A Cumulative Stress and Training Continuum Model: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Unexplained Underperformance Syndrome

Abstract

This article provides an understanding of the unexplained underperformance syndrome (UPS; Budgett, Newsholme, Lehmann, et al. 1999) and the problems surrounding the current presentation of it. This was done in terms of processes and outcomes. Recommendations for a more stringent usage of terms was provided. Based on Selye’s (1956) General Adaptation Theory and a model described by Kenttä and Hassmén (1998; 2002), a Cumulative Stress and Training Continuum Model was put forward that incorporates both the continuum paradigm and the supercompensation cycle model of training. These models, combined with a multidisciplinary approach, provide a useful framework for understanding the processes and outcomes of athletic performance in general and the unexplained underperformance syndrome in particular. The Cumulative Stress and Training Continuum Model emphasizes the complex interactions between the many factors affecting UPS and their weblike, cumulative, and synergistic relationships. Such an approach assists in explaining how seemingly nonsignificant factors in their own right could exert disproportionate importance and effect. Also, it emphasizes the individual variability and susceptibility to UPS as well as the fluctuations within a given individual. The unique contribution of the Cumulative Stress and Training Continuum Model put forward in the present article is that it is a truly inclusive and holistic model for addressing UPS.

Keywords:

• Under performance syndrome
• Overtraining
• Overreaching
• Burnout