Hey Fellas- Worked myself into a pretty good overtrained state. Strength is gone, tired but can’t sleep well, no pep in my step even after a solid 8 hours of sleep and a complete lack of mental focus. I do both resistance training and mixed martial arts so I know it’s a fine line to walk. My diet has been so-so which I no doesn’t help AT ALL. Just looking for some tips or feedback. Going to start with getting protein every 2-3 hours, good multi-vitamin, ZMA at night and back off the intensity in the gym and on the mat for now. Any other ideas??? Thanks
The protein timing, ZMA, etc. all sounds fine and well, but you probably just need a full week off from ALL training to get yourself out of your overtraining rut.
It often takes longer to recover from overtraining than it did to overtrain your body in the first place. If you truly are overtrained my suggestion is simple.
TAKE SOME TIME OFF!!!
A week or two isn’t going to send your physique or your martial arts abilities into the toilet. In fact, the recovery may further both pursuits. While supplements will help, they are not the miracle cure.
Use the time off to focus on stretching, planning an effective diet strategy (not just the specific foods you’ll eat, but lifestyle things such as those mentioned in Berardi’s “It’s Not About The Food” articles). Most importantly, spend some time putting together a plan that will ease you back into the gym (two weeks is often not long enough to eliminate signs of overtraining), and further prevent you from reaching the same state again. Build regular rest weeks or at least weeks with less volume into your program.
bump…I’m interested in this as i am currently in the same state if not worse than FitforFite. I need a routine that will help me ease my way back into lifting because i know if i make one up myself I am going to be right back where i am now in no time flat.