Table of Contents

Part I: What We Know So Far

Chapter 1: Introduction to Research and Terminology in Overtraining
Perspectives on Telling Tales
Evolution and Changes in this Project
Sorting Out the Terms
Review of OT Terminology

Chapter 2: How Big Is It? Prevalence and Manifestation of Overtraining
Physiological Markers of Overtraining
Psychological Markers of Overtraining

Chapter 3: What Brings It On? Risk Factors for Overtraining
Risk Factors for Overtraining Based on Personal Experience
Summary of Risk Factor Research
Directions for Research on Overtraining Phenomena

Part II: What the Experts Have to Say

Chapter 4: Coaches' and Sport Scientists' Views on Risk Factors
Characteristics, Behaviors, and Experiences of Susceptible Athletes
Situations, Factors, and People That Pressure Athletes to Increase Training
Situations, Factors, and People That Affect Athletes' Needs for Recovery

Chapter 5: Burnt Cookies: Conversations With an Exercise Physiologist
Studying Oneself
David Martin, PhD, Exercise Physiologist
Further Conversation With David Martin

Chapter 6: Sport Systems Can Damage: Conversations With a Sport Psychologist
Dr. Trisha Leahy
Canberra, 2001
Five Years Later in Hong Kong
Some Reflections on this Chapter

Part III: What We Can Learn from Athletes

Chapter 7: The Pathogenic World of Professional Sport: Steve's Tale
Chapter 8: A Case of Olympic Seduction: John's Tale
Chapter 9: The Perfect Girl: Jane's Tale
Chapter 10: The Perfect Boy: The Author's Tale

Part IV: Past Models and Current Conceptions

Chapter 11: Models of Overtraining: Then and Now
Synthesis of Experts' Perspectives and Athletes' Experiences
The OT Risks and Outcomes Model
OT Risks and Outcomes Model Compared to Other Models

Afterword: Where to From Here?
Future Directions
Parting Glances

About the Author

Sean O. Richardson, PhD, completed his doctoral work in sport psychology at Victoria University (Melbourne, Australia) in 2006. His dissertation research focused on the risk factors for athletic overtraining, stress–life balance, and injury.

Richardson has also been a competitive athlete most of his life. He has pursued windsurfing and rowing at national and international levels, along with several other sports at the state and provincial level, including road and track cycling, downhill skiing, and volleyball. He has had personal experiences with injury related to overtraining behaviors, missing out on two chances to make the Canadian Olympic team in rowing because of injury.

Throughout Australia and Canada, Richardson now serves as a sport and performance psychologist in the areas of performance enhancement, injury and illness prevention, rehabilitation, and stress–life balance for numerous sport and performing arts groups as well as health care and business professionals. He regularly delivers seminars on optimal recovery and injury prevention to athletes, coaches, performing artists, and teachers of all levels, from novice to professional.

Mark B. Andersen, PhD, is a professor in the School of Human Movement, Recreation and Performance at Victoria University (Melbourne, Australia). He received his PhD in psychology with a minor in exercise and sport sciences from the University of Arizona at Tucson in 1988.

In 1994 Andersen received the Dorothy V. Harris Memorial Award for excellence as a young scholar and practitioner in applied sport psychology from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. He has published more than 50 articles in refereed journals and more than 65 book chapters and proceedings. He has edited two other Human Kinetics books: Doing Sport Psychology and Sport Psychology in Practice. Andersen is a member of the International Society of Sport Psychology, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a charter member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Tony Morris, PhD, is a professor in the School of Human Movement, Recreation and Performance at Victoria University (Melbourne, Australia). He received his doctoral degree from the University of Leeds in England in 1984.

Morris has published more than 30 books, monographs, and book chapters and more than 80 articles in referred journals. He presents his research worldwide, having been invited to speak at conferences in the United Kingdom, Greece, Australia, and throughout Southeast Asia. Morris is a graduate member of the British Psychological Society, a full member of the Australian Psychological Society, and a founding member of the Board of Sport Psychologists in the Australian Psychological Society. He is also a member of the British Society of Sport Psychology, British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, International Society of Sport Psychology, Association for Applied Sport Psychology, British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis, and the Sport Psychology Association of Australia and New Zealand.

He has served on the editorial board for a number of journals, including the International Journal of Sport Psychology, Journal of Sports Sciences, International Journal of Sport and Exercise, and Research in Sports Medicine: An International Journal. Morris is also the associate editor for Australian Psychologist.