Remember to consult your doctor before starting any diet
and training program.
When it comes to weight training,
it can generally be said that the more you put into it, the better you’ll look and feel. Of course,
this is assuming everything is going perfectly in your battle plan – the right
exercise routines for your goals, the ideal diet and
supplementation strategy, and the optimal recovery plan.
Take note of that last point – the recovery plan. Most beginners
and many intermediate trainees get the workout part right, and
sometimes even the diet and supplementation. But sadly, they usually
fail miserably on the recovery part of their programs. Muscles grow at
rest, not during the gym. A great number of newer trainees work
themselves to the bone in the gym and fail to allow their muscles to
recover fully before training them again. Then they wonder why they
fail to gain a pound of muscle in weeks – or even months. Most
alarming is that some fellows even lose the very muscle they’ve
worked so hard to build! In a word, they are overtrained, and they need to adjust their
attitude and approach if they’re ever going to get their physiques back into growth mode.
So
what exactly does "overtraining" mean, and how does it happen? Simply
put, overtraining is a state your body enters into when the workload
you subject it to is greater than the body’s recovery capacity.
Typically, your body is trained too often and/or with too much
intensity, and not given enough rest to fully recuperate and rebuild.
Overtraining can result in lowered testosterone levels as well as a
lower ratio of testosterone to cortisol, which can leave your body in a
state of zero-growth that must be corrected immediately.
What also happens from overtraining is
that your central nervous system (located in the brain and spinal
column) becomes overtaxed, especially when you train to (and past)
failure regularly. The nervous system is responsible for generating the
impulses that cause your muscles to contract. When training to failure
on a consistent basis without allowing for optimal recuperation, the
central nervous system will inhibit its own output to help protect
itself. The result is a decrease in neural drive, causing fatigue and a
decrease in focus and motivation.
To recap, many trainees believe they can train just about every single
day with the same volume and intensity in every session. They later
realize they cannot, and their bodies exhibit several undesirable
symptoms.
There are many warning signs of overtraining. While one or a few of
them might not necessarily mean you’re overtrained (consult your
doctor as illness might be the culprit), if several of these 17
symptoms appear consistently during or after a series of hard workouts,
it might spell trouble. They are as follows:
·Persistent soreness and
stiffness in the muscles,
tendons, and joints
·Constipation or diarrhea
·Soft, spongy-feeling
muscles
·A loss of weight (often
muscle)
·Swelling of the armpits,
groin, and lymph nodes
which are in the neck)
·An elevated resting heart
rate
·Headaches
·Loss of libido
·Fatigue, sluggishness, and
heavy-leggedness
·A lack of a pump during
your workouts (overtraining
causes the nervous system
to stop pumping blood into
the capillaries)
·An obvious loss of muscle
size, and/or muscles
appearing smoothed out
and soft
·A general lack of motivation
towards training
·Loss of appetite
·Mood changes
·A weakened immune
system, leading possibly
to illness
·Nervousness and difficulty
relaxing
·Impaired coordination
Do these symptoms seem to describe
your current state? If so, and the culprit is overtraining, you must
take action right away. And the best advice for an overtrainer? Do
nothing … sort of!
The ironic thing about
overtraining is that well-intentioned but misguided athletes see
themselves shrinking and mistakenly believe they just have to work
harder to make gains. Unfortunately, they merely compound their
problems and end up losing even more size. In this macho age in which
guys are urged to tough it out, you need to have the good sense to
recognize overtraining and the courage to take time away from the gym
to rest.
How much time should you take off from your training? Simple – as
long as your body needs. In extreme cases of overtraining, some
individuals have had to take up to a full year away from the gym to let
their bodies heal and their systems regenerate! Be warned: If you train
a body part with maximum intensity and poundages, and recruit as many
muscle fibers as possible, it could take 5 to 10 days to fully heal!
Sleep is your ally for recovery and safeguarding against overtraining.
It might sound like a cliché, but eight hours is a good goal to
strive for under normal circumstances. However, if you are training
particularly hard (e.g., for a competition), or you engage in extra
physical activity, or you have added stress in your life (e.g., from
your job or relationships), you might require up to 10 hours or more of
uninterrupted sleep. What’s more, you’ll need good-quality
sleep over a period of time. Catching up on sleep on the weekends
helps, but isn’t as effective as regular nightly sleep.
Other precautions you might consider in your effort to prevent overtraining:
1.
Use periodization in your yearly training schedule. Periodization is a
way of dividing your training into phases usually lasting anywhere from
three to six weeks in duration. Phases might include cycles of high,
medium, or low intensity or variations in weights, sets and reps, or
workout durations. Typically, a few weeks of high-intensity training
would be followed up with several weeks of low-intensity training to
prevent overtraining. The body simply cannot produce a maximum output
over a lengthy period of time.
2.
Train different body parts on different days so you’re hitting them a maximum of once or twice a week,
but never two days in a row.
3.
Reduce the poundages and intensity if you’re bordering on overtraining.
4.
Shorten your workouts to a maximum of 45 minutes by reducing some of the sets.
5.
Schedule rest days into your program (two days on, then one or two days off).
6.
Eat healthily and use supplements to increase your glycogen and creatine stores. A top-notch creatine
formula such as Cell-Tech™ will help immensely.
7.
Use massage therapy to remove lactic acid buildup in muscles and to increase blood flow for transport of nutrients.
And there you have it
– a safety plan to guard against overtraining. Memorize and
practice it, and you’ll find yourself enjoying continued muscle
growth and strength increases over the years.
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