Overtraining or not overtraining?

[Juice Bigalow]

So usually my lifting routine is as follow... day1 back/bis day2 chest/tris day3 legs day4 traps/shoulders day5 rest......... This has provided significant results over the last 6 months and i was talking to my cousin and he straight blew up monster status in a 6 month period.. pretty sure he wasnt juicing either.. he just has muscle memory and a solid diet.. he told me he does the same routine except he doesnt take any days off for rest... i know everyone says to take rest days but hes a friggin monster with similar genetics.. so my question is... hit it 7 days a week or continue my routine followed by the one day of rest and rinse n repeat?

any feedback would be greatly appreciated

 

[Metalhead]

Just listen to your body. If you're not sore, hit it. If you are sore as fuck all over, take a rest. Your body needs time to rebuild so just listen to it

 

[Juice Bigalow]

ya thats what i was thinking.. i had to take more rest days when i first started lifting and now if i split the muscle groups up correctly i can hit it almost every day and i can beat myself up real good and never feel sore anymore.. my body fkin loves it now

 

[dave1966]

If your body feels good then your probably not overtraining. I do a similar split and it works for me

 

[Conrad0032]

You gotta be able to gauge where your limit is, and try to push that limit slightly in order to continue progression. Just sleep and eat well after training and you'll most likely be fine. Although, I do think you should have one day off a week from anything mentally taxing. I find that I tend to burn out mentally faster than I do physically. Just listen to your body and know what you can ignore, and what needs to be addressed.

 

[caladin]

How is your sleep? Are you using any Self-myofascial release? I find that the body is very resilient if you do some love!

 

[Juice Bigalow]

How is your sleep? Are you using any Self-myofascial release? I find that the body is very resilient if you do some love!

I can sleep up to 10 hours any given night IF my schedule isn't jam packed enough to allow me to do so =) . However i do take 75mg of instant release serequel to sleep every night. It's a non narcotic so i don't believe its all that bad but i started doing so several months ago due to trouble sleeping. I wake up every day fully rested and refreshed =) . As far as self-myofascial release I stretch a LITTLE bit before i lift and that's about it. .

 

[JustinBieber]

I think it is possible to develop a overuse injury from over training like tendonitous etc.. but to get "overtraining" symptoms that I have read about, Never met anyone that had it or has it.. makes me think if it's even possible.. maybe if you just straight up don't sleep. Lol

 

[DreDay187]

I think it is possible to develop a overuse injury from over training like tendonitous etc.. but to get "overtraining" symptoms that I have read about it.. but never met anyone that has it or has it.. makes me think if it's even possible.. maybe if you just straight up don't sleep. Lol

It is 100% possible to overtrain and the results can be costly. The problem arises from lack of recovery from training stress obviously. Someone in the novice stage is unadapted and partly bc the loads used are so light is why novices rarely if ever experience overtraining. It takes A LOT to overtrain a novice. In the intermediate and advanced stages is where overtraining really comes in. Problem is most people never leave the novice stage so they never experience it.

 

[DreDay187]

Also, bodybuilding routines are much more forgiving to overtraining. You're not providing the same systemic fatigue as a strength athlete would.

 

[JustinBieber]

Okay it does exist .. but it's so hard to do, that you shouldn't worry about it.. train as hard and as much as you want!

 

[DreDay187]

Okay it does exist .. but it's so hard to do, that you shouldn't worry about it.. train as hard and as much as you want!

It's almost impossible (not really but highly unlikely) in novices, its easier in intermediates but you have quite a bit of leeway, and its a very real threat and easy for advanced and elite level athletes. Ask 308power on here, an elite level powerlifter, how fine the line is and how delicate the balance is between not providing enough training stress and providing too much and overtraining. My point is, its something to watch out for if you're intermediate or more advanced. Again seeing as most people never progress past the novice stage this might be a non-issue for most. I myself have experienced it a few times and trust me, you don't want to be there plus it wastes training time recovering from it. Training hard is the only option for me but I always keep an eye out on my recovery. Hope that explains things for you

 

[JustinBieber]

Ahh I see.. I guess I never took in to consideration how hard you have to train to be at the elite level of power lifting.. I ain't got time for that I got to go to work.. :s lol