3 Ways In Which You May Be Overtraining

You’ve heard the saying “You can have too much of a good thing”, and that’s especially true when it comes to muscle building. When you train, you should always train hard and try to go beyond your previous levels – there’s no other way to induce change. However, there are limits, and if those limits are habitually encroached upon you can find yourself overtraining, which is one of the biggest killers of muscle building. There are 3 ways in which a person can over train, and it’s important you are aware of them so you don’t unwittingly succumb to them.

1: Training the same muscles too often.

It’s tempting – oh so very tempting – to think that if we are getting good results by training muscles once per week, for instance, that if we can squeeze an extra session in for the same body part we can squeeze more results out of it. And, it may work for a short time – but usually it leads to overtraining. All things being equal, the bigger muscles take longer to recover than the smaller ones, so you may benefit by targeting smaller muscles groups more often, however it may be prudent to make this an occasional method to gain conditioning rather than a habit, as muscles tend to need at least 72 hours to recuperate fully.

2: Training with too much volume too often.

There are many excellent programs which incorporate a lot of volume, such as so-called German Volume Training, which rely upon a 10×10 (10 reps, 10 sets) protocol, and such programs are renowned for producing excellent results in some people. However, some people simply cannot cope with so much volume. Natural trainees tend to respond better to using less volume habitually, whilst engaging in higher volume training from time to time to give the body a short, sharp shock. Whilst aiming for higher repetitions or doing an extra set is a way to take yourself beyond previous levels, it’s not something which will work week in week out, and if you go too far too often it’ll lead to overtraining.

3: Training too heavy too often.

This is the least-known way a person can over train, and probably not one most ‘meat heads’ will care to acknowledge – to their detriment. Generally, the more demanding a program, the shorter the period of time it’ll work. Nothing is more demanding to the central nervous system than lifting close to strength capacities. In other words, the closer you are lifting to your maximum, the more stress your central nervous system endures and the sooner your strength levels will start deteriorating after initially good results. The only way around this is to change exercises more frequently – once every week, or every 3 weeks maximum.

Another way you can lift too heavy too often is within the same session – doing endless low-rep, heavy-weight lifts to bring your volume up is a bad idea. Low rep training is mostly strength training, relating to the central nervous system. The golden number for max-effort single lifts per session is 7, with significantly less or more being less-than optimal.

Conclusion:

Don’t forget that having sufficient quality rest and diet is an overarching theme with any program. Don’t think that a day off from lifting can really be counted as rest if you’re out playing tennis or basketball or running. And you will soon see your energy levels plummet and your muscle and strength gains come to a screeching halt if you don’t eat enough quality nutrients, so make sure you do, or you’ll find yourself overtraining more easily than you otherwise would.