In order to succeed in competitions, hard training is the only formula. However, there must he a balance between training and recovery so that the body can positively adapt to the training stress. If the stress is too high, or if there is not enough recovery, the body may have negative adaptations. The purpose of this study was to detect the changes of selected biochemical and hormonal parameters with increasing volume of training. Some of these parameters may be related to fatigue. Five club level cyclists participated in a 4-week increase duration training. Their mean training distance was 286.2 km week-1 before the study, was increased to an average of 368.2 km week-1 in weeks 1 and 2, with further increased to 475.6 km week-1 in weeks 3 and 4. Blood and urine samples were collected before the study which was acted as control, at the end of week 2, at the end of week 4 and 2 weeks after the cessation of training. T3 was found to be reduced by 16.2% at the end of week 2 (p<0.01). Glucose was decreased by 20.2% (p<0.05), and noctural urine catecholamine was decreased by 18.0% (p<0.05) at the end of week 4. There were no differences in CPK, thyroid stimulating hormone, testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone and insulin throughout the period of study. Further studies are required to determine the usefulness of these parameters as markers of fatigue.
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