Avoiding Burnout & Overtraining in Young Athletes: Finding the Right Balance
#19 - Strength & Speed Coaching – Pursuing Your Best ⚡
There’s a fine line between pushing athletes to improve and pushing them too far.
In today’s sports culture, young athletes are often encouraged to train more—more lifting, more speed work, more practices, more competitions. The mindset of "more is better" is everywhere.
But here’s the reality: More is only better if it’s sustainable.
Overtraining doesn’t just lead to injuries and fatigue—it crushes motivation, stunts development, and pushes athletes out of sports entirely. If an athlete is always exhausted, constantly sore, or mentally drained, they won’t reach their potential.
The best Strength & Speed programs don’t just build stronger athletes—they keep them healthy, engaged, and progressing over time.
So how do we train hard without burning out? Let’s break it down.
What Causes Burnout & Overtraining?
Burnout isn’t just physical. It’s a combination of physical, mental, and emotional stress that wears an athlete down.
Key Factors That Lead to Burnout:
Too Much Training Volume – Lifting, sprinting, practices, and games stacked on top of each other with no recovery.
Not Enough Rest or Recovery – Sleep, nutrition, and downtime are overlooked or sacrificed.
Year-Round Competition – No true off-season, leading to repetitive stress and mental fatigue.
High External Pressure – Parents, coaches, or personal expectations push the athlete beyond their limits.
Lack of Variety in Training – Doing the same workouts repeatedly without variation or fun.
If an athlete never gets a break—physically or mentally—performance will suffer.
5 Signs an Athlete is Overtrained or Burned Out
Every coach needs to recognize the warning signs before burnout derails an athlete’s progress.
1. Performance Declines Despite More Effort
The athlete is training harder but getting slower, weaker, or more fatigued.
Workouts feel harder than normal, even at the same intensity.
What to Do: Reduce intensity for a few sessions, track progress trends, and focus on quality over quantity.
2. Constant Fatigue & Soreness
The athlete never feels fully recovered, even after rest days.
They complain of lingering soreness, joint pain, or muscle tightness.
What to Do: Prioritize sleep, hydration, and nutrition. Use active recovery sessions instead of forcing high-intensity work daily.
3. Increased Irritability or Lack of Motivation
Athletes who once loved training start dreading workouts.
Mood swings, frustration, or emotional exhaustion show up.
What to Do: Build variety into training, reduce external pressure, and create an enjoyable training atmosphere.
4. More Frequent Injuries or Illness
Overuse injuries (tendinitis, stress fractures) or general aches and pains become constant.
The athlete gets sick more often because their immune system is depleted.
What to Do: Assess their training load, recovery habits, and nutrition. If small injuries keep showing up, training volume needs adjusting.
5. Difficulty Sleeping or Loss of Appetite
Restless sleep, trouble falling or staying asleep, or waking up exhausted.
Loss of appetite or lack of interest in food, even after training.
What to Do: Dial back high-intensity sessions, reduce training frequency, and check overall stress levels.
How to Prevent Overtraining & Burnout: Smarter Workload Management
The best coaches balance stress and recovery to keep athletes performing at their peak without breaking down.
1. Use a Structured Training Plan
Avoid random training sessions—have a plan that balances high, moderate, and low-intensity days.
Spread out strength, speed, and skill work to prevent overload.
I will write more about our structured plan in a future newsletter. Until then, reach out if you have any questions on how we implement our training weekly.
2. Implement the 80/20 Rule
80% of training should be low to moderate intensity.
20% should be high intensity or max effort.
Most burnout happens when athletes train at high intensity for too long. The nervous system and muscles need lower-intensity work to recover and grow.
3. Prioritize Sleep & Nutrition as Much as Training
Athletes need 8-10 hours of sleep per night for full recovery.
Hydration and nutrition play a massive role in preventing fatigue and injury.
Ask athletes: "How much did you sleep last night?" before a heavy training session. If the answer is less than six hours, they probably aren’t ready for max effort work.
4. Build Deload Weeks Into the Program
Every 4-6 weeks, training volume should slightly decrease to allow full recovery.
This doesn’t mean stopping training—it means lowering intensity or volume for a short period.
Example of a Deload Week:
Reduce weight by 20-30% in lifting sessions.
Cut sprint volume in half but focus on mechanics.
Swap one strength session for a mobility/recovery session.
Decrease volume and focus in on teaching the movements again.
Small recovery phases prevent breakdowns before they happen.
5. Encourage Multi-Sport Participation or Movement Variety
Single-sport athletes are at higher risk of burnout and overuse injuries.
If an athlete specializes in one sport, make sure their Strength & Speed program provides movement variety to avoid repetitive stress.
Example:
A baseball player who only throws should include non-rotational strength work to balance their body.
A soccer player should train upper-body strength to maintain athletic balance.
Multi-sport athletes naturally build better movement patterns and have fewer injuries.
Final Thoughts: Keeping Athletes Healthy & Motivated
Strength & Speed training should enhance performance, not drain athletes.
This week, choose one adjustment to help prevent burnout in your program:
Track training loads to ensure athletes aren’t overdoing it.
Ask athletes how they feel—a quick check-in can prevent long-term issues.
Build a low-intensity recovery day into the training schedule.
Long-term development means keeping athletes engaged, energized, and injury-free.
What’s Next in the Series?
Next up: The Role of Recovery & Nutrition in Long-Term Success
How sleep, hydration, and fueling strategies impact performance.
The most overlooked recovery strategies that can help athletes feel and perform better.
How to teach young athletes recovery habits that they’ll use for life.
If you found this newsletter helpful, forward it to a coach or parent who needs to hear this. The more we educate, the stronger our athletes will be.
Until next time—keep pursuing excellence!
– Preston ⚡️
P.S. Need Help Managing Training Loads?
If you want a structured approach to balancing training stress and recovery, I offer consulting for PE teachers and coaches.
Whether you need help with progressive overload, scheduling deload weeks, or tracking athlete fatigue, I can help design a sustainable training plan that maximizes performance while preventing burnout.
Interested? Hit reply, and let’s build a better system together.