Duke Medical Minutes are produced by local sports radio affiliates, and allow Duke specialists to give a brief snapshot into health offerings at Duke.

In this episode, Andre C. Grant, MD, discusses the risks of athletes overtraining.

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Podcast Transcript

Announcer: We're talking with Dr. Andre Grant, assistant professor of surgery at Duke University.

Overtraining is not something you hear much about. It can often lead to more injuries.

Grant: High school students are very interested in training. What I see mostly is the overtraining injury -- that is, they take it upon themselves to do a little bit more than they should be.

More and more nowadays we have kids participating in earlier training, all-year-round training, several rec leagues, and AAU-type leagues that allow them to play their sport. It's great to develop skills, but can be detrimental in that the body is not given a chance to rest.

Announcer: Injuries will eventually occur. I mean, it's just a fact of life when it comes to playing sports, but you don't want to hide these injuries.

Grant: Participating in high-level sports, I see a lot of pressure to perform -- and that may lead to an athlete not listening to their body. They develop some aches and pains -- some sort of injury -- that they may ignore.

This can most likely lead to further damage if they continue to ignore it and not alert someone to the injury -- that is their coach, their parents, or their trainer.