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Written by Roger Applewhite
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Wednesday, 29 August 2007 |
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I realize that all this might be a lot to digest; however, by asking yourself a few simple questions before you hit the gym again you just might save yourself a lot of time, pain and money in the long run.
1. Do I feel stronger every week?
2. Do I remain excited about training every week?
3. If my goal is to put on more lean mass, is it happening?
4. Am I sleeping well?
5. Do I wake up feeling refreshed each morning?
If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, then you're doing well and are probably on the road to success. If you answered "no" to more than one of them, then it's time you took about seven days off. Now, that doesn't mean you have to sit on the couch at home and twiddle your thumbs?an "active rest" i.e., some outdoor activity or even some occasional light exercise would be fine. Just make sure you stear clear of any heavy iron during this time! Now, if your diet is perfect, you've got awesome genetics and you feel your training schedule is optimized, in all probability you may be able to train with weights regularly for up to twelve weeks. However, after twelve weeks even the most genetically gifted bodies need a week off. Listed below are a few tips that I've found to be quite useful in redesigning my program.
Hours of Sleep: Research has shown that we must get around eight hours for full recovery.
Bodyweight Fluctuations: Monitor your weight daily. A decrease in more than two pounds in one day is usually an indicator that your training load is too high?or you're not eating enough. An increase of more than two to three pounds in one day means that your training intensity may be too low?or you're eating too much.
Appetite: A decrease in appetite for more than a day is definitely not a good sign!
Sleep Quality: A sudden decrease in your quality of sleep is usually a pretty good indicator of overtraining.
Muscle Soreness: Use a five point scale with one being extremely sore, three being a little sore and five being no soreness at all. If you find yourself with scores of two or three for consecutive weeks, then you're probably not fully recovering from your workouts?indicating a need for less volume and/or frequency.
Training Enthusiasm: Often times a person's decrease in training motivation is a sure sign of overtraining?especially if they need some sort or thermogenic aid to get them through their workout. Furthermore, if you find yourself always needing some sort of supplemental "bump" before your training session, you might want to consider a short break or at least the need for a more complete recovery between training sessions.
Sets: Perform only 10 to 20 work sets per workout (not per muscle group!). The average lifter faced with all the "real-life" stresses in our world today can probably only handle 12 work sets per workout. Obviously, there might be times when additional sets are needed within a periodized plan, but believe me, don't be afraid to experiment!
Length of Workout: Don't be afraid to shorten your workouts to an hour or less (not counting warm-ups and stretching). You see, research suggests that after about 60 minutes of training your body's natural androgen levels tend to plummet, which is then coupled with an increase in cortisol (a catabolic/muscle-wasting agent). Now, combine these negative hormonal responses with diminishing levels of ATP-CP and neurotransmitters and you've got yourself one hell of a negative situation going on. So, if you're looking to make any decent gains at all it would be to your benefit to exit the you gym in an hour or less!
Lifestyle: As I mentioned above, the big culprit here is stress. Those of us who have high-stress or physically demanding jobs, relationship/family demands and financial concerns are not going to recovery quickly. It is important to note that this situation must be taken into consideration if you're looking to make any significant gains in your program. Obviously, there are other factors that effect recovery like nutrition, supplementation, sleep patterns and any other amount of physical activity you get outside of the gym i.e., extracurricular activities like running, cycling, organized sports and yes?for some of us even sex!
You see, as weight trainers, we've always known about the perils of overtraining; however, most of the stuff we read about in the bodybuilding magazines just talks about the signs of overtraining and inevitably says to simply take a couple of days off when we see them. Now you know what signs to look for and hopefully won't have to learn the hard way like I did. Remember, going back to the gym before your body is ready is seriously handicapping your workouts! Trust me, a day off will do far more good than hammering through a workout you're not ready for. I'd advise that you maintain a training log and enter your information on a daily basis?like I do on Musclejournal.com This will allow you to make observations based on previous records and at the very least, assist you in determining whether or not you might be OVERTRAINED!
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