Just a quick question. Has anyone here actually ever overtrained? My guess is not many, if any.
yes i have. I felt faint, and was blacking out (during my lifting session). I was on a hard routine for about a month or two, it cought up with me one day, it was like i was losing strengh instead of gaining any.
I think most people actually overtrained a bit somewhere in their lifting career.
I’ve trained while dehydrated to the point of pissing blood, but I’m fairly sure I was not actually over trained, just stupid and not prepared for my 3 hour Muay Thai session.
I definitely have never over trained weights.
I would argue that the vast majority of weightlifters have overtrained, actually.
Years ago, I even went through a phase in which I would purposely overtrain for about a month, then take about a week off and come back stronger.
I’m not sure this was the smartest idea ever, but it did work for some time.
[quote]praxis44241 wrote:
I would argue that the vast majority of weightlifters have overtrained, actually.
Years ago, I even went through a phase in which I would purposely overtrain for about a month, then take about a week off and come back stronger.
I’m not sure this was the smartest idea ever, but it did work for some time.[/quote]
You’re referring to overreaching. Overtraining is a lot worse than that. What you did is actually a pretty good idea. Heck, I do it every month.
Haha, I know I never have. I love when people are so concerned with overtraining when they’ve never stuck to a program for more than a couple months.
Despite what you read about in articles, the vast majority of people have never overtrained. In fact, the vast majority of people have never even gotten close to overtraining. A more appropriate question should be, out of all of the people who think they have overtrained or that most people inevitably overtrain… how many of those people are actully undertraining because they got scared from some article they read on the internet?
i dont know, i have a thread about my experience with fatigue. not sure what caused it though whether it be outside stress factors or CNS related although theyre really one in the same isnt it?
Considering the average rating of threads in the RMP forum i would say that many lifters could stand to increase their intensity and frequency if they want any worthwhile results
Yes and it was bad, 2 years ago my dad had me do the same workout mornign and night for one week and my nutrition and supplementation sucked and I didnt know anything about trainig I took his advice.
Then every time i went to workout I would hate it and wondered why and now i realize it was over training. I felt like shit and eveyr workout i couldnt wait to leave
I think that most peoples overtraining comes from the addition of an outside stressor (work, school finals, etc)
I think I have overtrained a few times, doing 6 days a week in the gym and only allowing 1 day for rest. I’d deadlift every back workout and squat every leg workout. Usually 2 of each per week, so that’s 4 sessions of moving heavy weight per week.
Honestly thought this was great as I was getting stronger, gaining weight, and feeling like I’ve been hitting it hard. After about a month I couldn’t get motivated in the gym, I wanted to go but was wondering why my training sessions sucked so much, etc. I took a week off and realized I was probably over training.
My workouts are still pretty crazy as I think people fear over training and actually undertrain.
Put it this way, you will know when you are overtraining, fatigue and lack of gains with a feeling of being weak are pretty noticeable. lol
well that’s my story…lol
Gerdy
In my experience, what most people think is overtraining is actually undereating.
[quote]crod266 wrote:
Yes and it was bad, 2 years ago my dad had me do the same workout mornign and night for one week[/quote]
One week? Did you at least get massive guns in that week?
hah real funny, try and picture working the same muscle twice a day for a week without a good amount of food for recovery then tell me your ok ya shithead
[quote]brancron wrote:
In my experience, what most people think is overtraining is actually undereating.[/quote]
Agreed. Many would be quite surprised to find what an additional meal or two in their belly and an extra nap here and there can do for their recovery.
I also liked your post, too, GuerillaZen.
[quote]crod266 wrote:
hah real funny, try and picture working the same muscle twice a day for a week without a good amount of food for recovery then tell me your ok ya shithead[/quote]
Settle down, let’s not conjoin our swear words and anatomy words in unholy matrimony.
I really don’t think you’re going to “over-train” in one week, not by any definition I would give credit to anyway. As you can see, there are differences in opinion on what constitutes “overtrained” in this thread.
I would say you “overdid it” for a week. It’s true that you were a long way off optimal, but you wouldn’t be the first person to train like that. You might even adapt after a month or so. “Sub-optimal” does not equal “over-trained”. If you’re over-trained you cease to adapt and go backwards.
You know people climb Mt Everest surviving on Yak shit and their own piss? That’s a tough way to spend a week. I wonder how long people stay off their bikes after doing the Tour de France? If it’s any less than 2 weeks I would say they probably hadn’t over-trained.
If you mean overtraining as in losing muscle due to break-down and cortisol from exercise stressors then very few.
If you mean overtraining as in making less than optimal gains by training too frequently and/or too long then i suspect most serious trainers will do this now and then but only to some extent. They may gain 10lbs in a period they could have gained 15lbs, as an example - still gaining but suboptimally.
I doubt it is easy to judge, nor is it fixed - i.e. it depends on various other factors too.
I suspect many who have got into an over-trained state find themselves ‘cured’ by a timely minor illness, holiday or other break.
I suspect others are too sensitive to the ‘fear of overtraining’ and may end up under training as a result.