symptoms, and even more serious illnesses.
4) Lastly, there is this study that showed how overtraining can lower testosterone levels and increase cortisol levels in the body.
As you can see, overtraining can have a detrimental effect on testosterone levels. So it makes a lot of sense to look out for some of the signs and symptoms mentioned below.
How Do You Know if You Are Overtraining?
Here are some of the signs of overtraining you will want to pay attention to. When you start to experience these symptoms it’s time to take a rest and recharge yourself.
Injuries and aches that seem to stick around forever
You will know when you have crossed the threshold if you feel fatigued, moody, irritable, and lethargic the hours and days following your workout.
It’s important to know if you are the type of person who needs to push yourself more in the gym, or if you are someone who needs to cut back the intensity of your workouts.
You should definitely feel tired and work hard but if you’re totally beat up and irritable after your workout you have only raised your stress and not your testosterone.
Your personal threshold for training would be something you would arrive at through trial and error while monitoring these important symptoms. Try to find that sweet spot where your workouts invigorate you and do not lead to fatigue and irritability.
There are numerous health implications of overtraining, but as already mentioned one of them is a major crash in your testosterone levels…
Go beyond your threshold, and sacrifice your precious testosterone juice:
Overtraining generally destroys your body. You can understand this in the context of the golden rule of balance.
You are not providing ample time for recovery, and gradually breaking down your body instead of building it.
But to get men’s attention, low testosterone dangers probably hit closer to home.
There are countless research articles which have established a clear link between overtraining and low T levels.
Here is what you can do in addition to watching out for the symptoms mentioned earlier.
KNOW YOUR OWN BODY BETTER.
Be educated about what your hormone levels look like when your body is not under stress. Training is stress, overtraining is excessive stress – and you should be aware of how much buffer you have before this stress would negatively impact your T levels.
In fact, stress from your day to day life should also be factored in when assessing the situation. A great way to reduce stress levels in the body is by using the herb Ashwagandha.
If you have lower levels of testosterone, your threshold for overtraining is also going to be lower.
Conclusion
Listening to your body, paying attention to how you feel, intuition, and your mood are all important facets of the overall picture of where you are going with your diet and training.
Just remember that each person has a different threshold so what is right for one person won’t automatically be right for you. I personally train 3 times a week, with each session lasting 45 minutes, and most sets stopped just shy of failure.
Thus, do not be steered by and pulled into the mythical steroid boosted Hollywood ideas of what training is, rather, look at the science, and look at your body and health to make decisions about training – and most importantly, “stimulate, don’t annihilate”
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