We say it and we repeat it: playing sports is good for your health. The World Health Organization (WHO) also recommends practicing 2 hours and 10 minutes of “moderate” physical activity per week to preserve your cardiovascular system and your morale, but also to prevent most chronic pathologies – obesity , type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure…
But it’s like everything: practiced to excess, sport becomes harmful. Inserm researchers (led by Mathias Pessiglione) wanted to understand the “overtraining syndrome”, this phenomenon which occurs after an excess of sports activity.
Sports excesses: beware of burn-out and impulsive decisions!
For this, the researchers worked for 9 weeks with 37 triathletes divided into 2 groups: the first group followed a “normal” high level training, while the second group was subjected to an overload of training during the last three weeks of experience, with longer sports sessions (by 40% on average).
Verdict? Researchers have found similarities between too intense sports training and excessive intellectual work: both lead to a reduction in the activity of the lateral prefrontal cortex (a key brain region for cognitive control) which results in impulsive decisions. – for example: stopping in the middle of a sporting performance, suddenly abandoning a race…
Worse: the researchers believe that, clinically, fatigue and reduced cognitive control could constitute a first step in the development of a burn-out syndrome in excessive athletes… Conclusion: sport, yes, but without forcing!
Source: Inserm press release
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