overtraining, myth or fact?

[coltamatik]

I keep a regular workout schedule (or try to anyway) by let's say, Monday & Thursday mainly arms and the rest of week usually consists of chest, legs, back etc.. but it's kind of hard not to work arms everyday.. especially on a test, m-sten.. taking in 3k plus cals a day I just get this urge everyday to either lift biceps or tri's every single day.. no soreness at all but thoughts on is this good or bad .. ?

 

[Studdscruggs]

Fact! Especially arms are so easy to over train because of all the other body parts exercises that involve biceps and triceps!

But if you are on some added hormones, overtraining becomes a myth!!!

 

[Brandinooooo]

I keep a regular workout schedule (or try to anyway) by let's say, Monday & Thursday mainly arms and the rest of week usually consists of chest, legs, back etc.. but it's kind of hard not to work arms everyday.. especially on a test, m-sten.. taking in 3k plus cals a day I just get this urge everyday to either lift biceps or tri's every single day.. no soreness at all but thoughts on is this good or bad .. ?

Overtraining is definitely real. You should get on a structured routine. I say don't work the same groups everyday

 

[Lukewarmth94]

I keep a regular workout schedule (or try to anyway) by let's say, Monday & Thursday mainly arms and the rest of week usually consists of chest, legs, back etc.. but it's kind of hard not to work arms everyday.. especially on a test, m-sten.. taking in 3k plus cals a day I just get this urge everyday to either lift biceps or tri's every single day.. no soreness at all but thoughts on is this good or bad .. ?

You get back what you put in.if I'm not sore the next day I'm not progressing. Its all about form

 

[coltamatik]

Fact! Especially arms are so easy to over train because of all the other body parts exercises that involve biceps and triceps!

But if you are on some added hormones, overtraining becomes a myth!!!

Well I've heard so many people debate on the topic but never could get a def answer.. I heard a football player use to workout biceps every single day and he was HUGE! But I am on added hormones .. test and msten stack .. but I feel as if I can workout any and ever muscle group every day.. I have went up in weight since I have been doing this.

 

[rtmilburn]

Overtraining isnt a myth. However, it's A LOT HARDER to get then most people to think. If you have sleep and diet dailed in, you can train a TON before you reached over training. When I was at my peak I was training 2 times a day for 2to3 hours each. Made insane gains completely natural only taking creatine protein supplement to reach optimal macros

 

[booneman77]

What you're talking about is not "overtraining" as its defined.

You're talking about excessive training - just not giving the muscle time to recover. Training the same muscles, especially anywhere close to failure of any type, is going to be counterproductive.

You grow OUTSIDE the gym. Its the recovery period that rebuilds the muscle, not the training. Think of it this way, if you want to grow a nice, full beard, you dont shave it every day... You let it grow, trim a little, grow a little, trim a little, etc... eventually its long, full, and well groomed, vs the guy who just keeps trying to shave it into that perfect shape and never lets it fill out.

Overtraining is a CNS issue and yes, its real. However, its nearly impossible for any layman to achieve as it takes some seriously rigorous training (Im talking competition level, not the "bro, I go HAM at the gym" level) as well as diet/sleep and other factors.

 

[210LBS]

I never touched hormones so I cannot really respond to that aspect of it. However, as someone who is natural, there is no possible way for me to train arms every day without over training - impossible. Maybe I just don't recover as fast as everyone else but training each muscle group even twice a week is difficult for me. If I trained chest on Monday there is no possible way it will be recovered until Friday. Keep in mind I am doing volume training though. If I were doing high intensity it would be vastly different. As far as volume training is concerned, I get weaker from workout to workout if I train each muscle group more than once a week.

 

[rtmilburn]

I never touched hormones so I cannot really respond to that aspect of it. However, as someone who is natural, there is no possible way for me to train arms every day without over training - impossible. Maybe I just don't recover as fast as everyone else but training each muscle group even twice a week is difficult for me. If I trained chest on Monday there is no possible way it will be recovered until Friday. Keep in mind I am doing volume training though. If I were doing high intensity it would be vastly different. As far as volume training is concerned, I get weaker from workout to workout if I train each muscle group more than once a week.

Youre confusing muscle soreness and overtraining. Overtraining is a CNS thing not muscle. You would not feel sore. You would be insanely weak, tired, and probably feel really sick.

 

[Juicedeez utz]

Like the other boys said OT is hard to reach, we're talking 3 hours running, weight training and then basketball or something everyday for example! IMO I wouldn't train anything ED, on cycle or not, like someone mentioned you grow outside the gym and muscle soreness doesn't mean much! I feel only a touch sore after an insane leg session after all this time. I train twice a day too when not on and it works nicely, I have 1 rest day a week and never had any problems but you need to swap it up each day, I train the same muscle group every 3-4 days

 

[210LBS]

Youre confusing muscle soreness and overtraining. Overtraining is a CNS thing not muscle. You would not feel sore. You would be insanely weak, tired, and probably feel really sick.

Well I've done the 2X per week using high volume training and it's a no go for me. The reason is not soreness, it is because I am significantly weaker on the second day of training. I also train muscles 2 or 3X per week and it works but it's not high volume training. Of course when I did a full body routine at 3X per week high intensity (take off of Mentzer) my doc said it was bad for my CNS. Of course that routine usually ended 50% of my workouts with my head hanging over the toilet bowl blowing chunks. It was HIGH intensity but your muscles can recover very fast from it.

 

[Fasted]

I am currently suffering from overtraining, so it's no myth. My cardio is punching a heavy bag 3x a week and between that and lifting, my forearms are being overtrained and I've began to develop a carpel tunnel type of condition. I also had overtrained my lower back for a bit, between core, legs and heavy bag training my lower back was overtrained, but I was able to recover and adjust to that. Forearms and wrist are pretty f***ed right now.

I am on a cut and fast 5x weekly, which is not helping, but I still get all my macros, just in a shorter period. But if you are training intensely almost daily and are natural, it is not difficult to cross that line into overtraining.

 

[UnicornDrpns]

Overtraining isnt a myth. However, it's A LOT HARDER to get then most people to think. If you have sleep and diet dailed in, you can train a TON before you reached over training. When I was at my peak I was training 2 times a day for 2to3 hours each. Made insane gains completely natural only taking creatine protein supplement to reach optimal macros

exactly. the common training thought is that over training is training body parts daily, going to the gym more than once a day, over an hour / session etc...

for years I used to be concerned about over training and would make s ure to break mid week, completely rest, never train parts back to back etc. Now im doing "light" days where i'll target less developed/weaker body parts despite the fact i "hard trained" them the day prior and i've seen great gains bc of the increased reps. like many of the others have posted, overtraining is real however most people's perception of overtraining ISNT. Happy lifting

 

[ericos_bob]

If you asked me two years ago I'd have said overtraining is not only fact but extremely easy to fall into. As a labourer I was running around 12+ hours a day plus sports and training. 4 hours sleep a night was the norm. Very frequently did I overtrain

Now I could almost be convinced it's myth. Don't need to work so all the time in the world to train, eat and sleep. I can choose the most ungodly ludicrous marathon routine from muscle mag and I won't overtrain. Lifestyle is a huge factor.

Overtraining being a myth was probably popularised by GEN Y

 

[rtmilburn]

If you asked me two years ago I'd have said overtraining is not only fact but extremely easy to fall into. As a labourer I was running around 12+ hours a day plus sports and training. 4 hours sleep a night was the norm. Very frequently did I overtrain

Now I could almost be convinced it's myth. Don't need to work so all the time in the world to train, eat and sleep. I can choose the most ungodly ludicrous marathon routine from muscle mag and I won't overtrain. Lifestyle is a huge factor.

Overtraining being a myth was probably popularised by GEN Y

This is very true. overtraining comes down to CNS issues. It can recovery very fast however when not providing it with enough sleep, macros, micros, and water things get tricky. As recovery rate is significantly reduced, then you have to push through due to your job that's when it will happen

 

[Ricky10]

As they have said, the latest theory is that as long as you get enough sleep and consume enough of the right foods...you can train your t1ts off!

 

[muscleupcrohn]

If you asked me two years ago I'd have said overtraining is not only fact but extremely easy to fall into. As a labourer I was running around 12+ hours a day plus sports and training. 4 hours sleep a night was the norm. Very frequently did I overtrain

Now I could almost be convinced it's myth. Don't need to work so all the time in the world to train, eat and sleep. I can choose the most ungodly ludicrous marathon routine from muscle mag and I won't overtrain. Lifestyle is a huge factor.

Overtraining being a myth was probably popularised by GEN Y

You could definitely overtrain if you really set your mind to it, regardless of if all you do when you're not in the gym is eat and sleep. I don't know how that is even debatable. Go spend 4 hours every day in the gym maxing out every lift, and taking every set to failure and beyond. It's an idiotic routine of course, but you'll overtrain on it, no? Doesn't that prove overtraining exists? Perhaps a more relevant question isn't if overtraining exists, but whether or not it's common or a relevant issue for most people, as it is a real thing, even if it's not as common as some people think.

 

[Ricky10]

Some people say that it is beneficial to take a week or two off every 3 months or so, claiming that you come back stronger as the body/CNS has fully recovered etc. I have tried this in the past and did not find it beneficial at all. I actually came back weaker so I have not done that for a few years.

 

[ericos_bob]

You could definitely overtrain if you really set your mind to it, regardless of if all you do when you're not in the gym is eat and sleep. I don't know how that is even debatable. Go spend 4 hours every day in the gym maxing out every lift, and taking every set to failure and beyond. It's an idiotic routine of course, but you'll overtrain on it, no? Doesn't that prove overtraining exists? Perhaps a more relevant question isn't if overtraining exists, but whether or not it's common or a relevant issue for most people, as it is a real thing, even if it's not as common as some people think.

Totally agree, you could take anyone, drug assisted or otherwise and train them hard enough to exhibit an overtrained state. Seems there are a few ignorant and proud people who just refuse to believe it.