jack3d=>fatigue+illness=overtr aining?

[nycboy80]

Hey,

So I don't know what's up with my body lately. I ordered some Jack3d about a month ago, and I started getting some great workouts. I do a two day split that looks roughly as follows:

Chest/Triceps/Shoulders day:
3 sets assisted dips
3 sets flat bench press
3 sets cable crossovers
3 sets military press
2 sets lateral and front dumbell raises
2 sets cable tricep extensions
2 sets close grip pushups
2 sets reverse dumbell flyes
hanging leg lifts, hanging knee lifts
incline situps
2 sets weighted oblique hyperextensions
15-20 minutes cardio (elliptical)

Legs/Biceps/Back day:
3 sets assisted wide grip pullup
3 sets single-leg angled leg press followed by calf raises
3 sets wide grip pulldowns
2 sets standing cable rows
3 sets standing bicep curls
3 sets squats
2 sets bent over dumb rows
2 sets seated incline dumbell curls (lighter weight 15-20 per arm)
2 sets leg curls
2 sets good girl machine, 2 sets bad girl machine (lolz dunno the technical term)
hanging leg lifts, hanging knee lifts
2 sets weighted oblique hyperextensions
15-20 minutes cardio (elliptical)

I pick the weight to do 6-8 reps of everything. This usually takes me about 90 minutes, and i'm quite beat afterwards and have a protein shake (muscle milk). At first I was able to do two days on, one day off, with the occasional two days off. But after like a week or two, I got sick. And then when I started to go back to the gym, I got sick again a week later. Now I'm finally better, but I'm sleeping a lot more than I used to. Yesterday I did a chest/tricep/shoulder day, and had to nap for a few hours, and then slept for 9-10 hours at night.

I'm 29, 5'11 and about 200 pounds. I'm only benching 145 or so, my angled leg press for one leg is 180, so I'm not doing some pscyho huge muscleguy workout.

Could I possibly be overtraining? Am I not reacting properly to the jack3d stuff? It feels like my body is trying to tell me that I'm doing something wrong, but I feel like my body should be up to these workouts and able to function normally.

 

[drivehard]

What is your diet and sleep like? If either of these is off, it could easily explain your problems.

 

[nycboy80]

Diet is probably sufficient calories/protein, but I could be wrong. Breakfast is usually a whole wheat bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese. Lunch or dinner is a protein shake with frozen fruit+yogurt thrown in, probably 500 calories in there, and the other meal will be a 6-800 calorie freshdirect microwave dinner. I'll usually have a 200ish calorie snack (mmm zonebars).

Sleep is kind of the problem, i'm a grad student and I don't have much class, so I *can* sleep for 14 hours like I did yesterday, but I'd really rather not...

 

[drivehard]

YIKES!!!

You are NOT eating enough to gain any size. Think 200 grams+ or protein. Most guys on here are consuming 1.5 grams per pound bodyweight, I try to stay at 1.0 grams per pound! EAT MORE! You need a mid-morning snack, you need whole, REAL food for lunch, you need an afternoon snack, a good dinner, and an evening snack! Just to MAINTAIN your weight with a Sedentary life style (NO WORKING OUT) you need 2500 calories a day!! If you are working out, walking to class, etc. you probably need 3500+ to make any gains. It sounds like you are barely topping 2000 calories per day...EAT!!!!!

You don't need 14 hours of sleep...but you do need a solid 7 to 8 hours a night!!!

 

[brownstown89]

what you should do is do a 20 gram or so protien shake with each meal that helps add calories and protien to each meal... eat alot thats the hardest part to i think.

 

[bLacKjAck.]

Ditto on the two above posters. It's not the supplement man, Jack3d or anything else. Your not recovering and I believe your diet is the reason why, you need more protein. I like brownstown's idea - seems sufficient and doable. There are a million ways to do it.

 

[nycboy80]

Okay,
So it seems like the consensus is that 20-25 set workouts with cardio isn't overkill, but I think I'm going to switch to a 3 day split with more like 10-15 sets instead just to be on the safe side.
I hear what you're saying about the diet, but I'm really almost never hungry, and I've still got probably 15%-18% bodyfat that I'd like to at least knock a few points off of. Should I just do more cardio days?
Thanks

 

[brownstown89]

ok if ur not hungry drink a shake with every meal. those wont be hard to down if ur not hungry

 

[riskarb]

I think you're split leaves a lot to be desired. Go more conventional with a 4-split with more compound lifts.

 

[getswole3332]

i think you should do a four day split...jack3d is great but maybe you are doin too many scoopes bra....i feel sick if i do 3....my friend does five lol. you could also react badly to jack3d...try some NO xplode.

 

[bigmoe65]

I think you're split leaves a lot to be desired. Go more conventional with a 4-split with more compound lifts.

Exactly. Your rountine sucks. 3-4 day split will give you more time to recover.

 

[nycboy80]

yeah i only do 1.5-2 scoops, it doesn't hit my stomach so great.

any links to the more conventional four day split?

 

[riskarb]

yeah i only do 1.5-2 scoops, it doesn't hit my stomach so great.

any links to the more conventional four day split?

Here's a start: http://exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html#anchor1682800

 

[nycboy80]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I've started eating a bit more, spreading out meals and snacking, and I switched to a 3 day split. However, I'm still finding that I'm exhausted all the time. I found a webpage that neatly summarized my symptoms, much to my surprise:

w\w\w.naturalnews.com/019339_adrenal_fatigue_adrenal_glands_chronic_stress.htm
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue:

* Morning fatigue -- You don't really seem to "wake up" until 10 a.m., even if you've been awake since 7 a.m.
* Afternoon "low" (feelings of sleepiness or clouded thinking) from 2 to 4 p.m.
* Burst of energy at 6 p.m. -- You finally feel better from your afternoon lull.
* Sleepiness at 9 to 10 p.m. -- However, you resist going to sleep.
* "Second wind" at 11 p.m. that lasts until about 1 a.m., when you finally go to sleep.

That pretty much exactly described how I felt, down to the hour. So, no more jack3d for me. I had been using 1.5 to 2 scoops, 3x a week for the better part of two months, and I think it's just too much for me to handle. I'm starting to feel a little better. If I'm not back to 100% by next week I'll probably try Reset AD or somesuch.

 

[drivehard]

Thanks for the helpful replies. I've started eating a bit more, spreading out meals and snacking, and I switched to a 3 day split. However, I'm still finding that I'm exhausted all the time. I found a webpage that neatly summarized my symptoms, much to my surprise:

w\w\w.naturalnews.com/019339_adrenal_fatigue_adrenal_glands_chronic_stress.htm
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue:

* Morning fatigue -- You don't really seem to "wake up" until 10 a.m., even if you've been awake since 7 a.m.
* Afternoon "low" (feelings of sleepiness or clouded thinking) from 2 to 4 p.m.
* Burst of energy at 6 p.m. -- You finally feel better from your afternoon lull.
* Sleepiness at 9 to 10 p.m. -- However, you resist going to sleep.
* "Second wind" at 11 p.m. that lasts until about 1 a.m., when you finally go to sleep.

That pretty much exactly described how I felt, down to the hour. So, no more jack3d for me. I had been using 1.5 to 2 scoops, 3x a week for the better part of two months, and I think it's just too much for me to handle. I'm starting to feel a little better. If I'm not back to 100% by next week I'll probably try Reset AD or somesuch.

How about going to bed at 9:00 when you first get tired instead of pushing through it?

 

[nycboy80]

How about going to bed at 9:00 when you first get tired instead of pushing through it?

Because it makes me tired all day, though not quite tired enough to fall asleep at 9pm (the *ed part was me quoting the webpage that it wouldn't let me link). I also think it's ridiculous to adopt the sleep schedule of an 8 year old so that I can abuse my endocrine system to squeeze out slightly better workouts.

These kinds of stims clearly don't agree with my body, and I'm not willing to disregard that or pay any price to get a little bit more buff. I'm aware there are people out there (and probably on here) with different priorities in life, and I wish them well.

 

[drivehard]

Because it makes me tired all day, though not quite tired enough to fall asleep at 9pm (the *ed part was me quoting the webpage that it wouldn't let me link). I also think it's ridiculous to adopt the sleep schedule of an 8 year old so that I can abuse my endocrine system to squeeze out slightly better workouts.

These kinds of stims clearly don't agree with my body, and I'm not willing to disregard that or pay any price to get a little bit more buff. I'm aware there are people out there (and probably on here) with different priorities in life, and I wish them well.

I go to bed at 9 to 9:30 every night...that makes me an 8 year old?
Get up, get out of bed and do some light cardio...heck, just run a couple miles. Getting the blood flowing first thing in the day will energize you the whole day through.

The truth is, you have to light your own fire to get going. I went to college too, I know the feelings you are talking about. You are NOT meant to stay up until midnight or 1 every day of your life. 10:00pm is plenty late to be going to bed. I bet if you were getting up earlier, you could be going to bed earlier...and working your self out of this. Yup, I go to bed early...but that is because I get up at 4:30 to hit the gym. I can tell you for sure, I am energized all day up to about 9:00...and I hit a brick wall. Sure I can power through it and stay up later every day...but that I can't get up, and I am tired.

I AM NOT saying stimulents are your thing, or that you should rely on them to get you out of this. I am saying I don't think that is causing this, and you need to look at your lifestyle, sleeping, and eating as a whole. Take a step back and make sure you have the basics in order...not what is comfortable, but what is GOOD for you!