Ever felt like this?

You wake up tired, struggle to get out of bed for your morning training session and reach for a cup of coffee before you can do anything. By 3 o’clock in the afternoon, you just can’t muster the energy to think, let alone head out training. Does this sound familiar? If so, you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue or overtraining syndrome.

Stress – you can’t run away from this one!

In our busy modern world, stress is everywhere. It is hard to escape! Work, traffic, mobile phones, the internet and poor nutritional status can all create a high level of stress. It’s how long you experience this for and how you deal with it, that makes the difference. As athletes, you are putting your body under physical stress every time you throw your gear on and head out for a training session. Muscle fibres can be strained or even broken during workouts. No matter what your chosen sport is, you train and work hard, and while your heart is pumping faster you are putting an added strain on your body. All this strain can actually cause your body a lot of extra stress. Although exercise is beneficial for overall health, recovery is the key. The short term effects of stress are normal and even healthy. If sustained, these effects can, however, become very detrimental to your health in the long term and you can become more prone to injuries and infections like colds and ‘flu. Therefore, it is important to support your body after the acute stress of training, so that you can reap the benefits of the session, without long-term side effects.

Adrenal Glands – what are they and why are they so important?

Your adrenal glands are triangular glands that sit on top of your kidneys (see Figure 1) and are responsible for pumping out stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. The outer part of the adrenal gland is called the cortex and produces steroid hormones such as cortisol, aldosterone and testosterone. The inside of the adrenal gland is called the medulla and produces hormones which are commonly called adrenaline and noradrenaline. When the adrenal glands produce more or less hormones than your body needs, you can become unwell. You might know the feeling on the morning of race day when you are fully charged and ready to go – this may be due to adrenaline which is a fantastic hormonal motivator short term, however you cannot run efficiently on adrenaline forever. After a period of time of being under stress you will start to experience the long term repercussions and adrenal exhaustion may set in.

Figure 1: The Adrenal Glands.¹

Adrenal fatigue and overtraining syndrome:

Common signs and symptoms

No matter what time of your training calendar year you are in, if you are experiencing some of the following symptoms your adrenals may be fatigued and it might be time for some extra support:²

• Delayed onset muscle soreness, especially at rest
• Joint pain, tendon inflammation and bursa inflammation
• Persistent fatigue
• Elevated resting heart rate and/or slower heart rate recovery
• Increased incidence of injuries
• Depression, irritability and anger (mood changes)
• Insomnia
• Decreased appetite
• Decreased libido
• Weight loss
• Increased susceptibility to infections

Some of the main causes of overtraining are:

1. Inadequate recovery between training sessions
2. Excessive amounts of high-intensity training
3. Sudden changes in training load

Remember that non-training factors can contribute to overtraining too, such as:

1. Inadequate nutrition
2. Insufficient rest and sleep
3. Anxiety about life events
4. Occupational stress
5. Changes and irregularities in lifestyle
6. Successive failure to achieve goals

Awesome adrenal function = optimal performance

Endura Overtraining Formula is made up of high doses of five ginseng herbs: Siberian, Indian, Korean, Tienchi and American ginsengs. It has been specifically formulated to help your body deal with the high demands placed upon it during intense endurance exercise. The ginseng herbs may provide support to reduce the risk of overtraining syndrome. Furthermore, the ginsengs have been shown to also increase performance parameters such as sparing glycogen, increasing oxygen uptake, reducing blood pressure and improving stamina.

Many people may be aware of the benefits of some of the ginsengs and possibly have used some over the years. What many people don’t realise is that ginseng is not a single herb, but a family of herbs, and each has its own specific actions. The use of the five main ginsengs in the formula, create a greater effect than using one on its own:

• Tienchi ginseng may help to improve physical performance during endurance exercise.
• Korean ginseng is traditionally used to help relieve fatigue and debility, and to assist with capacity for work and concentration.
• Siberian ginseng restores and strengthens the body’s immune response during times of stress.
• Indian ginseng may assist cognitive function, sleep patterns and physical capabilities in athletes.
• American ginseng may stimulate the immune system and therefore help prevent colds and flu.

How good would it be to step onto the podium?

Its nearly the end of peak competition season and although the off season can be bliss, remember to continue nourishing those adrenal glands, especially if you have been over training. By restoring optimal adrenal function you are more likely to reach your training and competition goals next season.

* References available on request