Am i overtraining?

[sreed11]

Hey guys this is my new workout. recently changed from taking one day off after 6 days. to taking a day off after every three days. i also used to lift back days right after chest days but i found that my shoulders were getting a little tired too quick it seemed(even though i thought shoulders weren't secondary) so i switches them with leg days. plus after i finish upper body i find myself getting lazy and not doing the legs so i thought i'd throw legs inbetween so i didnt slack off.

Monday-Chest, shoulders
Tuesday-Legs
Wednesday-Back, bi's, abs
Thursday-off
Fri-2 chest excercises (usually one burn out) traps, and tri's
Sat-Legs
Sun-Back, bi's abs
Monday-rest
Tuesday-chest, shoulders. etc... i think you guys get it.

overtraining? any suggestions would be great. thanks

 

[larue38462]

Without knowing the sets and reps you are performing for each part, I would say listen to your body. Some people can get away with 3 days in a row without rest and some need rest after two. I switch between 2 or 3 days in a row, but if my body needs an extra day I'll spend some time on abs and cardio in order to recover.

If you seem like you're tiring too quickly, it may be due to hitting two large body parts two days in a row. That can take a lot out of you. I like to hit a big body part on one day following with a smaller one the next. My current training split is:

Monday: Chest and Abs
Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: Back
Thurs: Off or Cardio and Abs
Friday: Shoulders and Traps
Saturday: Legs and Abs
Sunday: Off

I've found that hitting back after arms allows me to concentrate more on my back contractions as my arms are fatigued from the previous workout.

 

[Forster]

What Larue said, depends on reps/set and just how well your body personally recovers.

Personally all i need is 2 rest days a week, wed. sun.
Then about 3 solid days of rest every 3ish months.

I know when I've over trained my body forces me to sleep.

 

[sreed11]

When you hit chest how many sets, reps, and different excercises do you do? i'm makin a new workout but i'm not sure how many different excercises i'm gonna do w/ about an average of 4 sets each workout. reps varying.

 

[Forster]

5 chest workouts

5 set of 6 each.

 

[larue38462]

Depends on what goal youre seeking to achieve. If you want to build mass, I would keep reps in the 10-12 range w/ sets of 4. For strenth, I would rec. 5 sets of 5. I would make sure to hit all angles. If I'm doing flat bench barbell presses, my next exercise will be incline dumbell presses. If I'm doing flat bench dumbell presses, I follow w/ incline barbell presses....you get the idea. Sometimes I throw in decline presses, sometimes I throw in dumbell pullovers. I always end w/ cable crossovers or flys.

 

[sreed11]

so thanks for the help guys

My BB is almost equal to DB which is kinda weird but i guess good. maybe not?
Yesterday i hit chest pretty hard for me at least.
I felt great though.
First workout is kinda confusing but this is it
Warmup set-15 reps @ 115
Solid 8 reps @ 185
4 reps @ 195
2 reps @ 215
10 second countdown burnout @ 115. ridic!

stretched for a good 5 minutes or so to try and losen up pecks.

2nd- Incline DB's
10 reps @ 130
10 reps @ 140
10 reps @ 140
5 reps/1 assisted @ 150
the first w/o had my pecks pretty tired already so my lifts continued to kinda not go as well as planned

3rd-decline BB
10@ 135
8@ 185
8@ 185
8@ 185

4th-Incline SM (bar weighs 15 pounds)
6 @ 155
8 @ 125
8 @ 125
8 @ 125

Noticed how late it was and shoved in a triset for abs
25 leg raises
25 reverse crunches
30 crunches.

how does that sound? i do that once a week.
I did tri's and bi's today. 3 exercises of tris and 3 exercises of bi's with 3-4 sets each at 8-12 reps. sound good? tips?

 

[larue38462]

My BB is almost equal to DB which is kinda weird but i guess good. maybe not?
Yesterday i hit chest pretty hard for me at least.
I felt great though.
First workout is kinda confusing but this is it
Warmup set-15 reps @ 115
Solid 8 reps @ 185
4 reps @ 195
2 reps @ 215
10 second countdown burnout @ 115. ridic!

stretched for a good 5 minutes or so to try and losen up pecks.

2nd- Incline DB's
10 reps @ 130
10 reps @ 140
10 reps @ 140
5 reps/1 assisted @ 150
the first w/o had my pecks pretty tired already so my lifts continued to kinda not go as well as planned

3rd-decline BB
10@ 135
8@ 185
8@ 185
8@ 185

4th-Incline SM (bar weighs 15 pounds)
6 @ 155
8 @ 125
8 @ 125
8 @ 125

Noticed how late it was and shoved in a triset for abs
25 leg raises
25 reverse crunches
30 crunches.

how does that sound? i do that once a week.
I did tri's and bi's today. 3 exercises of tris and 3 exercises of bi's with 3-4 sets each at 8-12 reps. sound good? tips?

Was your post correct saying that you're using 140 lb dumbells for inclines but less than 130 on the incline smith machine? seems a little weird.

 

[sreed11]

Yep it was correct. i could've hit it a little harder but i was pretty much dead.

On my flatbench DB i put up almost just as much if not just as much as flatbench BB same goes with incline. i'm not sure about decline. is that bad?

 

[larue38462]

Yep it was correct. i could've hit it a little harder but i was pretty much dead.

On my flatbench DB i put up almost just as much if not just as much as flatbench BB same goes with incline. i'm not sure about decline. is that bad?

I wouldn't think it would be bad, but it is very unusual. it seems to me like maybe your form or grip on the bb might need adjusting. I bench 260 for 5 reps and still only press 110 for reps on incline db.

 

[sreed11]

oh well ya that could be a huge factor. my grip is a pretty damn wide grip, i find that i feel it way more in the pecks when i do that. i of course have to drop the weight but to me it feels better. 55's on each side for incline DB's but 260 on bb? see that just seems awkward to me haha. i guess i've just focused more on DB's and you've focus more on BB's.

 

[larue38462]

oh well ya that could be a huge factor. my grip is a pretty damn wide grip, i find that i feel it way more in the pecks when i do that. i of course have to drop the weight but to me it feels better. 55's on each side for incline DB's but 260 on bb? see that just seems awkward to me haha. i guess i've just focused more on DB's and you've focus more on BB's.

I'm talking about 110 lb dumbells in each hand. I think I see where you're coming from now. You're talking about using 70 lb dumbells right?

 

[sreed11]

Ya haha i kinda figured. i guess i thought it was weird cause you said "I bench 260 for 5 reps and still only press 110 for reps on incline db." yes i was talking about 70lbs for each db. i'm not an animal like you.

Do you think because i have such a wide grip that it's acceptable i guess to bench as much on BB as DB? If i narrow my grip do you think i'd see quicker results in strength?

 

[larue38462]

Many Pros state that there is no grip that is best suited for every person. For example, my workout partner uses a grip that is almost outside of shoulder width, but I have had some trouble with my shoulders and tend to have a grip that is a bit more narrow. Just remember, the closer your grip is, the more you involve the triceps, and the wider your grip is, the more you involve the delts. Everyone has a different body composition, its all about finding what grip is comfortable and allows you to lift the most weight possible with good form (please don't ever be one of those jokers in the gym that looks like theyre about to break a rib b/c they bounce the bar off of their chest). Good luck bro.

 

[Vinny]

Without knowing the sets and reps you are performing for each part, I would say listen to your body. Some people can get away with 3 days in a row without rest and some need rest after two. I switch between 2 or 3 days in a row, but if my body needs an extra day I'll spend some time on abs and cardio in order to recover.

If you seem like you're tiring too quickly, it may be due to hitting two large body parts two days in a row. That can take a lot out of you. I like to hit a big body part on one day following with a smaller one the next. My current training split is:

Monday: Chest and Abs
Tuesday: Arms
Wednesday: Back
Thurs: Off or Cardio and Abs
Friday: Shoulders and Traps
Saturday: Legs and Abs
Sunday: Off

I've found that hitting back after arms allows me to concentrate more on my back contractions as my arms are fatigued from the previous workout.

I agree everyone is different I used to overtrain as like working out and once I get started get in the "zone" type of thing and had a tendency to keep going.

few yrs I changed my workout schedule to -
Sat-Chest-Triceps
Mon- Shoulders-legs (I dont do squats or heavy legs)
Thu - Back-Biceps

I wish I had done it before workout less sets- less time-less days and way more size overall feeling good than ever.
My "cardio" is I walk my dog lol for an hour at night with my wife . I moved to Florida few months ago so weather is nice for walking and I like looking at cows and horses.
I wont go in the gym more than 3 days out of 7 but again your right everyone is different.

 

[Vinny]

Hey guys this is my new workout. recently changed from taking one day off after 6 days. to taking a day off after every three days. i also used to lift back days right after chest days but i found that my shoulders were getting a little tired too quick it seemed(even though i thought shoulders weren't secondary) so i switches them with leg days. plus after i finish upper body i find myself getting lazy and not doing the legs so i thought i'd throw legs inbetween so i didnt slack off.

Monday-Chest, shoulders
Tuesday-Legs
Wednesday-Back, bi's, abs
Thursday-off
Fri-2 chest excercises (usually one burn out) traps, and tri's
Sat-Legs
Sun-Back, bi's abs
Monday-rest
Tuesday-chest, shoulders. etc... i think you guys get it.

overtraining? any suggestions would be great. thanks

Are you happy with the results from your training routine? Have you ever tried training a muscle once every 7 days instead of every 4 days?
You might find you come back stronger when you try it and much better pumps. Overall just better recovery -workouts are better .
Ofcourse some here disagree as nothing written in stone what works for one may not work for another but its worth a try see how you like it.
I used to train like you .Well trained same muscle on 5th day and went to 7th day big difference .
supplements did help with overtraining lol but with no overtraining supplements are a HUGE asset .

 

[sreed11]

Hey vinny ya actually after readin on what other guys wrote i have been trying out working out each muscle once per week. i feel great. although i'm thinking about switchin up the arms day cause the tri's are usually dead. here it is.
most people want saturday and sunday off but i am taking off wednesday and thursday. no particular reason that's just how the workout turned out to be when i changed it.

Fri-Chest, abs
Sat-bi,tri
sun-legs. quad set (is that even proper terminology) with calves first cause that's where i'm looking to make most improvement leg wise.
Mon-back
tues-shoulders, traps.
wed-off
thur-off

i feel great so far honestly. much more time to spare which is important because i absolutely HATE being rushed. i think many feel me on that one. how does that look. i put legs between arms and back cause i wanted more of rest day for the upper body.

 

[larue38462]

I think that looks alright....but have you considered splitting up your off days? I think you'd be better served to move one of your off days to prevent yourself from training 5 days in a row, but if it's workin for you then hammer away.

 

[sreed11]

i constantly feel full which is always great. it sucks ass to feel and look big while you're lifting and just feel like a bi*ch when you go outside into the world.

But i'm looking to take off tuesdays actually. but im looking for tuesdays and thursdays. got any ideas for a workout to fit that schedule?

 

[Vinny]

i constantly feel full which is always great. it sucks ass to feel and look big while you're lifting and just feel like a bi*ch when you go outside into the world.

But i'm looking to take off tuesdays actually. but im looking for tuesdays and thursdays. got any ideas for a workout to fit that schedule?

If you want to take off Tue and Thu thats easy just figure out what you like as far as lets say training Chest with Tricep on one day ,etc.
Some prefer push/pull over the yrs I discovered that it was best to do muscles that are hit indirectly after the bigger muscle BUT many disagree there is nothing written in stone everyone is different.
I cant train 3/4 consecutive days as begin to overtrain not recover from prior workouts but again many can so if you can than great but over time I think you will be glad you started training each muscle on 7th day as the recovery is great as is the pump and muscles just seem thicker .
I think 5 days in the gym is the norm so thats fine but for me even a day off betwen workouts made huge difference