lets take a typical bulking cycle. what do you guys consider overtraining while “on”. i am curious because i know i try and draw that line, but its difficult when you feel so pumped and strong, and your recovering at such a rapid rate. is overtraining possible on steroids?
Good post Drago. I’d like to know also.
Good post Drago. I believe you can overtrain while on a heavy bulking cycle. Your body as you know grows while you rest thefore we sometimes tend to ignore common sense and give away to more training thinking more is better. I do feel however, that we need to up the volume a bit as well as the intensity. Like you said we are feeling “pumped and strong” and it is difficult at times to use good judgement. A good diet goes a long way also to prevent overtraining as well as plenty of water believe it or not.
yes its possible, but the chances are a hell of a lot less than while off. personally i can tell when i am in an overtrained state. when i start to feel like not going to the gym thats when i know. i will then back off for about 4-5 days and then come back stronger than ever.
to me its simple. if you feel great, if you feel like going to the gym and tearing shit up, then your fine.
I go largely based on how I feel, while still making sure to take at least two days off per week.
Sometimes I’ve gotten really crazy, you know the feeling, tear the gym apart in the morning, come back and do it all over that evening unscheduled?
Sometimes I’ll do that and then just hit a wall where I feel the need to take a couple days off. It’s nothing for me to take half a week off if I feel run down, and the gains just keep coming.
Recovery is just as important as training and diet.
This is a great question, one I have never really gotten a good answer for. While I have never actually been “on”, in the past while taking mag/m1t, or whatever I always tried to hit every body part twice per week, or go to the gym 6 days a week. I always try and get more sleep, and eat more. This goes back to the old debate that there is no such thing as overtraining, just undereating/sleeping. Curious to see some other replies.
Reggie
overtraining is the stopping of progress with a plateau or decrease in performance. so if your intensity goes down or the volume goes down, etc. with all other conditions being equal then it is a sign of your body overtraining. Ovetraining can occur because of the CNS or because of excessive muscle breakdown. The key is being able to recognize the symptoms and change the variables. laters pk
drago, they say that the best gains are made in the ‘grey-area’ between over training and under training.
I believe it is a very iterative process to learn your own body and how you react to training. For me, when it comes to a gym day and I just don’t want to train (because of lack of ambition, soreness, aches, etc.) that means that I should stay home!
For me, if I eat like a horse, limit stress, juice, limit cardio, sleep 12-14 hourse a day, work with higher reps (above 6), and have sex, I feel like I can train harder than ever! These factors seem to limit overtraining for me. I of course don’t always train higher reps, but I overtrain much more easily with singles, doubles, and triples.
I agree with racecar. I don’t believe in over-training as much as I believe in under-nourishment (read:not enough food, sleep).
Just my opinion, and I could be wrong…
archaic touched on a very important point! sex and or dry humping can in fact increase recovery abilities, provided it is performed at a vigorous enough pace.
this is best performed the morning after a real tough workout. the increased blood flow to your muslces that occurs during sex can enhance recovery big time.
if this is done first thing in the morning it will also increase the absorption rate of your breakfast. the benefits just go on and on.