Overtraining Syndrome: Causes, Diagnosis, and What's Actually Going On
About this episode
The episode discusses the complexities and misconceptions surrounding overtraining syndrome based on recent research findings.
In 2022, researchers conducted the most rigorous systematic review ever performed on overtraining syndrome — looking specifically for controlled studies that documented a human transitioning from a healthy training state to an overtrained state. Zero studies met those criteria. The word "overtrained" appears in coaching certifications, wearable device dashboards, and clinical sports medicine guidelines — and in each context it means something different. That definitional chaos has consequences: it delays real diagnoses, produces nocebo effects with measurable physiological outcomes, and leads athletes to reduce training they didn't need to reduce. In this episode, Drs. Jordan Feigenbaum and Austin Baraki work through the full evidence base on overtraining syndrome — the taxonomy, the attempted studies, the six competing mechanistic theories, the biomarker failures, and what's actually happening when a lifter can't make progress. Timestamps: 0:00 Cold open — the zero-studies finding 1:21 Why "overtrained" does four different jobs simultaneously 16:10 The FOR / NFOR / OTS taxonomy 19:43 The supercompensation model — borrowed from endurance, never validated for resistance training…
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