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. 2016 Sep;50(17):1043-52.
doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2016-096572.

How much is too much? (Part 2) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of illness

Martin Schwellnus  1 , Torbjørn Soligard  2 , Juan-Manuel Alonso  3 , Roald Bahr  4 , Ben Clarsen  5 , H Paul Dijkstra  3 , Tim J Gabbett  6 , Michael Gleeson  7 , Martin Hägglund  8 , Mark R Hutchinson  9 , Christa Janse Van Rensburg  1 , Romain Meeusen  10 , John W Orchard  11 , Babette M Pluim  12 , Martin Raftery  13 , Richard Budgett  2 , Lars Engebretsen  14
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How much is too much? (Part 2) International Olympic Committee consensus statement on load in sport and risk of illness

Martin Schwellnus et al. Br J Sports Med. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

The modern-day athlete participating in elite sports is exposed to high training loads and increasingly saturated competition calendar. Emerging evidence indicates that inappropriate load management is a significant risk factor for acute illness and the overtraining syndrome. The IOC convened an expert group to review the scientific evidence for the relationship of load-including rapid changes in training and competition load, competition calendar congestion, psychological load and travel-and health outcomes in sport. This paper summarises the results linking load to risk of illness and overtraining in athletes, and provides athletes, coaches and support staff with practical guidelines for appropriate load management to reduce the risk of illness and overtraining in sport. These include guidelines for prescription of training and competition load, as well as for monitoring of training, competition and psychological load, athlete well-being and illness. In the process, urgent research priorities were identified.

Keywords: Illness; Overtraining; Overtraining and burnout; Training; Training load.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Well-being continuum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The relationship between load and risk of illness in recreational and subelite athletes (J-shaped curve) versus elite athletes (S-shaped curve).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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