Need to Overtrain More Often

More on the topic of overtraining and “overtraining”… Who has actually expirienced real overtraining?

For me it doesn’t take much to reach that point… maybe 5-6 weeks without deload and my performance starts to drop. I don’t have to be doing anything fancy, just enough heavy weights, like 5x5 and 10x3. After I take a break, I feel better, but I don’t acutally improve, so I find going that far counter-productive. For me it is much more feasible to plan time off.

My worst case of overtraining was once when I did two higher volume cycles back to back. First I started having trouble sleeping and would get muscle twitches. However I decided to stay on plan for a few weeks more and than I simply hit a wall. Literary, one day I was feeling ok, and the next, which actually wasn’t after a workout, but after a weekend break, I could hardly get up from bed. I would feel sleepy all day, get winded from just walking and suddenly get very hot. Soon afterwards, I got a flu, took a month’s break, and when I returned to the gym, I felt so weak. It was if my hard earned gains literally disappeared.

Once again, I “accomplished” all that with a very conservative program, which had just a bit more volume. So, from then on I always err on the side of caution.

i like your message tveddy. Does anyone think perhaps 1 guy made a silly point then everyone tweaked, made it their own, and now it’s a different beast (that makes sense)

I agree. It almost seems like there is a rule that training 3-4x a week, then sitting around the rest of the time, is the best and only way to gain muscle. I’ve been there and done that. My best gains were from training 5-6x a week.

Push yourself and don’t limit yourself to what people on forums tell you will overtrain you. If you finally realize that you’ve overtrained, big deal, take 2-3 days off. Now you know your boundries.

May I just say, “There is no such thing as overtraining. Just under eating.”

That is all.

[quote]dre wrote:
May I just say, “There is not such thing as overtraining. Just under eating.”

That is all.[/quote]

cause that makes sense. Exercise is stress. No matter how much you eat that can’t cancel out the cumulative effects of stress on a body.

[quote]dre wrote:
May I just say, “There is no such thing as overtraining. Just under eating.”

That is all.[/quote]

another stupid post. that makes no sence at all

Well Arnold was on steroids and had great genetics. Though I agree that people need to workout more/harder.

What the hell is wrong with you people? Do you take everything you read literally? Sheeeesh… It’s a figure of speech.

How about deadlifting every day for 20 days in a row? Funny thing was my strength in deadlift went up a lot but everything else suffered and at the end I started sleeping 13 hours every day.

If I was 19 and carried a huge inexhaustible bag of testosterone between my legs I’d train all day every day as well.

People have difference capacities to train and recover. Yes, a lot of people puss out with “overtraining” as an excuse, but if you are going to the gym, working hard and seeing zero progress, sometimes pushing harder or longer won’t help.

Things change. If you are well rested, you can go like hell for several weeks and your body will respond amazingly. Similarly, if you are working towards your previous bests (muscle memory) you will make amazing gains for a while.

Just keep going… you’ll sing a confused and different tune when you finally hit a wall that you can’t figure out how to get around.

can someone informed define overtraining then please? What are the universal symptoms?

[quote]dannyrat wrote:
can someone informed define overtraining then please? What are the universal symptoms? [/quote]

muscle loss
sickness
increase in resting heart rate
trouble sleeping
weight gain
overuse injuries
fatigue
lack of desire to workout

to name a few, and this doesn’t mean all will be present

[quote]kevbo wrote:
It almost seems like there is a rule that training 3-4x a week, then sitting around the rest of the time, is the best and only way to gain muscle. I’ve been there and done that. My best gains were from training 5-6x a week.[/quote]

Each person has to find their own “rules”.

5-6/wk works best for you. 2/wk works best for me… AND btw, I can overtrain on 2/wk just fine, if I push hard enough.

[quote]tveddy wrote:
point being that most people say overtrain, but few rarely ever see that point. They use the word overtraining as a crutch, and as a result don’t work themselves as hard as they could. So they don’t see the gains that are possible. [/quote]

I agree with this. thanks for stating it better than I ever could.

Thanks for your reply.
Noes i’ll look out for 9if they become pronounced- more chicken and rice, and more rest-
increase in resting heart rate
trouble sleeping
overuse injuries
fatigue
lack of desire to workout

[quote]moneyman7 wrote:
I think people need to overtrain more often. people need to get in the gym just about everyday… you really only need 1 day of rest a week. You body has time to recover during sleep.

arnold shcrwratznegaer worked out almost everyday and he was a beast. learn from the best.

god bless[/quote]

most of you might not agree with this, but this is what i do…i lift heavy six days a week only resting tuesdays and work a very physical job monday-friday…and all i see is progress

…i’ll also be the first one to tell you that this is NOT for everyone, and other than my lifting partner i would recomend this to no one i know! it’s not to say that i’m better than them…it’s just that not everyone is made the same…

Arnold of course used drugs (and had great genetics), so his training regimen shouldn’t be imitated by the average, drug-free trainee.

That said, though, I think the whole fear of overtraining has been blown waaaaaay out of proportion, mainly by Mentzer and his disciples in the 90’s. Overtraining, by its very definition is a bad, counterproductive thing, but I think a lot of people underestimate how much training their body can take and can adapt to and grow from. I’ve always been natural and actually made the most progress when I was working out six days per week, hitting each bodypart 3 times per week, albeit for only 3-5 sets per bodypart. If you’re eating enough and getting enough sleep, my hunch is that you’re more likely to be undertraining than overtraining.

Get your eating, sleeping and lifestyle in order, then just get in the damn gym and tear it up. You ain’t gonna’ get big by waiting around for it to happen.

It’s not that most people’s training routines are THAT hard. Their recovery just blows ass because they don’t sleep and don’t eat enough food and or the right foods.

-MAtt

[quote]Matgic wrote:
It’s not that most people’s training routines are THAT hard. Their recovery just blows ass because they don’t sleep and don’t eat enough food and or the right foods.

-MAtt[/quote]

This very true. When I was workin out that hard I was sleepin 14 hours a day and eatin like a monster.

[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
dannyrat wrote:
can someone informed define overtraining then please? What are the universal symptoms?

muscle loss
sickness
increase in resting heart rate
trouble sleeping
weight gain
overuse injuries
fatigue
lack of desire to workout

to name a few, and this doesn’t mean all will be present[/quote]

i can add a couple i get

canker sores
loss of appitite