To Train or to Overtrain. That is the question.

Welcome to The Way Fitness!!

Let's start off with ”Overtraining.”

Overtraining is very common. Before I expound on this, I want to say, in my opinion, there is a fine line of overtraining, because it can somewhat be useful in very drastic measures for weight loss. Somewhat….and only temporarily.

Now, for those who want to put on size, and muscle, big mistake to over train. I know this because I’ve done it before. I remember back over 20 years ago, when I worked for Enterprise Leasing. I took a 2-week vacation, and told my colleagues, when I come back, I am going to be “huge!” Ha!

I was excited to prove to them and myself, that I was going to be this muscle-bound god when I returned back to work.

Well, this was long before I knew a lot of how to body build. Never even picked up a book or a magazine to read up on the mechanics, or know how of any kind of workout training. I thought that doing redundant, vigorous, favorite exercises would do the trick. I pounded away at about 4-5 different exercises for two weeks. I didn’t change the order of exercises, no change in diet, or in weight differentials.

I came up with a plan that only consisted of bicep curls, shoulder raises, pushups, and pull-ups twice a day. Lol…I really thought I was on to something here. I didn’t know anything about proper nutrition at this point either. I just banged out thousands of reps on the same exercises and drank water. Drinking water was about the only thing I did right! I did this whole regiment in my apartment. Never once stepped into a gym in the 2 weeks. All I needed was my expertise, and insane amount of energy to pull this off. I mean after all, I worked my butt off. I knew all I needed to know, considering I worked out since I was 12 years old.

Well, what I didn’t know was, by me “banging” out rep after rep, over and over again, I basically had gotten smaller! I built insane definition for sure, but didn’t gain any size at all. I didn’t know this until I returned back to work. They looked at me and said, “Wow, did you lose some weight??” I was crushed.

They said I looked chiseled, but that I just looked thinner. Lesson learned. A good analogy for that is when u use a hammer, and drive a nail into a stud, depending what kind of nail and angle your using, it will split the wood. I essentially “split the wood.” I broke my muscle all the way down to nothing, with no rest days in between, to recuperate, and grow. I over trained my muscles down to nothing.

I “shrunk” in size.

Okay, not this much but you get the point.

Again, the method I used could have been useful, for weight loss. Toning. But not for gaining size. If you are trying to put on any significant size, you must eat proper nutrition, and change up on different exercises.

Now, if you are over training a whole lot, you could actually fall into a complete tailspin. You will be so burned out, that you will eventually lose your fitness goals, and strength. I experienced this before too. Your muscles are so fatigued, that you’re really not able to perform at a productive and intense level. The overtrained muscles never recuperate, and will lack power.

So, even if I would have eaten 4-5 meals a day while overtraining, I probably still wouldn’t have made proper gains in the muscle department. I wouldn’t have looked as depleted, but my muscles would have been stripped down to nothing, which in turn, would just look “flat”. In some cases, overtraining can cause frustration, irritability, depression, and loss of interest in training. You don’t want that.

Now, for you advanced experts. You know that there are special techniques that would seem to contradict overtraining. Only to a certain degree though. The “Priority Principle” technique is a task in which you’re simply bringing up stale, lagging muscles up to par. You train certain muscle groups, maybe 3 times a week to “shock” muscles into growth. But this is only for a limited time people. You have to really know what you’re doing here not to fall into overtraining. I use priority principle all the time, but I’m experienced enough to make tremendous gains. I can break that down to you later.

Meanwhile, keep reading your fitness magazines, social media blogs, etc. The more you know, the more you grow. Knowledge is power.

So, I’ve made tremendous progress in last 3-4 months, by what I call “overlapping” and “different.” My personal terms for overlapping so many different exercises, that my body is literally under constant shock. My body is always growing!! It’s always “fresh.” It’s so much fun to train now! I literally won’t see the same regiment for weeks, sometimes over a month! When I return to that same regiment, my body will naturally shock into growth again.

Just remember to never do the same exercises, regiments, routines, over and over again. Unless you are satisfied on just staying where you’re at. If you are wanting improvements, then you must constantly “overlap” exercises, routines, regiments, and do change up on diet goals as well. You must do “different” to gain improvements. Your bodily functions and muscles in your body will stay stagnate, and simply not develop into the results you are reaching for.

If you don’t change, then your body won’t change either. Yes, I’m going to be redundant here, because I want you to really get my point. Your body gets bored with same ole thing. It expects you to do the same tedious routines. It knows you! It’s waiting for you to do treadmill first, then your planks, then you’re bicycle ride, then your tri-cep extensions with the same 20lb dumbbell. Your body is laughing at you. Lol. It needs a makeover!

Try doing tri-cep extensions first with a 10lb dumbbell to do more reps, or a 35lb dumbbell to do less reps. And then do planks, combined with 2 other ab exercises. And maybe do lunges before you do you’re bicycle ride. Then do treadmill as your finishing exercise. Change the order of your exercises every time you work out, so that your body can get shocked, and then your body has no choice but to react and develop. You will awaken those stagnate muscles up from a stand-still!

I’m actually in a “zone” right now in my training. I’ve created what I call, “technique, within technique.” In essence, I’m doing 5-6 different exercises for each body part. I’m compiling that with 4-5 different techniques on the exercises. –super-slow technique, rest-pause technique, forced-rep technique, and visualization technique. Oh, and the “21” rep technique—(7 top-range, 7 mid-range, 7 bottom range reps). This way, I’m incorporating a million “different” ways to shock my muscles and physique into insane growth. I’m stacking muscles on top of muscles. My training is so much fun right now. I’m literally thinking about my next routine while I’m working out!

Okay, I’ve overstayed my welcome here. Until next time, always “overlap” exercises, and do “different.” You will see the difference! “Get fit and Stay fit.”

#Overtrain #Weighttraining #musclefitness