Problems Recovering

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

So I’ve been training in oly lifting pretty seriously for about 8 months now. I see that most good oly lifters train twice a day, pretty much every day, one strength session, one technique session.

I few months ago I started to work my way up to two a days, but I’ve been having trouble recovering. I can get to about Wed/Thu with no issues, but by Friday I’m trashed and my workouts are not where I wan’t them to be.

My diet is 95% locked down (sometimes because of work I have to eat late or I wont be able to eat anything quality). My sleep is always locked down. 7-8 hours a night. I usually get in a 20-30 minute post AM session nap, but other than that Im out and about with work.

Any recovery tips from lifters who lift twice a day?

2

My opinion is DON’T!! Especially since you’re working. The Pro lifters you see doing this type of program do nothing else. No work, just training and sleeping/relaxing (recovery).

3

[quote]olylifter106 wrote:
My opinion is DON’T!! Especially since you’re working. The Pro lifters you see doing this type of program do nothing else. No work, just training and sleeping/relaxing (recovery).[/quote]

I work as a trainer, so my work schedule isn’t that crazy. I know other lifters who work as trainers that can pull of that schedule. They’ve been in the game longer than me, so maybe its just experience.

4

I second the DON’T! You are not an elite lifter.

What do you think is better? To train 2-3 times a week and be recovered and fresh and able to push yourself and lift big weights? Or train 10 times a week but having sub par sessions?

If you aren’t able to hit 95% regularly you are not recovered enough and you should cut back. This is what David Woodhouse has been saying for years, and finally people over on the pendlay forum are starting to see the logic

5

[quote]NoPityLiftCity wrote:

[quote]olylifter106 wrote:
My opinion is DON’T!! Especially since you’re working. The Pro lifters you see doing this type of program do nothing else. No work, just training and sleeping/relaxing (recovery).[/quote]

I work as a trainer, so my work schedule isn’t that crazy. I know other lifters who work as trainers that can pull of that schedule. They’ve been in the game longer than me, so maybe its just experience. [/quote]

When you say “other lifters” do you mean other o-lifters, or just other guys who lift weights? Because there’s a huge difference in pulling a double when all your workouts are heavily taxing on your CNS/back/legs, and saying “Oh yeah, pulling a double today, gonna hit up some arms in the morning and then blast my calves and hammies tonight” you know what I mean?

6

HGH and anavar.

Be grand.

7

You can train to get stronger. You can train to build up your work capacity. If you train for two goals at the same time, you probably won’t hit either. How much has your FS improved in the last two months? If you are making gains, then only cut back the volume just to manage your pain/fatigue level.

If you aren’t getting stronger, you may want to back off on the weight (75-80%) to build up your capacity, or go to a Woodhouse-style system so you can go all out when you do train.

I think the woodhouse thing is good for people who are very experienced or pretty athletic. If your form sucks after two days without snatching, then you may want to look elsewhere.

8

to be able to train 2 hard times a day, day in and day out you need really need a whole team of people around you to make it happen. you need someone to take care of nutrition, chiropractic, message, soft tissue and other forms of recovery you might favor. sleep will also have to much longer, at least 10-12 hours.

don’t get caught up in what the best in the world do training wise. its just not feasible for real people with a real life and limited money. instead look for program tips from real world people. a 140 sn and 170 cj might not take you to the podium at the Olympics but it will still impressive 99.9% of people who see you do it.

9

You have 2 options:

  1. Keep doing what your doing and eventually adjust over time…

  2. Cut down on training so much and see how your progress goes.

Also like Jonty has also has said, what are these more experienced liftere actually doing? Are they OLifters?

If you want to train 2x a day properly you will need 8-9hrs minimum and be able to NAP POST 2ND TRAINING AND LUNCH. This is what I did when I go on a training holiday. I do NOTHING but SLEEP, eat, train, eat, sleep, train, eat, sleep. NOTHING else.

Koing

10

[quote]orcrist wrote:
I think the woodhouse thing is good for people who are very experienced or pretty athletic. If your form sucks after two days without snatching, then you may want to look elsewhere. [/quote]

If your form sucks after two days without snatching you may want to consider another sport! Or see a neurologist!

Training twice a day because you heard the the top lifters train twice a day is akin to spending 4 hours on biceps because you read Ronnie Coleman used to. If you were a bodybuilder the pertinent question would not be “How does Ronnie Coleman train?”, but “How did Ronnie Coleman train when he was at my level (bearing in mind Ronnie Coleman was probably never at my level)?”

I don’t think it’s very useful to look at the programming of professional weightlifters. Interesting, but not that useful. What you have to remember is that these guys have to do a massive amount of work just to get a training effect, because they are outliers, very accomplished, and gassed out of their minds. However, for most lifters, certainly those with sub-300 sinclairs, this is over-egging the pudding to the nth degree.

What’s the minimum amount of training you can do to elicit a training effect and improve the snatch and C&J? If you can make good progress on 2 days a week then why train more? Use that spare time to call your mate’s squats high on Facebook, or watch Jaws.

11

[quote]ninearms wrote:
If your form sucks after two days without snatching you may want to consider another sport! Or see a neurologist![/quote]

Some people new to the sport may need more sessions/week to learn and reinforce what is likely a new movement pattern. Two sessions per week may not be enough for a rank noob to improve at the skill of weightlifting, though they will certainly get stronger.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
Training twice a day because you heard the the top lifters train twice a day is akin to spending 4 hours on biceps because you read Ronnie Coleman used to. If you were a bodybuilder the pertinent question would not be “How does Ronnie Coleman train?”, but “How did Ronnie Coleman train when he was at my level (bearing in mind Ronnie Coleman was probably never at my level)?” [/quote]

I think the pertinent question should be “How are the pros training, and what can I learn from them that I can apply to my own training?” Especially considering that when most international level oly lifters were at our level, they were in their mid-teens and had already been lifting for years. Not exactly a similar situation. Doesn’t mean we can’t learn from what they’re doing. Though I agree, trying to imitate their entire training protocol doesn’t make sense.

[quote]ninearms wrote:
I don’t think it’s very useful to look at the programming of professional weightlifters. Interesting, but not that useful. What you have to remember is that these guys have to do a massive amount of work just to get a training effect, because they are outliers, very accomplished, and gassed out of their minds. However, for most lifters, certainly those with sub-300 sinclairs, this is over-egging the pudding to the nth degree.

What’s the minimum amount of training you can do to elicit a training effect and improve the snatch and C&J? If you can make good progress on 2 days a week then why train more? Use that spare time to call your mate’s squats high on Facebook, or watch Jaws.
[/quote]

Sure, perhaps I can make good progress lifting twice a week. But if I have the time and recovery capacity for it, and would make better progress lifting 4 or 5 or 6 times a week, why wouldn’t I do that? Everyone’s life is not conducive to lifting so much, but at the same time not everyone is limited to the extent they can only lift twice a week. Especially us young idiots who don’t do much else.

I will say that Koing’s results on that system (sorry, SYYYYYYSTEM) speak for themselves and that is obviously working for him. Doesn’t make it the be-all and end-all for all natty lifters who have some sort of life.

12

Interesting points Jonty.

Because The SYYYYYYSTEM believes most people will not be bale to do so. If your making gains off 5-6 sessions then that is different to people thinking I’m making gains off 3x a week, lets up it to 4-5-6x a week and make MORE gains…

I’m the first to freely admit that if a person is making gains year on year then stick with what you are doing. BUT if your unhappy with your progress then why not train less and have more recovery inbetween sessions and see how that goes for you? You can still do bar work on off days but DO NOT just train more because others are doing so.

Yes a beginner should do a lot more bar work and it does call for it as well. It says to do bar work with a broomstick on off days for n00bs.

Koing

13

Not an O-lifter but your question is pretty common to training.

  1. I don’t see YEAR ROUND two a days as helpful to anybody. Most who do, and even the elite who succeed go on cycles say 8 weeks.
  2. All but low intensity programs will have bad days, sometimes it’s getting through those days that helps the most. Two a days has greater chance for bad days.
  3. Just because you know something doesn’t mean your doing it. Most if not all elite athletes have coaches, and go to professionals for everything despite being guru’s themselves. If your doing two a days with intention of making great progress have one of your friends do your nutrition or program design for you.
14

Thanks for all the responses guys, I really appreciate it.

Im gonna knock back my training to one big session 3x a week and 3 technique sessions on the days in between, gonna see how that goes.

15

[quote]Koing wrote:
Interesting points Jonty.

Because The SYYYYYYSTEM believes most people will not be bale to do so. If your making gains off 5-6 sessions then that is different to people thinking I’m making gains off 3x a week, lets up it to 4-5-6x a week and make MORE gains…

I’m the first to freely admit that if a person is making gains year on year then stick with what you are doing. BUT if your unhappy with your progress then why not train less and have more recovery inbetween sessions and see how that goes for you? You can still do bar work on off days but DO NOT just train more because others are doing so.

Yes a beginner should do a lot more bar work and it does call for it as well. It says to do bar work with a broomstick on off days for n00bs.

Koing[/quote]

More is not always better and less is not always more. It’s all about finding what works for YOU. You should have goals, they should be measurable, and your training should be producing results. If you’ve stagnated or are regressing you need to reassess and probably change something.

Unfortunately for those without a coach, there is an inherent bias when making decisions about your own training that can throw you off course. Factor in some paralysis by analysis and the fact some people just aren’t knowledgable enough to do their own programming and you wind up with some real train wreck stories out there.

But I guess that’s what the forums are here for, haha.

16

[quote]TheJonty wrote:

[quote]Koing wrote:
Interesting points Jonty.

Because The SYYYYYYSTEM believes most people will not be bale to do so. If your making gains off 5-6 sessions then that is different to people thinking I’m making gains off 3x a week, lets up it to 4-5-6x a week and make MORE gains…

I’m the first to freely admit that if a person is making gains year on year then stick with what you are doing. BUT if your unhappy with your progress then why not train less and have more recovery inbetween sessions and see how that goes for you? You can still do bar work on off days but DO NOT just train more because others are doing so.

Yes a beginner should do a lot more bar work and it does call for it as well. It says to do bar work with a broomstick on off days for n00bs.

Koing[/quote]

More is not always better and less is not always more. It’s all about finding what works for YOU. You should have goals, they should be measurable, and your training should be producing results. If you’ve stagnated or are regressing you need to reassess and probably change something.

Unfortunately for those without a coach, there is an inherent bias when making decisions about your own training that can throw you off course. Factor in some paralysis by analysis and the fact some people just aren’t knowledgable enough to do their own programming and you wind up with some real train wreck stories out there.

But I guess that’s what the forums are here for, haha.[/quote]

Completely agree :slight_smile:

It would be interesting to see how I would be lifting now had I adopted a 2x a week approach. I know I’d be a lot f0cking stronger focusing on the FS a lot more…

Koing