Perform Ep 7: Avoid Fitness Plateaus, Overtraining & Mis-Timed Performance Peaks

In this episode, I discuss training plateaus, overtraining, and peaking (aka “tapering”) to help you train smart for your goals and effectively use rest to maximize performance.I discuss training plateaus, the underlying molecular mechanisms that cause plateaus, and how to overcome plateaus by targeting systems and nutrition-based approaches. I describe how overtraining reduces performance, which molecular biomarkers to measure to determine if you are overtrained, and how to recover from overtraining. I also explain how to use peaking (tapering) to significantly enhance performance, when to place a taper relative to competition, and how to effectively taper by reducing volume and increasing rest days.I explain multiple causes and solutions for diminished performance and describe tracking options for measuring your health, fatigue, and performance. Listeners will learn how high-performance athletes, down to general exercisers, should measure, monitor, and intervene in plateaus, overtraining, and taper effectively.

Articles

• A Subject-Tailored Variability-Based Platform for Overcoming the Plateau Effect in Sports Training: A Narrative Review (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)
• The Plateau in Muscle Growth with Resistance Training: An Exploration of Possible Mechanisms (Sports Medicine)
• Performance decrements with high-intensity resistance exercise overtraining (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise)
• β2-Adrenergic receptor downregulation and performance decrements during high-intensity resistance exercise overtraining (Journal of Applied Physiology)
• Catecholamine responses to short-term high-intensity resistance exercise overtraining (Journal of Applied Physiology)
• Hormonal aspects of overtraining syndrome: a systematic review (BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation)
• Biomarkers in Sports and Exercise: Tracking Health, Performance, and Recovery in Athletes (The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research)
• Less Is More: The Physiological Basis for Tapering in Endurance, Strength, and Power Athletes (Sports)
• Myocellular basis for tapering in competitive distance runners (Journal of Applied Physiology)
• The Training and Development of Elite Sprint Performance: an Integration of Scientific and Best Practice Literature (Sports Medicine – Open)
• Effects of tapering on performance in endurance athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis (PLoS ONE)
• Excessive exercise training causes mitochondrial functional impairment and decreases glucose tolerance in healthy volunteers (Cell Metabolism)

Other Resources

• Mike Stone’s publications
• Muscle Size & Nuclei (Huberman Lab episode)

Perform Episodes Mentioned

• Build Muscle Size, Strength & Power With Science-Backed Programs
• How & Why to Strengthen Your Heart & Cardiovascular Fitness

People Mentioned

• Andy Fry: Professor of Health, Sport & Exercise Sciences, University of Kansas
• Keijo Häkkinen: Professor of Exercise Physiology, University of Jyväskylä
• Mike Stone: Professor of Exercise Science, East Tennessee State University
• Charlie Francis: Olympic sprinter and sprint coach
• Ben Johnson: Olympic sprinter