Aandachtspunten voor een optimale voorbereiding: Inspanning in de warmte

One of the underlying factors responsible for performance decrement during exercise in a hot environment appears to be an elevated core temperature. For this reason, strategies that minimise the rise in core temperature during exercise in the heat are likely to be effective in enhancing exercise performance. There are several strategies to minimise this negative effect. Ensuring adequate hydration prior to and during exercise has been shown to enhance performance in heat. Furthermore acclimatisation to heat will reduce the rise in body temperature and improve tolerance to heat stress. There are several ways of acclimatising for competition in the heat. One is to live and train in a climate similar to that expected at the competition venue. The other approach is to live at home and acclimate by training in an artificial climate. 80% Of the acclimatisation generally occurs after 4 to 6 days, however a complete acclimatisation of the body may take more than two weeks. Monitoring of individual responses to heat stress and of the rate and extent of acclimatisation is an essential part of preparation for competition in the heat. Regular monitoring of body mass, morning heart rate and core temperature can give useful information on the athlete's acclimatisation status

Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the overtraining syndrome: Joint consensus statement of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

International audienceSuccessful training must involve overload, but also must avoid the combination of excessive overload plus inadequate recovery. Athletes can experience short-term performance decrement, without severe psychological, or lasting other negative symptoms. This Functional Overreaching (FOR) will eventually lead to an improvement in performance after recovery. When athletes do not sufficiently respect the balance between training and recovery, Non-Functional Overreaching (NFOR) can occur. The distinction between NFOR and the Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) is very difficult and will depend on the clinical outcome and exclusion diagnosis. The athlete will often show the same clinical, hormonal and other signs and symptoms. A keyword in the recognition of OTS might be prolonged maladaptation not only of the athlete, but also of several biological, neurochemical, and hormonal regulation mechanisms. It is generally thought that symptoms of OTS, such as fatigue, performance decline and mood disturbances, are more severe than those of NFOR. However, there is no scientific evidence to either confirmor refute this suggestion. One approach to understanding the aetiology of OTS involves the exclusion of organic diseases or infections and factors such as dietary caloric restriction (negative energy balance) and insufficient carbohydrate and/or protein intake, iron deficiency, magnesium deficiency, allergies, etc., together with identification of initiating events or triggers. In this paper, we provide the recent status of possible markers for the detection of OTS. Currently several markers (hormones, performance tests, psychological tests, biochemical and immune markers) are used, but none of them meets all criteria to make its use generally accepted