Overtraining is probably one of the most serious obstacles for natural bodybuilders. As you already know, muscle growth occurs as a response to high intensity training that progressively overloads the muscles and forces them in this way to grow in order to meet the demand. However, when the muscles do not get the time and rest needed to rebuild them, this strategy immediately backfires, resulting in overtraining. This post provides basic advice to detect overtraining and summarizes the best practices for its prevention.
Overtraining results in a variety of negative effects on the body, including both physiological and psychological disturbances. Physiological symptoms include lower performance in the gym, manifested with decrements in strength and lean body mass, changes in blood pressure and heart rate, prolonged muscle soreness, stiffness, increased joint and muscle aches, delayed recovery from training and increased chances of injury. You can also suffer from chronic fatigue, dehydration, loss in appetite and sleep disturbances (insomnia, poor quality sleep). In addition, your immune system can be also compromised, thus making your more susceptible to minor infections (e.g. colds), gastric problems, headaches, and prolonging your healing time. Psychological symptoms include loss of motivation, pessimism, unusual feelings of sadness or depression, mood swings, increased apathy and irritability, anxiety and reduced ability to concentrate. The appearance of some of these symptoms must be used as a warning, and deserves a detailed following in order to assess your overtraining degree.
Of course, the best treatment for overtraining is prevention. This must be accomplished from several points of view, including training, rest and nutrition. With respect to training, the key is to do exactly the right amount of sets needed for stimulating the muscles. Doing additional sets will yield no benefit and it can even be counterproductive. In this sense, you should keep workouts short (preferably less than 1 hour) since after that time your hormonal levels become very unfavorable (pronounced cortisol release and testosterone depletion). In addition, don’t overuse high-intensity techniques such as supersets, pre/post-exhaustion or descending sets, since they are very demanding both mentally and physically.
Adequate rest is fundamental for allowing muscle recovery. Don’t go to the gym too often (aim for 3 or 4 days per week, maximum 5 in advanced routines) and let a muscle fully recover before directly training it again. In addition, once a while take a break in your routine. You will come back totally recovered, both mentally and physically, being able to deal with intense activities once again. It is recommended to take a week off for every 12 weeks of constant exercise. In addition, remember to get adequate sleep (at least 8 hours per day) for proper recovery. Focus also in mental recovery by getting lots of relaxation and trying to minimize stressful events in your life which will contribute to slowdown recovery.
Nutrition has also an important role in overtraining prevention. Have a balanced diet including the right amount of all macronutrients (e.g. 55% calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 15% from fat). Take care of fulfilling your daily caloric requirements, or even better, having a caloric surplus. Distribute your food intake among 6 different meals along the day to guarantee a constant flow of nutrients to the muscles and control cortisol levels, avoiding catabolism. Take care also of having the needed micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and plenty of water, using a multivitamin supplement if needed.
These practices contribute to prevent overtraining, and they must be also followed if you have already entered in an overtraining state. In this case, you should additionally rest completely from training of any form for some days. Then, begin training tentatively, with very light weights and short sessions. Once you recover, it is important to review your training program to avoid overtraining again. Set realistic goals so you don't train your body harder than it can handle, train depending on how the body feels and learn to recognize overtraining symptoms.
You can find further details about overtraining in the article “Overtraining: A Bodybuilding Nemesis!” by David Robson, the article “How Can One Prevent Overtraining?” and the “Overtraining” section of Muscle 101 site.
Overtraining results in a variety of negative effects on the body, including both physiological and psychological disturbances. Physiological symptoms include lower performance in the gym, manifested with decrements in strength and lean body mass, changes in blood pressure and heart rate, prolonged muscle soreness, stiffness, increased joint and muscle aches, delayed recovery from training and increased chances of injury. You can also suffer from chronic fatigue, dehydration, loss in appetite and sleep disturbances (insomnia, poor quality sleep). In addition, your immune system can be also compromised, thus making your more susceptible to minor infections (e.g. colds), gastric problems, headaches, and prolonging your healing time. Psychological symptoms include loss of motivation, pessimism, unusual feelings of sadness or depression, mood swings, increased apathy and irritability, anxiety and reduced ability to concentrate. The appearance of some of these symptoms must be used as a warning, and deserves a detailed following in order to assess your overtraining degree.
Of course, the best treatment for overtraining is prevention. This must be accomplished from several points of view, including training, rest and nutrition. With respect to training, the key is to do exactly the right amount of sets needed for stimulating the muscles. Doing additional sets will yield no benefit and it can even be counterproductive. In this sense, you should keep workouts short (preferably less than 1 hour) since after that time your hormonal levels become very unfavorable (pronounced cortisol release and testosterone depletion). In addition, don’t overuse high-intensity techniques such as supersets, pre/post-exhaustion or descending sets, since they are very demanding both mentally and physically.
Adequate rest is fundamental for allowing muscle recovery. Don’t go to the gym too often (aim for 3 or 4 days per week, maximum 5 in advanced routines) and let a muscle fully recover before directly training it again. In addition, once a while take a break in your routine. You will come back totally recovered, both mentally and physically, being able to deal with intense activities once again. It is recommended to take a week off for every 12 weeks of constant exercise. In addition, remember to get adequate sleep (at least 8 hours per day) for proper recovery. Focus also in mental recovery by getting lots of relaxation and trying to minimize stressful events in your life which will contribute to slowdown recovery.
Nutrition has also an important role in overtraining prevention. Have a balanced diet including the right amount of all macronutrients (e.g. 55% calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 15% from fat). Take care of fulfilling your daily caloric requirements, or even better, having a caloric surplus. Distribute your food intake among 6 different meals along the day to guarantee a constant flow of nutrients to the muscles and control cortisol levels, avoiding catabolism. Take care also of having the needed micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and plenty of water, using a multivitamin supplement if needed.
These practices contribute to prevent overtraining, and they must be also followed if you have already entered in an overtraining state. In this case, you should additionally rest completely from training of any form for some days. Then, begin training tentatively, with very light weights and short sessions. Once you recover, it is important to review your training program to avoid overtraining again. Set realistic goals so you don't train your body harder than it can handle, train depending on how the body feels and learn to recognize overtraining symptoms.
You can find further details about overtraining in the article “Overtraining: A Bodybuilding Nemesis!” by David Robson, the article “How Can One Prevent Overtraining?” and the “Overtraining” section of Muscle 101 site.
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