Today’s supplement companies and popular bodybuilding websites and magazines has lead us to believe that ‘More Is Better’ when it comes to our training.
We have been brainwashed into thinking that gym should be your second home if you want to gain muscle and shed body fat. That is so not true!
I have tried conventional modern training methods by following programs by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and other muscle guys. Well, how foolish of me to think that that would give me results. Firstly, I never wanted to look like them, and then I wanted to be all natural, UNLIKE them.
After digging deeper into old school literature and various other scientific books, journals I final discovered what could work for me given my pre-conditions (average genetics, being in my 30s, and having tons of responsibilities ). You can learn more about my FBX program in my book.
Anyways, when I was following the conventional training methods lot of times I felt low on energy and at that time I didn’t understood that is body’s way of telling me to rest.
Over a period of time I have observed four classic sign when you are over trained and why you should cut back on your workout or ideally take a week off or something like that:
Sign no #1: You don’t look forward to your workouts. No matter how inspired and motivated you are you just don’t seem to generate enough strength to go to the gym, let alone lifting good enough poundages. Please LISTEN TO ME, immediately cut back. This is a strong signal by your body telling you to rest and take it easy.
Sign no #2: You don’t feel good after your workout. OH that fabulous feeling after a hard intense workout with endorphins rushing in your system. One of the best feeling in the world, isn’t it? You feel tired, but also rejuvenated. BUT what if that feeling disappears! Well its a sign that your body is over-trained
Sign no #3: You are falling sick often, common cold, flu. You may argue it’s probably because you have poor sleeping habits, maybe you have unwanted stress or probably are not eating regular nutritious meals. What if those are all locked in & stable? Well, the only reason left is that your immune system is taxed from your over-training.
Sign no #4: You are not getting results. Your progress is halted, you cannot increase your poundages no matter how hard you try! Worst case scenario you are losing muscles and gaining fat— Overtraining causes your body to produce inadequate amounts of testosterone while producing higher levels of cortisol
The solution:
Reduce your workout frequency ( with weights ) from 5-6 days a week to 2-3 per week and use the other days to do HIIT, do some functional stuff like Yoga or just relax and sleep more.
This way your workouts will be better, you will feel more energised and your strength will increase. Simply focus on few compound lifts when in the gym, lift heavy, stretch a little and leave. In and out in 45 minutes to an hour.
What do you think about overtraining? Have any questions? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you! Your articles are always filled with great information that seems to target exactly what I am doing wrong and what I am doing correct. You are a great inspiration to me.
Hi Terry, Glad you hear you found this article useful! All the best.
Best illustration that I ever read about the Over-training.Specifically when you say the excuses. That’s is touching. Thanks.
Thanks Sunil, I am glad you enjoyed the read..
Hello Stefanie,
Intensity is inversely proportional to the total volume of one’s workouts. You can workout twice a day given the fact that the intensity is low. But if someone who does heavy weight lifting or HIIT’s the recovery time is much more. For example, I just cannot weight train more than 3 times a week. Overall, 4-5 hours of activity [both high+low intensity] is more than enough for me. Recovery also depends on one’s genetics, sleep, and nutrition.
does this make sense?
Your articles are always so short but impactful enough to want to read. This comes at the best Tim when I was panicking about my energy. I went on a very intense hike, I came back VERY tired and all muscles aching. I rested on the day but felt lazy and that had let myself down for not being able to train for the following two days after the hike. Now I get it, today my workout was average and left me uninspired which is day 3. Reading this article makes all the sense, I’m going to rest a little more this week without feeling guilty about it.
Thank you.
Hi Pula,
It is okay to let your body get some time to recover.
The best practice is to get back to the routine when the body and mind are able to.
Regards,
Kunal,
Team Fabulous Body