massive overtraining

[tbombz]

guys lately im starting to think we all overtrain the fuck out of ourselves. ive been feeling extremely lethargic and remaining sore for quite some time after my workouts, despite being on gear and eating high protien/high calories and only training every other day with very little volume, not going to failue.   but the thing is im making better progress than normal. my muscles are responding very nicely to the extra rest. in the past 2 weeks i think ive worked out 4 times.  albeit, my form is much better than it ever has been, going extremely slow on the negative portion of all my lifts, keeping form extremely tight, no momentum or ancillary muscles coming into play during the concentric phase but going hard and strong.

i think , at leats personally, less is more, so long as what is done is done correctly.

anyone else feel this way

[chaos]

I've been doing minimialistic, basic workouts for quite awhile.

[Yev33]

I have switched to training 3 days a week in the last 4 months of last year and loved it.  Went back to four days at the beginning of the year, but switched back to three after several weeks when I noticed that the extra day really didn't benefit me in any way.

I think sometimes people mistake a lack of progress for overtraining though. Especially at the intermediate level, people who made the beginner gains and now have to have a plan instead of just getting into the gym and lifting whatever they feel like that day.

[B_B_C]

except, perhaps money and (extremly rarely) sex
quality always thrumps quantity

[flinstones1]

This is my training routine

Monday- chest/biceps
Tuesday- off
Wedsday- shoulders/triceps
thursday- off
Friday- back/biceps
Saturday leg day

..you grow OUT OF THE GYM!

[WOOO]

i'm currently focused on dropping weight so i'm on the elliptical at least 1.5hrs per day... usually over 2hrs/day

i still lift in a similar fashion but i only lift for 35-40 minutes, high intensity, heavy weight... except for legs... due to the cardio requirements i am only doing bodyweight movements (very high reps) and I stretch everything, every night...

dropping a solid 3lbs per week right now.... no fuss, no muss

[hrspwr]

I have overtrained with running and cardio worse than with weight lifting.

 I need to train hardest in the kitchen to change my body, truth.

[WOOO]

I have overtrained with running and cardio worse than with weight lifting.

I need to train hardest in the kitchen to change my body, truth.

amen

[funk51]

 

[TrapsMcLats]

I think we waste a lot of time/energy/recovery doing isolation exercises.  I've cut down to mostly compound/olympic lifts and find I'm making solid progress with this split:

Monday:

clean and press
variation of rows
variation of shoulder press
variation of pullups
2 sets of curs 

tuesday:

squats
leg curls
leg extensions
10 sets of a calf movement

wednesday:

variation barbell press
variation db press
dips/cg bench/flyes...whatever

thurs:

snatch
variation pullups
cleans
bicep movement

friday:

leg press
 still legged deads
calf movement

sat:

pyramid up to heavy (3-4 reps) bench
tricep movement

Some might even consider this too much, but I've found that doing low sets of intense (not necessarily to failure, there's a difference) compound movements works best for me.  back in the day i used to do 4 sets of 4 different movements for each body part. Great workouts if you're on gear, but for a natty like me, just keep it basic.

[Yev33]

Ive been doing 3 times a week full body and I love it.

Monday
Squats
Tricep dips
Neutral grip pull ups
Incline crunches

Thursday
Weighted pull ups
Standing db shoulder press
Good mornings
Ab leg raises

Saturday
Incline bench
Reverse grip bb rows
 Single leg squats
Face pulls

[tbombz]

good to hear others feel the same was i do


heres what i do

day 1= chest shoulders arms
day 2= off
day 3= back and legs
day 4= off
repeat

chest= 2-3 sets inclince, 2-3 sets decline, 2-3 sets flat.
shoulders= 3-4 sets laterals, 2-3 sets presses
triceps= 3-4 sets pushdowns
biceps= 2-3 sets curls
back=  2-4 sets pulldowns, 2-3 sets pullovers, 2-3 sets shrugs, 3-4 sets rear delts
legs= 3-4 sets extensions, 2-3 sets hacks, 3-4 sets curls, 2-3 sets abduction, 2-3 sets adduction, 3-4 sets calves
abs= few sets every workout


never to failure, always very slow on the negative, always squeezing the muscle as hard as possible at peak contraction.

[Domthemilky]

monday - push

wednesday - pull

friday - legs

still think this is the best split, plenty of time to recover and just do the basic barbell exercises maybe with a few machine exercises thrown in if needed. not need to complicate things and i stay away from failure, too hard on the nervous system if you go failure all the time.

[d0nny2600]

monday - push

wednesday - pull

friday - legs

still think this is the best split, plenty of time to recover and just do the basic barbell exercises maybe with a few machine exercises thrown in if needed. not need to complicate things and i stay away from failure, too hard on the nervous system if you go failure all the time.

Made my best progress with this split. Time to return to it.

[wes]

Starting this week I`m gonna` do this for a while:

Day 1-quads,hams,calves

Day 2-chest,back/traps

Day 3-delts and arms


All basic compound exercises for the most part with a couple 'pump' sets at the end of each bodypart.

Gonna` throw abs and neck in there 1-2 X a week also,with possible cardio on the treadmill at home on off days.

[jpm101]

Take this for what's it's worth; I had done the push-pull thing for quite a while. Will do Push on Monday, Legs on Wed and Pull on Friday. Which allows three rest days between the upper body Push-Pull workouts during the week. Along with the normal two day rest on the weekends. As we all know, rest is one of the key building blocks in progressive training. Good Luck.

[jon cole]

here's the training of jon cole (the real,not me), pretty basic, nothing fancy.

"WEEK ONE
Day 1 –Bench Press, medium heavy – 10, 8, 6, 5x5.
Full Squat, medium heavy – 10, 8, 6, 5x5.
Upright Rows – 5x8 adding weight with each set.
Standing Barbell Curls – 5x8.Calf Raises – 6x20, 2 sets with toes out, 2 with toes, 2 with toes straight.

Day 2 –Power Cleans – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Lying Triceps Presses – 5x8.Standing Barbell Curls – 5x8.
Incline Presses, heavy – 10, 8, 5x3.

Day 3 –Bench Press – same as Day 1.Full Squats, heavy – 10, 8, 5x3.Arm work same as Day 1.


WEEK TWO

Day 4 (second week)Front Squat, medium heavy – 10, 8, 6, 5x3.
Inclines, medium heavy – 10, 8, 5x5.
Curls – 5x8.Lying Triceps Presses – 5x8.Calf Raises – 6x20.

Day 5 –Deadlifts, heavy – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bench Press, heavy – 10, 8, 5x3.
Standing Triceps Presses – 5x8.Barbell Curls – 5x8.

Day 6 –Full Squats, heavy – 10, 8, 6, 5x3.
Inclines, medium – 10, 8, 5x5.
Barbell Curls – 5x8.Upright Rows – 5x8.
Lying Triceps – 5x8.Calf Raises – 6x20."

[Domthemilky]

i strongly agree with doing all your pushing agree muscles in one workout. I think it was GH15 who said something about shoulders growing very little naturally without hormones so it seems pointless to give them a seperate day. I normally just do some side lateral raises strictly and then some presses behind the neck and thats it. I think the chest workouts generally hit shoulders pretty hard so no point in adding loads of exercises.

[local hero]

i strongly agree with doing all your pushing agree muscles in one workout. I think it was GH15 who said something about shoulders growing very little naturally without hormones so it seems pointless to give them a seperate day. I normally just do some side lateral raises strictly and then some presses behind the neck and thats it. I think the chest workouts generally hit shoulders pretty hard so no point in adding loads of exercises.

 

[Domthemilky]

he's right though, have you ever seen a natural who had any great shoulder development? the best you can hope for is a wide bone structure but eventhen you won't get that 3d look. seems pointless investing so much time in shoulders.

[Yev33]

he's right though, have you ever seen a natural who had any great shoulder development? the best you can hope for is a wide bone structure but eventhen you won't get that 3d look. seems pointless investing so much time in shoulders.

Thats bullshit, naturals can build shoulders just like any other bodypart.

I thought that my shoulders got stuck growthwise couple of years ago  then I started doing standing barbell presses. And as I got stronger on them my shoulders got bigger.

And the 3D look, most people have no idea how to hit their rear delts properly.

Way too many people on here lately have been on this drug bullshit, all of a sudden anyone that posts a pic with any kind of muscle tone is automatically assumed to have been running at least as gram a week.

It used to be real simple, you wanna compete and see how far you can go, then you're gonna have to turn to chemicals. If not, just train hard and enjoy your life.
Now any dickhead going on a vacation wants to know how much gh he should run.

[jpm101]

The qualities of GH15's statement may be highly questioned. Both his drug and exercise theories, holding little value or credit to either. Creative posting at it's worse. Making up stuff will always be proven wrong in the end.

Want  delts, than military press, push presses, one arm DB press, Press Behind the Neck, Hi-pulls, etc. Even DB lateral swings have their place. Chemical engineering need not be applied with any of these mass producing exercises, they stand alone by themselves..

Rear delts: reverse pec deck (elbows in line with the shoulders), BB/DB row (elbows out wide and in line with the shoulders, pulling the bar to the upper chest) , one arm reverse raises and even chins/pullups affect the rear delts. Most pulling type movements call upon the posterior delts. Good Luck.

[chaos]

That's why I dig the training board...enough with the drug addict bullshit, bust your ass if you want size and strength!!!

[_bruce_]

I've been training every day now for over a month and it works fine. Only thing I'm feeling is my right shoulder -> weightlifter's syndrome... cartilage and my back, ass and hams feel sore.
My body improved a bit and the lethargy is mainly in your head.
A week is like...

Normal
Light
Normal+
Light+
Normal++
Light++
Normal+++
.
.
.
...ambulance

where '+' equals !mini! weight increase - using single workout of squats, press, chins and post ab and lower back work.

[Yev33]

That's why I dig the training board...enough with the drug addict bullshit, bust your ass if you want size and strength!!!

X2