How do you know if ur overtraining?

j0sh710 · 07-25-2007, 12:27 PM

Is there any way to tell if you are overtraining? Is there anything you will notice?

Nitrox · 07-25-2007, 02:40 PM

Yes.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtraining

For me the most pronounced symptoms are insomnia (takes a long time to fall asleep and sleep is restless) and more frequent colds.

j0sh710 · 07-25-2007, 04:53 PM

ok thanks i will read it.

bishop17 · 07-25-2007, 08:25 PM

Just don't workout a muscle thats still sore...even if its a little sore...thats a for sure way to avoid overtraining

j0sh710 · 07-25-2007, 11:15 PM

allright thanks for the tip man.

neoborn · 07-26-2007, 01:18 AM

Yeah that rings true for me. Not the sleep thing but colds, if I am rundown, body can't keep up with stress from gym, then the cold comes on quick, 2 - 3 day'r.

Hope this helps and "never stop seeking"

Much love,

Neoborn

SteelEntity · 07-26-2007, 01:38 AM

When I have absolutely no motivation to go to the gym I know I am over training because I usually look forward to hitting the weights. So I take 3-4 days off or do light volume and weight for 1-2 weeks. Often the best gains occur during this time.

Jet · 07-26-2007, 11:14 AM

I definitely have some pretty intense sleep issues when I overtrain. I'll either suddenly wake up right as my eyes are closing (for hours,) or I'll get very light sleep that doesn't really provide much rest

machine528 · 07-26-2007, 11:30 AM

For the first 3-4 years when i started working out i was definatly overtrained. The first signs was my blood pressure gets high, my heart rate is high. I couldnt sleep at all. When i got to the gym i really didnt want to be there so i abused ephedra and caffeine to get myself motivated. I had a very very hard time getting as lean as i wanted to, even though i was lifting 1.5 hours and doing 1.5 hours of cardio

.... I continued to ignore these symptoms and would end up developing tendonitis in my joints. I would also ignore colds and flus and continue to overtrain... i ended up getting pneumonia and thats when i turned myself around. I now workout for 45 minutes and maybe do 20 minutes of HIT cardio. It took me almost 2 years to finally get my body back to normal. WHen i was overtrained i was 190 pds and it was a struggle to keep my bf low. Now i am 220 and am leaner than i was at 190.

DriverDan · 07-26-2007, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bishop17

Just don't workout a muscle thats still sore...even if its a little sore...thats a for sure way to avoid overtraining

Just because a muscle is sore doesn't mean it needs more rest.

j0sh710 · 07-26-2007, 09:03 PM

really good advice, SteelEntity i no what you mean i really enjoy hitting those weights. And if i was overtraining i probably wouldn't.

bishop17 · 07-26-2007, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DriverDan

Just because a muscle is sore doesn't mean it needs more rest.

It might the only for sure way though

SteelEntity · 07-27-2007, 02:02 AM

Just because because a muscle is not sore doesn't mean it is fully recouperated and ready to be hit again. Quads especially may need up to 9 days to recover.

EctoPower · 07-27-2007, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelEntity

Just because because a muscle is not sore doesn't mean it is fully recouperated and ready to be hit again. Quads especially may need up to 9 days to recover.

9 days seems a tad long to me. Although, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I keep it simple. Regardless of body part, everything gets 7 days, unless I'm switching up my schedule which may throw things off by a day or two just for that week. One or two body parts per day Mon-Fri. Rinse and repeat. No overtraining.

Overtraining really has nothing to do with soreness anyway and there are different types of soreness. Lactic acid build-up causes soreness and micro-tears in the muscle cause soreness. They feel completely different and go away at different rates. Back when I used to spend 90 minutes in the gym doing 10-15 sets of everything, I would be sore for 2-5 days. That was lactic acid. Now I just get micro-tears and that soreness only lasts a day or so.

And I still let the muscles recover for 7 days. That's just the method I use.

DriverDan · 07-27-2007, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelEntity

Just because because a muscle is not sore doesn't mean it is fully recouperated and ready to be hit again. Quads especially may need up to 9 days to recover.

Can you cite research to back that up?

Nitrox · 07-27-2007, 12:16 PM

I don't think that it is a good idea to start quoting general time requirements (days) for recovery since it is highly individual based on genetics and training regimen. Training heavy and to failure is hard on the CNS but may not have concurrent muscle soreness. HST on the other hand cycles reps/weights, is lower volume, and each muscle group is meant to be trained several times per week. As usual it all depends...

EctoPower · 07-27-2007, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitrox

I don't think that it is a good idea to start quoting general time requirements (days) for recovery since it is highly individual based on genetics and training regimen. Training heavy and to failure is hard on the CNS but may not have concurrent muscle soreness. HST on the other hand cycles reps/weights, is lower volume, and is each muscle group is meant to be trained several times per week. As usual it all depends...

Yep good point. As with anything else, people react/respond differently.

SteelEntity · 07-27-2007, 01:59 PM

[quote=DriverDan;926431]Can you cite research to back that up?[/QUOT

I'll try and find a source but I do remember reading about this a lot in the past. When muscle soreness subsides that just indicates that the initial damge to the muscle has been healed but it doesn't mean that the new growth to strengthen the muscle has taken place. Just think about it though, if you are an experienced lifter then it is doubtful muscle soreness for say chest will last more th