Does anyone have any advice re: reducing recovery time? I weigh 175lb., 11% BF, and have been training for 6 yrs (I’ve made decent gains over that time). However, it seems that I need 3-4 days rest between training days, or I make NO gains. If anyone has any advice or info about improving this situation, please let me know. It’s very frustrating, because 99% of all training programs a person sees have the person training at least 4 days/week, and I can train max 3 days/week. Can an improved diet rectify this situation? Thanks.
Try Heavy Duty. Sounds tailor made for you.
I’ve been training for 12 years. Over the course of that time,I have tried every training method possible. Personally, I also cannot train more than 3x per week without stagnating. This realization has helped me to improve at a rate that I previously thought impossible. Remember, everyone is different. I am currently 6ft, 260lbs at 9%. If I were to increase my training volume, my lean mass would soon decrease. Do what works for you, nor what other people recommend. Good Luck
How’s your sleep/diet/general stress level been? I thought I was overtraining but then I realized that my diet needed an overhaul. Diet may be the first place to start, and maybe reduced volume on training days. When was the last time you took a week off? Hope this helps
9 times out of 10. when a person feels that they are overtraining they are actuallu under eating. bump up your calories to around 3000-4000 per day depending on your metabolism.eat 6-7 times per day, eat about 250g protein per day. and start drinking a post workout cocktail. approximateley, 40g protein 5-10g of creatine and glutamine, bcaa’s and about 75g of simple carbs. followed by a regular meal about an hour later. believe me you will reduce recovery time big time if you follow this protocol. also get at least 8 hours of sleep each night.
What’s your split like?
I’m currently doing a program where I do half my body one day~legs, back, bis, abs; then 2 days off, then the other half~chest, shoulders, tris, abs; and I feel it gives me the most rest between workouts, no matter how heavy or high-volume I go in each workout. After that workout, I have to take 3 days off, because of my 12 hour schedule at work, but maybe that’s a good thing!
You might try cycling your intensity, if you aren’t already. I use a heavy-light routine where I drop poundages by 20% on the light day. Still, after about 3 weeks I need to take a whole week and train light. Listen to what your body tells you. Can you make gains training 3 times a week? If you can don’t worry that some say you have to train 4 times a week. Bottom line is if it works for you.It’s hard to tell you much without an idea of what you do now. Most people overtrain on the volume side of things.Diet can help, and there was some excellent advice already given on that.
Reduce the perceived exertion(what most bodybuilders call Intensity) of your workouts and increase the frequency of them…something like HST sounds good for this. Your body adapts to what you subject it to. If you were to train every muscle group 6 days per week you would overtrain but you would also teach your body to recover quicker. I used to train with some guys who did heavy, hard manual labor such as running a jackhammer and hauling steel around all day. It was amazing how fast they could recover.