Overtraining?

What exactly is the science of overtraining? What happens when a person "overtrains" a muscle group? It would seem that if you worked a muscle for 20 sets in a day you would get better results than working in for 10 sets. Wouldn't you think? I've been back to working out for 5 months this time and my bench press strength getting better and better. When I started back I was only using 135-155 on flat bench for 8 or 10 reps. Me and my partner will do 15-18 sets of chest, sometimes more. We do flat bench barbell, incline barbell, decline barbell, incline dumbell, cabled flyes, etc. For 4-5 sets each workout. My chest is getting bigger, not where I want it by any means but for instance tonight on my flat bench I did 2 sets of 265 for 7-8 reps, 245 for 8-9 reps and 1 set of 225 for 8 reps. I Maxed out at 315 pound a couple weeks ago, this is the strongest I have ever been. Doing all of these sets seem to work for me, and I do chest twice a week. Can someone explain "overtraining" to me and give me their thoughts on what I have shared? Thanks.
 
What exactly is the science of overtraining? What happens when a person "overtrains" a muscle group? It would seem that if you worked a muscle for 20 sets in a day you would get better results than working in for 10 sets. Wouldn't you think? I've been back to working out for 5 months this time and my bench press strength getting better and better. When I started back I was only using 135-155 on flat bench for 8 or 10 reps. Me and my partner will do 15-18 sets of chest, sometimes more. We do flat bench barbell, incline barbell, decline barbell, incline dumbell, cabled flyes, etc. For 4-5 sets each workout. My chest is getting bigger, not where I want it by any means but for instance tonight on my flat bench I did 2 sets of 265 for 7-8 reps, 245 for 8-9 reps and 1 set of 225 for 8 reps. I Maxed out at 315 pound a couple weeks ago, this is the strongest I have ever been. Doing all of these sets seem to work for me, and I do chest twice a week. Can someone explain "overtraining" to me and give me their thoughts on what I have shared? Thanks.

Your muscles can only break down so far before it becomes counter productive. You will end up losing strength. You don't get your gains in the gym, you get them when you sleep. Over training is not getting enough rest in between workouts. Some people can do 10 or 15 sets of bench in a night, others can only do 5 or 6 and they get the tears in their muscles needed to grow. I know over training well, I never took breaks and it hindered my workouts. And then I would work even harder thinking it was from a lack of effort. So for someone who has a really high work ethic, over training is really bad. There is really no science to it other than make sure you get your rest or your workouts will be a waste of time.
 
So you don't think that I'm overtraining? I rest my chest for 3 days before working it again. It's not sore when I work it out again so I assume that it is healed. Same with my other muscle groups. Also, I continue to get stronger and stronger.
 
So you don't think that I'm overtraining? I rest my chest for 3 days before working it again. It's not sore when I work it out again so I assume that it is healed. Same with my other muscle groups. Also, I continue to get stronger and stronger.

Personally I think no, from my experience I lost strength and always hurt. If your not injuring yourself and aren't sore after a few days rest I would think your good to go
 
Over training in not limited to the muscle you are working on.
Your CNS nervous system can go into shock when your body is continually broken down and being rebuilt while you sleep. So you may be able to do chest twice a week as well as other muscle groups, each person can be different.
But after extended periods of training you can stress your CNS system and you hit that plateau. So in summary rest will allow your cns system to regenerate and rebuilt.
training a muscle group twice a week can be ok just pay attention to your body it will tell you when it needs extra rest.
I personally take a one break every 12 weeks,
 
Agreed with the above.

I've overtrained many a times and I've been in this game long enough now to know when I'm doing it. Basically, my strength goes down, I am more fatigued and lethargic, and I feel flat physique wise. As soon as I take a few days off to recover then hit the gym, I am stronger than ever, have tons of energy, and my muscles regain their fullness.

You will know when you are overtaining if you listen to your body. Everyone is different, some people can do twice as much volume as others with no ill effects.
 
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