I'm Worried I'm Overtraining...

[ItalianoVero]

I've looked on the site's search area about this topic but I figure it's different person to person so I wanted to get feedback on my specific routine.* I've been lifting for a couple of years but never really got strict about it like I am now (With diet, intensity, supps, etc..) I'm afraid I'm hitting my muscles to hard for to many sets but i'm not sure. At the moment I'm doing a 3 day split followed by 1 day of rest, ultimately going 72+ hours until I hit the same muscle group again. I do about 45 min of cardio after weights and in addition to my weight training+cardio, I do fairly intense MMA training 4 days a week (Mon-Thurs)

Monday:

Chest/Tri's/Shoulders (Pyramid Style For Now, Just Testing It Out)
- Incline Bench 7 Sets - Pyramid
- Incline Flys- 5/6 Sets- Pyramid
- Flat Flys- 5/6 Sets- Pyramid
- Standing Flys- 4 Sets
---
- Kickbacks- 2 Sets
- ?Overhead Tricep?- 7 Sets- Pyramid
---
- Front Shoulder Raise
- Side Shoulder Raise
- ?Lateral Raise? (Arms bent at 90 degrees)
- Military Press
(All shoulder exercises performed one after another, 4x over, Pyramid style)

Tuesday:
Back/Bi's-

- Lawnmowers- 7 Sets- Pyramid
- Bentover Flys- 7 Sets- Pyramid
- Deadlifts- 4 Sets
- Upright Row- 4 Sets
---
- Dumbell Curls- 7 Sets- Pyramid
- Hammer Curls- 7 Sets- Pyramid
- 21's

Wednsday
Traps/Squats/Core

- Shrugs- 7 Sets-Pyramid

Thurs- Rest

In addition I'm training MMA which is pretty hardcore cardio and endurance training plus tough on the joints

I'm mainly concerned about the old school pyramid style, I just started using it last week and my muscles got
more sore than ever.* Overall I'm looking to cut fat, get more definition but still need to gain muscle and get stronger

Also is the volume of exercise on the chest tri n shoulder day to much?* Is there a better way to split my
workouts for the best gains?

 

[SRS2000]

If you are doing a significant amount of cardio and intense MMA 4 times a week, this looks like way too much in my opinion. You only have so much recovery capacity and you are using alot of it to recover from all the MMA stuff.
A whole body lifting session 2x per week would suit your schedule better. Stick with compound movements that hit lots of muscle groups at once. Something like bench, squat, and rows one day and overhead press, deadlift, and pull-ups another day. Do 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps starting with a moderate weight and adding weight to the bar each week until you can't hit the prescribed reps, then start the cycle over. This will allow you to build strength without changing your weight too much. If you are looking to build large amounts of additional muscle mass it's going to be very very difficult with your current schedule since you are doing so much besides just lifting.

 

[ntornado]

I think you need to look at your exercise selection. 3 types of flyes for chest????? Kickbacks?????????????????????

I wish kickbacks would fall off the face of the earth.

 

[tubbednova]

If you think your overtraining then somethings going on to make you think that.To make a long story short i thought i was and i did!To much is not better!!

 

[divo006]

usually what i will do is skip one day..for example

i workout monday, wednesday, friday, and saturday. if i feel i am at a plateau i will start the next week skiping mondays workout while continueing wed, fri, sat. then the next week hit mon, skip wed, fri, sat...so on and so forth. get my drift?

 

[CoorsLight126]

You are overtraining. The problem with 90% of people who work out is they want results so bad they have to be involved with weights or cardio in some form at least 5-6x/wk. Cut your workouts in half, when you stop getting results this way chop them in half again. Now your growing

 

[KBD]

My Routine is:

Monday- Chest Tris Bis
Tuesday- Back Shoulders
Wed- Legs
Thursday- Chest Tris Bis
Friday- Back Shoulders
Sat- Legs
Sun- Off

Im also on gear and eating alot so overtraining isnt really going to happen. I never do the same exercises every workout, i switch up the routine for chest every time. Sometimes ill start out with Bench, Sometimes flies, sometimes dips. Just keep the body guessing. I dont get sore anymore either, but that has alot to due with my diet as well.

But overtraining is actually harder to do than people think, however with your intense cardio/MMA training i would use caution esp if your not on gear.

 

[Pencil_Neck]

My Routine is:

Monday- Chest Tris Bis
Tuesday- Back Shoulders
Wed- Legs
Thursday- Chest Tris Bis
Friday- Back Shoulders
Sat- Legs
Sun- Off

Im also on gear and eating alot so overtraining isnt really going to happen. I never do the same exercises every workout, i switch up the routine for chest every time. Sometimes ill start out with Bench, Sometimes flies, sometimes dips. Just keep the body guessing. I dont get sore anymore either, but that has alot to due with my diet as well.

But overtraining is actually harder to do than people think, however with your intense cardio/MMA training i would use caution esp if your not on gear.

how is overtraining harder to do? its quite the opposite in most cases

 

[R1balla]

Mon - chest/3 sets of tri (my shoulders always get sore, thats why i dont have a shoulder day...i have proportioned shoulders...if this changes, i will change this routine)
Tues - back/3 sets of bi
Wed OFF
Thurs Legs/rear delt
Fri - Arms
Sat/Sun OFF

also, my rep ranges are as follows
week one 3 to 6
week two 8 to 12
week three 12 to 15

i also change my routine quite often

 

[kanakafarian]

My Routine is:

Monday- Chest Tris Bis
Tuesday- Back Shoulders
Wed- Legs
Thursday- Chest Tris Bis
Friday- Back Shoulders
Sat- Legs
Sun- Off

Im also on gear and eating alot so overtraining isnt really going to happen. I never do the same exercises every workout, i switch up the routine for chest every time. Sometimes ill start out with Bench, Sometimes flies, sometimes dips. Just keep the body guessing. I dont get sore anymore either, but that has alot to due with my diet as well.

But overtraining is actually harder to do than people think, however with your intense cardio/MMA training i would use caution esp if your not on gear.

This is almost the same as my routine too. And I agree, overtraining is overrated. But that's just my opinion. If I work a bodypart once a week, I'll stall. I need to hit a muscle every 3rd or 4th day to progress, and I've been training for 17+ years so I know what my body needs.

 

[KBD]

how is overtraining harder to do? its quite the opposite in most cases

Because it is dude, if your eating enough protein and calories and carbs, the body is getting its nutrition. I have grown more from this routine than training each bodypart once a week. I mean yeah im on gear too, but a very low dose test (200mg).

So im pretty much at a little bit higher than natural level but my diet is spot on.

 

[Pencil_Neck]

Because it is dude, if your eating enough protein and calories and carbs, the body is getting its nutrition. I have grown more from this routine than training each bodypart once a week. I mean yeah im on gear too, but a very low dose test (200mg).

So im pretty much at a little bit higher than natural level but my diet is spot on.

Well I dont know the breakdown of your routine, but generally speaking overtraining is easy to achieve. You can get all the nutrients and protein you want, but your body is only going to recover at a certain capacity that your nervous system can handle.

 

[shocknyou]

I think you need to look at your exercise selection. 3 types of flyes for chest????? Kickbacks?????????????????????

I wish kickbacks would fall off the face of the earth.

:toofunny:

I love kickbacks but then again I don't use dumbells to do them.

 

[Pencil_Neck]

kick backs are pretty feminine, hardly ever see dudes do them, even though 90% of them in commercial gyms are feminine anyway

 

[swollen87]

kick backs are pretty feminine, hardly ever see dudes do them, even though 90% of them in commercial gyms are feminine anyway

there is nothing feminine against kickbacks..

pencil d*ck




edit* and btw... your cns recovers faster than your muscles...

in response to your last post...


overtraining is both HARD to do and very hard to recognize/diagnose... each body part should/can be hit 2 or 3 times a week (think HST)

eat enough and sleep enough and f*ck enough... you should be straight...

or you can just shoot some test.. then youll also be straight

 

[Pencil_Neck]

no not all, except for being a gay ass useless exercise

 

[Pencil_Neck]

there is nothing feminine against kickbacks..

pencil d*ck




edit* and btw... your cns recovers faster than your muscles...

in response to your last post...


overtraining is both HARD to do and very hard to recognize/diagnose... each body part should/can be hit 2 or 3 times a week (think HST)

eat enough and sleep enough and f*ck enough... you should be straight...

or you can just shoot some test.. then youll also be straight

2 times a week is definitely optimal. It all depends on volume and intensity as well.

 

[swollen87]

no not all, except for being a gay ass useless exercise

theres a few gay dudes in my gym that would prob wreck you for that comment LOL

try doing strict kickbacks with 45lb dumbells for 4 sets of 10 .... PLEASE just try it once.... i dont think u will knock kickbacks anymore.... your arms will be fried

a more useless exercise are curls... curls are for girls

2 times a week is definitely optimal. It all depends on volume and intensity as well.

this is correct... its different for each person though... for OP... i would maybe try quick hard workouts in the gym (if your not doing this already)

dont try to murder your muscle each day, maybe try a light week and a heavy week... see how your body reacts...

im the kind of person that can lift at 5 am, go to work all day long (construction) go to wrestling practice... and then still have gas and energy for cardio at night...

sometimes i lift every day for 2 or 3 weeks before i take a real day off...

things might be different for you... for me, its not the overtraining aspect that gets me..... its the fact that i CANNOT eat enough calories in a day to keep it going sometimes

 

[Pencil_Neck]

theres a few gay dudes in my gym that would prob wreck you for that comment LOL

try doing strict kickbacks with 45lb dumbells for 4 sets of 10 .... PLEASE just try it once.... i dont think u will knock kickbacks anymore.... your arms will be fried

a more useless exercise are curls... curls are for girls



this is correct... its different for each person though... for OP... i would maybe try quick hard workouts in the gym (if your not doing this already)

dont try to murder your muscle each day, maybe try a light week and a heavy week... see how your body reacts...

im the kind of person that can lift at 5 am, go to work all day long (construction) go to wrestling practice... and then still have gas and energy for cardio at night...

sometimes i lift every day for 2 or 3 weeks before i take a real day off...

things might be different for you... for me, its not the overtraining aspect that gets me..... its the fact that i CANNOT eat enough calories in a day to keep it going sometimes

thats why its easy to overtrain...Most people, especially when they are beginners, cannot gauge what is enough and do more than is necessary. As long as you are doing compound exercises you dont need to do 15 sets of exercises for shoulders and 3 different exercises for flies (lol)

 

[shocknyou]

kick backs are pretty feminine, hardly ever see dudes do them, even though 90% of them in commercial gyms are feminine anyway

I use an exercise band that is weighted as 100 lbs then do kickbacks on each arm simultaneously. I feel a pump that is second to none when I'm done. Thus kickbacks work for me. :firedevil:

 

[thetinyguy]

thats why its easy to overtrain...Most people, especially when they are beginners, cannot gauge what is enough and do more than is necessary. As long as you are doing compound exercises you dont need to do 15 sets of exercises for shoulders and 3 different exercises for flies (lol)

I agree ^^^
When i first started i thought more was better and i ultimately worked up to 2-2.5 hours in the gym which actually worked for a while but then my weight gain stopped my appetite started dipping down (first sign i was over trained i could only eat like half of what i usually did. Because as you lift heavier weights it puts more stress on recovery and you need either shorter more intense workouts or longer breaks in between sessions or even both) So i would just FORCE down meals thinking it would make me gain again and i ended up just gaining some fat. Moral of the story is as you get stronger and your gains start to slow down try cutting your workouts down and making them more intense or increase your rest between sessions. It's been 2 weeks and my appetite is so crazy I've never been able to eat this much EVER and this is just natural hunger not throwing down meals! I grabbed onto the concept just in time, Give it a shot and just concentrate on doing 2-3 ALL OUT sets putting forth everything you've got and you'll be able to get in/get out in a relatively short amount of time and make great progress. Make sure your sufficiently challenging yourself though that's what will make you progress significantly. Hope this helps you out man! :yup:

 

[seccsi]

I'm starting to swing in the opposite way in regards to overtraining. Obviously you can overtrain and it is something to be concerned about...but I know about a year ago I was so worried about overtraining after reading article after article that I stopped working hard in fear of it. Sounds stupid I know, but it happened.

Now I just go balls to the walls as often as I can and take time when I need to. If I don't feel like training I probably need a day off. If I still don't feel like it I need another one. But I'm not going to worry so much about it anymore. Certainly not to the point where I don't train hard in "fear" of it.