Overtraining
How do I know if Im overtraining? As it is right now I do around 12-16 sets per body part once a week,
Mon chest, tris, cardio
Tue back, bis, abs
Wed Cardio
Thu Legs, abs
Fri Shou, traps, cardio
will sometimes go in on a Saturday to blast my bis and tris
Any feedback would be appreciated, thanx
Overtraining
Good info man, thanks, one confusing thing though...Ive always thought that youre ALWAYS supposed to fail somewhere in the target rep range and it was that last couple of reps that you struggle with that gain you the most...for ex, If I want to go 4-6 reps, Ill select a weight I know that I wil fail somewhwere in that range...
You bring up a good point.
It depends on what you're goals are.
I should also redefine failure.
There is "failure"
"absolute failure"
and "negatives" in this discussion.
I'm glad you brought this up. Failure is your goal for every set in bodybuilding.
Failure: Executing as many repetitions as you can with quality form. Stopping when you know you will not be able to get the next one, or when you stop with your last rep not being fully executed.
-> Its often difficult to "know" if the next rep will completely bury you, or if in fact you will be able to get the next rep.. So that takes time. But going until all your reps except your last one are perfect for is also a good way of hitting failure.
Absolute failure: Going to failure, and adding a few "looser" formed or "cheat" repetitions. "Cheating" can also be having a spotter help you execute few reps with quality form that you could not normally get yourself.
negatives are the as the other comment.
Absolute failure should only be done similar to the way I described below, over the course of 4 weeks (as an example)
Bodybuilding!
Week 1: Normal. Every set is done to normal "failure".
Week 2: Normal. Every set is done to normal "failure".
Week 3: Last set of every exercise is to absolute failure or is a negative set
Week 4: Every set of every exercise is to absolute failure. (This will leave you completely drained!!!)
Thanks for clearing that up,
Thanks for clearing that up, Im changing up my routine after next week...I will incorporate that, a little more structure keepts it interesting
No, thank you :-p
I hate to give out erroneous information :(.
One sign..
IF you're completely healthy and you wake up one morning with a sore throat, be weary. One of my natural bodybuilding friends (well she's actually a figure competitor) taught me this.
Also, if you find you're not completely recovered from one workout to the next, then its very likely you're overtraining. I wouldnt do complete failure with negatives every week either, in case you are.
How many repetitions per set are you doing??
Sorry i didnt respond sooner, I just dont have much information other than "its all in how you feel."
If you're eating right and getting proper rest, and you're STILL not recovering soon enough for your workouts, then you're overtraining.
Here's more common signs of over training:
* Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
* Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
* Pain in muscles and joints
* Sudden drop in performance
* Insomnia
* Headaches
* Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
* Decrease in training capacity / intensity
* Moodiness and irritability
* Depression
* Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
* Decreased appetite
* Increased incidence of injuries [1]
[1] Sports Medicine, About.com
Overtraining
My reps depend on the exercise...chest, for ex.,...I swith up every month or so but right now I start DB flat bench for 4-6 reps, decline BB for
4-6, Incline DB flyes 10-12 and pullovers 10-12... If I use cables iLL GO 12-15...Im usually over my soreness by the end of the next day so I guess Im OK...My diets pretty good, lots of protein... about the negatives, you recommend the last rep of each set, or just the last rep of the last set of a particular exercise? Every other week? Failure on every set?
Thanks for the help
Failure
Failure is when you perform as many quality repetitions as you can and then stop knowing that you will not be able to get the next rep without cheating in form.
Let's say you can do 11 quality repetitions of a dumbell bicep curl. Failure would be peformning exactly 11. You do not have to "attempt" a 12th and fail at it in order for that entire set to be considered a failure set.
The context I use the term "negatives" in refers to the entire set. So if I told you to do a "negative set" The entire set would be where you perform the eccentric (the resistance part) and your partner lifts on the concentric (the 'explosive' part).
Bench Press for example: On the way down with the bar is the eccentric. When you have the bar on your chest and your pushing up to lockout would be considered the concentric.
Negatives are useful because you can put a heavier weight than your muscles would normally be able to handle and this helps create the idea of "overloading" the muscles. (Overloading is simply using a loose form in order to perform repetitions with a weight you cannot successfully use with good form)
Okay, so when to do negatives, and when to go to failure?
Both negatives and going to failure are difficult for the muscles to recover from
I would suggest this:
In one month's time (4 weeks). I would do 1 week where the last set of every exercise you perform is a failure set or negative set. So thats one 1 f 4 weeks. I would also do 1 week where every set of every exercise is to failure.
Usually when I do that, my month looks like this:
Week 1: Normal
Week 2: Normal
Week 3: Last set of every exercise is to failure or is a negative set
Week 4: Every set of every exercise is to failure. (This will leave you completely drained!!!)
Great post Steve.
Great post Steve.
Hey thanks
I've personally felt a lot of those signs of overtraining, and in hindsight I realize that they were probably heavily correlated with overtraining. Some of them I knew, at the time, were due to overtraining.
In the two years now that I've been training now, I have to admit I haven't fell prey to overtraining too much, which I am thankful for! But definitely the "Loss of interest" and the "depression" were probably the worst feelings.
I have not ever experienced insomnia due to overtraining I dont think. I have had insomnia before , but that was my crappy late-night habits turning into a lifestyle LOL.
The idea behind negatives and failure is just my personal "cumulative" take on it, but its based a lot on what I've learned from others that were valid sources (Jamo, Will [my brother], a lady I used to trained with in the mornings who was a Natural Pro, and many more heavily-scrutinized sources :-p)