Over training?

[brent]

I keep hearing about over-training, how do you know if you are doing it? I can go to the gym, hit several muscle groups to failure, and most muscle groups are fine the next day. My leggs will hurt the next day, but they are always fine the day after. So I've been workingout long, often, and heavy for the last month and a half. I'm wondering if I could accellerate my gains by making changes, or just be happy that my body is quick to repair itself?? I am making gains much faster than I thought possible, each week I gain a couple pounds, and my waist seems slightly smaller, so maybe I'm using weights that are too light? What do others think?

Just because you THINK you may not be overtraining your muscles.. doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't. A good rule of thumb is to train one muscle group every other day. Your body needs time to rest, even though you may not feel it.

[brent]

That's what I was afraid of. I think I am really overtraining. I've been going every day, and sometimes twice a day. I seem to be OK with it, but maybe I could gain weight faster if I slowed down. I turned thirty a couple months ago, and every time I think about it I go to the gym. God, I hope in 10 years I'll be more mature, and not react to that evil B-day so badly. Now that I wrote this I must go to the gym & exercize untill I am no longer thinking about this 30 thing...

[biguglymofo]

rest it up brent. I think training a body part once a week is more than enough. Some even argue that your should only train a bodypart every 8-9 days (I think that's a bit of an extreme). I train 4 days a week with weights and do cardio 4 times a week. I'm usually sore for 2-3 days afterward, but soreness isn't always a sign that you had a good workout. post more details about your workout...how many sets, reps, how close to your max are you, etc.

[wbhunk]

One of my mentors in the iron world phrased it as such....lifting is like a credit card. You can try to buy everything at once, but you will have a huge bill later that you'll have to cut back on important stuff to pay. It's better to spread out your "purchases". He was Russian, and he quite succintly told me once, "You Americans don't realize that muscle is a matter of YEARS, not minutes."

[brent]

I'm not sure of what percent of my one rep max I'm doing, as I don't know what my one rep maxxes are. I generaly do a light set of 12 reps to warm-up & practice the form, then 2 heavy sets of about 8-10 reps, or about 2 reps after I fail. Then I'll lighten it up and burn-out on as many sets as I can do with a lighter weight, which usaly isn't many (6-10). I'll do that for most exercises I do. Generally I'll do about 3-4 exercises per body- part, do another body part, do 2 or three more exercises for the first bodypart, then do 2 or 3 more exercises for the second bodypart. I'll finish with about half an hour of aerobics. That's probably too much to do everyday, and my explain why I usaly burn out. Do you think I should try hevier weights & less sets? Maybe I'm overextending my body's energy 'credit card'?

[biguglymofo]

yep...time to refinance that card, lol. Switch it up. Do a 3 or 4 day split. IMHO, I say instead of whole body workouts you do only 1 day chest, 1 day legs, 1 day back and shoulders, and throw in arms throughout...or add an extra arm day and do abs on 2 of those days. On those days do about 3-4 movements/body part starting of with a 6-8 rep range, and ending with a 12 rep range on last exercise. Do 2-3 sets per movement. start with compound, end with isolation or exhaustion sets, ie. breathing squats. Just a thought. It also sounds to me like you're doing way too much cardio for a person who's trying to put on muscle. Overall it just looks like too much, too much. lol. best of luck.

[brent]

I think I spend too much time in the gym too. I'll try your advice, at the very least I should save a lot of time I can put to good use: reading, sewing, and studying... I tend to workout like a maniac, and let stuff slide, then I'll need to stop workingout to catchup on my errands. Then I make excuses not to go to the gym, since I'm off my schedule anyhow. Maybe a sainer aproach can keep me on track. If I kept workingout regularly, when I joined the gym in 1994, I bet I'd be huge by now...

[biguglymofo]

It's not about working out like a maniac...it's about working out smart.

Let me know what you decide.

[brent]

OK, so last night I took all my wieghts way up, like 30-50 % higher up, did far fewer reps, and did only 4 exercises per bodypart (Chest & Back). It took a lot less time, and I totally feel it today! I'll skip a day today; giving me time for my studies. Then I'll hit it again tomorrow.
I must say that I am a convert, after one night! Also I limitted my areobics to a 5 min. warm-up, and a 7 min. cool-down.
I feel like I can have my life back, and keep my work-out plan too. Who knows, if I keep ratcheting my wieghts up, I may out-grow all my clothes soon! O.K. wishful thinking...

[polomuscle]

hey brent
it depends on your specific body type.
there is no general rule about overtraining.
you will know if you're overtraining when you are
1) not making progress
2) lose motivation
3) feel tired all the time
4) get that "blah" feeling

it sounds like you're going in a lot and focused. Probably you are scared because you are now 30. By the way, the hottest men are all over 30. Note that I said MEN not BOYS. Heh Heh. Candy is nice, but doesn't make a nourishing meal. Your life has just begun, my friend.

Ok--are you mixing it up? Are you doing periodization? Don't just add more weight, or "work harder." Train smart. There is a great book called "Serious Strength Training" by T. Bompa, the guy who invented periodization. This book is amazing. Combined with proper diet and some supplements or juice, you will gain the ridiculous amount of lean muscle mass you desire. You need a roadmap though and I suggest this book.

[brent]

I did a quick review on amazon.com, and it sounds pretty good. I'm a little light on cash, so it might be a little while before I buy too many books. It sounds like this programm requires a little homework, which I am not afraid of if it works. I'll do a google seach on periodization tonight.

I have started increasing wieghts, and decreasing the number o exercises I do, and that's working great for me too. I think the key is to mix-up your training program every few weeks to keep your muscles guessing.

Thank you, I'll be looking seriously at this book. Right now, I don't even know what periodization is...

As for the 30 thing, I think I'm starting to deal with it. I like guys over 30 as I also prefer men to boys, I just don't want to admit that I may be mortal I think...

[polomuscle]

if you weren't mortal, you'd have no sense of urgency to get in shape NOW.

[brent]

Good point polodude, plus my twenties were far better than my teen years, which were better than 0-10, so I should be happy to be in my prime. I think my real problem is that I wanted to own a house by 30. I have gone back to school,and I will graduate in a month. I should be happy to be making progress. Plus, my partner & I plan to move to Las Vegas in a year where houses are a lot less expencive, and the weather is a milliom times better. So it's all looking up really, I just wish that the thirty thing would happen in about two years. I realize I'm being petty & immature, but if I am one thing it is honnest. I have friends in their fifties that are renting small, old apartments. So I just need to get over myself. Perhaps I'm trying to blow this out of proportion to motivate me into the gym. Durring much of my twenties I lacked motivation (beyond finding the next bong hit), so I've pulled myself together a LOT. Now I'm just trying to create a new body to reflect the new, more motivated, more focused Brent that has emerged in the last couple of years.

[polomuscle]

balance in all things