This week I have another guest post by my friend and co-worker Ryan LaCount. He has a great post about overtraining, what it is, and how to tell if you are falling into it. Check it out.
"How much is too much when
it comes to weight training? The topic
of overtraining comes up often when I sit and discuss a plan of action with
people. This usually comes in the form
of “How long should I be in the gym?”
The answer is, as always, it depends on the person. Many people think more is always better. If I just train more, I’ll get better. More volume, more time under tension, more
movements, more weight, more days, more, more, more. I am here to tell you, that is not always the
case. In the following I will be
explaining why it varies from person to person, a general time frame for weight
training, break down of cycles, and some signs you are overtraining.
First, why it varies. Generally speaking, each person is different
when it comes to their genetics, what causes them stress, and how well they
handle stress. Each individual has a
certain genetic ability to recover from stress on their system. There are two forms of stress: Eustress and
Distress. Most training falls under the
eustress category, meaning that the stress experienced is perceived as being
beneficial to the person experiencing it.
Distress is the exact opposite.
It is often painful to the person.
That being said, too much training can turn eustress into distress. There is a happy medium that we fall into
when training. Too little stress on your
system and you don’t experience “gains”, too much stress and you will fall into
overtraining. When it comes to stress on
the system, training is not the only factor.
Other causes of stress can come from extraneous sources like job related
issues, family troubles, having a child, lack of sleep, bills, etc. This all builds and can hinder your
performance long term. One way to avoid
overtraining is by optimizing your time in the gym.
One of the best ways to
limit stress on your muscles, joints, and mind is to limit your time in the
gym. There is no reason to be in a gym
for 2 hours or more. Most of my workouts
are 60-90minutes due to the quality of the work that I am putting in. My form, strength, and endurance all start to
degrade as a workout goes on and at some point, right around the 90min mark,
the quality of my workouts diminish and I am no longer comfortable
performing. Many people think that more
is better when it comes to weight training or training in general. This is not always the case. At some point your body will break down and
breakdown of form will open the door to injury.
Another way to control
overtraining is to think in terms of cycles or what we call periodization. We deal in mesocycles most often, but we are
always thinking about the big picture or the macrocycle. A macrocycle is generally one year long and
includes four stages of a periodization program: endurance, intensity,
competition, and recovery. The
mesocycle, the one we deal with the most, is often 3-4 weeks long and is
targeted at developing certain aspects one at a time. You may also program in a deload week. This is a week that you still perform the
movements, but keep the weight light, around 50-60%. A microcycle is the shortest, generally 1
week at a time. For example: if I wanted
to increase my 1 rep max back squat by 60 pounds by the end of the year, I
can’t just show up to the gym, work randomly with random weights and expect
results. I would break this down into
5lbs/month, testing my new 1 rep max each month or maybe every 2 months. I would need to track what weight I do weekly
in order to stay on that 5lb/month plan.
This would allow me to figure out each day what I need to do for main
lifts and accessory work. This is a
great way to limit yourself to specific amounts and time each day for one year.
It may seem like a lot of
work, but we as trainers are here to help when needed. If you are reading this and questioning
whether you are overtraining or not, here 7 indications that you are. 1.) You are in pain or have extended soreness. Whether it is your muscles or your joints,
you should almost never be in pain.
Soreness or fatigue is normal for around 48hrs, but pain or soreness
past the 72hr point is your body telling you to slow it down and rest. 2.) You
are thirsty all the time. Often when
overtraining your body will start to consume its own muscle for protein. This means your body is in a catabolic state,
which naturally causes dehydration. 3.)
Insomnia. When you overtrain you are
taxing your nervous system and this can lead to you feeling tired, but not
being able to sleep. 4.) You get sick, a
lot. The catabolic state I discussed
earlier hinders your immune system. This
leads to increased chances of becoming ill.
5.) You are noticing more injuries.
When you overtrain your body breaks down because you aren’t allowing it
enough time to repair. Remember,
training is stressful to your body. If
you are doing too much, you are training in a weakened state and it is only a
matter of time until you get seriously injured.
6.) You aren’t seeing any progress.
This is pretty self explanatory.
The body gets stronger and makes larger strides when you train
intelligently and give yourself time to rest and rebuild. 7.) Decreases libido. Overtraining can affect your sex drive and no
one wants that. Take a look at your programming;
be honest with yourself, if you are experiencing more than one of these
symptoms chances are you are overtraining.
If you need help figuring
out a great program to follow, contact myself or Greg and get started
today. We don’t want to have this
conversation with you in 6 months because you aren’t seeing progress."
If you want to check out more on Ryan you can find him here
Instagram: ryanla_count
Email: ryanl@myxperiencefitness.com
See you guys tomorrow!
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