Recommendations of Brenner et al for Reducing Overtraining in Child and Adolescent Athletes

A child or adolescent athlete may suffer physical and/or emotional complications if participation in sports is excessive.

Parameter	Desirable	Undesirable
goal of sport	lifelong habits of healthy living	winning is everything
practice and participation	fun and interesting	dull, monotonous, boring
days off per week for nonsport activities or rest	1 to 2 days	none
breaks during the year from competitive sport	periodic	none
participation in sports	limit to no more than 1 per season	allow 2 or more sports per season
participation in multiple sports that emphasize the same body part	discouraged in favor of sports that balance physical demands	encouraged
teaching how to train properly and to recognize when to slow down	high priority	discouraged
monitoring for early signs of overtraining	high priority	ignored

where:

• Early signs of overtraining (unexplained fatigue, vague physical complaints, lack of motivation).

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