Overtraining?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hi, thanks first of all! this website is filled with great topics on how to pack on muscles!!!
I am 21 years old, and weigh 196 lb. my goal is to build a bit of muscle (not too big) and cut down, to have a defined look.
I read numerous articles about ovetraining, and heard what it could do to your gains (make them shrink). This totaly shocked, me because i wasn’t shure if i was overtraining or not. i mean who wants to go to the gym, work your ass off, only to have your muscles shrink, and not see any gains?

Currently i’m doing this programm:

Day1: Chest, Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: Shoulders, Triceps,
Day4: Biceps, Back.
Day5: Rest

Then i read several articles, claiming you have to give each muscle trained, one week rest, in order not to overtrain. This would lead to bigger gains in strength and mass. obviosly this meant that my programm was wrong.

I’m not sure what to do, or what not.
I was thinking of changing my programm to:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Abs, Sides
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Biceps
Friday: Back, Triceps
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Would that programm make any sense at all? This would give me a week inbetween. But i’m still confused, about this overtraining thing! Does anyone maybe know if this “one week” thing is just all crap. Or does someone have an alternative programm for me?

I really appreciate your help.

2

Not sure. It may be exaggerated. Their use of the term “overtraining” may be used to identify more extreme cases of those who go everyday and put constant stress on the same body parts throughout the course of the week. I say exaggerated because if hitting a muscle group more than once per week is overtraining, then basically me and everybody else that does 3 day, full body workouts is overtraining.

And personal experience deems that my muscles haven’t shrunk following this regimine. In my opinion, overtraining would be something like doing 2 hour chest workouts Monday and then another 2 hour chest workout Tuesday or Weds. Giving such attention to your chest and putting it under such stress requires that it be given more rest than someone who does full body workouts and conversly, goes Monday and only spends half hour or so hitting their chest, thereby requiring less recovery time and allowing them to come back Weds to hit chest yet again. Hope this makes sense.

3

You may already be unconciously sabotaging any muscle gains with your not wanting to get “too big”.

4

[quote]PePpEr_85 wrote:
Hi, thanks first of all! this website is filled with great topics on how to pack on muscles!!!
I am 21 years old, and weigh 196 lb. my goal is to build a bit of muscle (not too big) and cut down, to have a defined look.
I read numerous articles about ovetraining, and heard what it could do to your gains (make them shrink). This totaly shocked, me because i wasn’t shure if i was overtraining or not. i mean who wants to go to the gym, work your ass off, only to have your muscles shrink, and not see any gains?

Currently i’m doing this programm:

Day1: Chest, Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: Shoulders, Triceps,
Day4: Biceps, Back.
Day5: Rest

Then i read several articles, claiming you have to give each muscle trained, one week rest, in order not to overtrain. This would lead to bigger gains in strength and mass. obviosly this meant that my programm was wrong.

I’m not sure what to do, or what not.
I was thinking of changing my programm to:

Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Abs, Sides
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Biceps
Friday: Back, Triceps
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Would that programm make any sense at all? This would give me a week inbetween. But i’m still confused, about this overtraining thing! Does anyone maybe know if this “one week” thing is just all crap. Or does someone have an alternative programm for me?

I really appreciate your help.
[/quote]

every one benches most do shoulder work and arm work

so thats shoulders twice a week and triceps 3 times a week and some people do 10-15 sets for each now thats over training I think…

5

Which day of the week do you hit the wheels?

6

I’m just asking, because i am doing 3-4 exercises per Muscle with 3x 6-8 reps. i’m using the following program:

Day1: Chest, Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: Shoulders, Triceps,
Day4: Biceps, Back.
Day5: Rest

so basically i only have 5 days Rest between trainings for each muscle. is this enough to recover?

7

I’m just asking, because i am doing 3-4 exercises per Muscle with 3x 6-8 reps. i’m using the following program:

Day1: Chest, Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: Shoulders, Triceps,
Day4: Biceps, Back.
Day5: Rest

so basically i only have 5 days Rest between trainings for each muscle. is this enough to recover?

8

You’re not overtraining, you’re over analyzing. I’m 45 and often do chest/back with squats alternated with shoulders/lats with deadlifts, each twice a week and rarely feel overtrained. At 21 you should be nearly immune to overtraining, especially with the (ahem) “legless” workout splits you’re describing. If you push it hard enough to really overtrain your body will tell you. Don’t worry too much about it. Work hard, eat right, and get plenty of sleep.

And BTW, squats and deadlifts!!!

9

[quote]PePpEr_85 wrote:
I read numerous articles about ovetraining…
[/quote]

Well that about sums it up…

If your strength levels decrease than look into overtraining. Until that time…

LIFT HEAVY AND HARD FOLLOWED BY EATING LIKE A BULL!

10

[quote]PePpEr_85 wrote:
I’m just asking, because i am doing 3-4 exercises per Muscle with 3x 6-8 reps. i’m using the following program:

Day1: Chest, Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: Shoulders, Triceps,
Day4: Biceps, Back.
Day5: Rest

so basically i only have 5 days Rest between trainings for each muscle. is this enough to recover?

[/quote]

WTF man, how they hell can someone tell YOU if YOU’RE recovered from a workout?

Do they have a crystal ball?

Are these people tapped into your CNS?

Did they do your grocery shopping and cook and feed you?

Do they hand feed you your PWO shake to make sure you got it?

Do they know if you 1/2 assed it in the gym?

Do they know if you get enough sleep and the sleep is restful?

ITS ALL ABOUT HOW YOU FEEL AND YOUR PERFORMANCE!

11

you need to add a leg day to your routine!!

12

I know its been said already… but wheres the leg day?
See Ya

13

Maybe, he has no legs?!?

14

first of all, thanks for all the replies!
Ofcourse i have legs… :slight_smile:
i just have a knee injury at the moment, which prevents me from training my legs. I will do so, when the inury has passed.
i know i might have been overanalysing a bit, but the thought of training hard for NOTHING just got me off track! so i just wanted to see some other opinions :slight_smile:

15

Well I’m glad you have legs. =)

Take care of that knee? Whats your injury and what did you do to deserve it? lol

16

[quote]
Take care of that knee? Whats your injury and what did you do to deserve it? lol[/quote]

about a year ago, in military, i fell with my full weight on both of my knees on this massive tree root. it was dark, and i had a rifle in my hands, so i couldn’t even prevent the impact with my arms.
yeah and know tiny amount fluids have gathered between the ligement of my right knee, which causes pain, when exercised. (and sometimes even when walking) until now it did not get any better!
anyway… just shows you what military is good for :wink:

17

Not to de-rail this thread or anything, but I swear everyone who doesn’t work out legs has some sort of injury. Every guy that goes to my gym walk around on toothpicks and they ALL talk about they had a leg injury 5 years ago and now they don’t work legs.

I’m not accusing the OP or anything, but is there some sort of consipiracy theory going on here?

18

Worrying about getting too big just sounds silly to me. While that may be a legitimate concern of yours, it’s not like you just wake up one day and say to yourself, “Holy shit! Where did all this muscle come from? I don’t remember it being there before!!!”

It’s not like getting fat. That can sneak up on you because stuffing your face full of crap can be a subconscious way of dealing with aspects of your life that you don’t like.

But big muscles? There’s nothing subconscious about that. You have to work hard. Very hard!

Eat big and lift big. Think of it as erring on the side of caution.

19

[quote]Myllz wrote:
Not to de-rail this thread or anything, but I swear everyone who doesn’t work out legs has some sort of injury. Every guy that goes to my gym walk around on toothpicks and they ALL talk about they had a leg injury 5 years ago and now they don’t work legs.

I’m not accusing the OP or anything, but is there some sort of consipiracy theory going on here?[/quote]

yeah i know that was about to come =) i guess i won’t be able to prove that? well i can only say that i am really eager to train my legs again, because i know how i t looks, when you have thin legs, combined with whole loads of muscles ontop;)!

20

[quote]Defender wrote:
Worrying about getting too big just sounds silly to me. While that may be a legitimate concern of yours, it’s not like you just wake up one day and say to yourself, “Holy shit! Where did all this muscle come from? I don’t remember it being there before!!!”
[/quote]

i know. it was’nt meant in that way. it was just simply, to explain what my goal is;)