Overtraining Q?

[thecompound]

Need an insight on the though of overtraining, I attended a fitness seminar that preached against overtraining and then I hear a lot of the older guys at the gym and what not even Kai Greene say F*c^ over training. The question is, is it bad to just tear up your chest on a chest day for like 2 hours until you cant even move good weight? Or do you hit a point in your workout where it is doing more harm then good because I know alot of guys who like to do biceps utill they almost explode and can even lift their arm?

 

[moya]

it takes time to become overtrained imo,... not so sure its somthing that happens after one hard workout... though im sure it can be achieved fairly soon with a few hard weeks work...

 

[Typo]

Need an insight on the though of overtraining, I attended a fitness seminar that preached against overtraining and then I hear a lot of the older guys at the gym and what not even Kai Greene say F*c^ over training. The question is, is it bad to just tear up your chest on a chest day for like 2 hours until you cant even move good weight? Or do you hit a point in your workout where it is doing more harm then good because I know alot of guys who like to do biceps utill they almost explode and can even lift their arm?

I think it's fine to tear up your chest, on a split routine where you only hit your chest once a week. Over training is more dangerous when you shorten rest times between workout days of similar muscle groups.

When training for size, hypertrophy, your aim is to fatigue the muscle. Each muscle can only get so fatigued until it gets to a point where every set/rep after is useless. SO MANY people do not understand this!

Sometimes we have to overtrain to know our limits, everybody is different and some people can handle a lot more.

 

[JDid23]

dude, if you're properly working your chest, 2 hours is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too long imo. What would you have to do for chest that would take your workout 2 hours?

i agree with moya, but at the same time, there are too many variables to come up with a definitive definition of overtraining. If someone eats 6 good meals a day and sleeps for 8-10 hours per night, that person is less likely to "overtrain" than someone who eats 3 times a day and sleeps 5 hours per night. Overtraining is a broad term IMO, and it's extremely hard to diagnose someone who is overtraining because as i said, a lot of variables come into play

 

[ledhead]

The majority of the people I know/known overtrain. Especially arms, imo, arms no more than 9 sets each for tri's and bi's. Chest 10-12, back 12-15, quads 10-12, ect... What people fail to realize is the growth process takes place outside the gym. It's better to undertrain than overtrain because overtraining breaks down muscle. What could someone possibly train for 2 hrs? Even legs should not take more than1hr to 1-15 min. I know some folks will disagree but I dont believe in doing cardio after weight training. I have this strange paranoia about burning muscle when doing cardio at that time. Even if you eat every two to three hrs and get the right amout of rest, you still can be susceptible to burning muscle by doing too many sets... My philosophy is once you get a real full pump then quit.... If your muscles start looking flat you're overtraining...

 

[theweakgeteaten]

Overtraining is generally cause by frequency and lack of rest vs. duration of a workout. While two hours on really any body part is extreme, it doesn't hurt to break a muscle group down like that sometimes, just likely not every time.

So much about your limits depents on variables. Age, health, workload, sleep, nutrition, suppliments. etc.

Bottom line is are you itching to get into the gym each workout? Or are you pushing yourself because you are still sore and a bit tired. Once you really understand your own body you will start listening to it!

 

[JDid23]

The majority of the people I know/known overtrain. Especially arms, imo, arms no more than 9 sets each for tri's and bi's. Chest 10-12, back 12-15, quads 10-12, ect... What people fail to realize is the growth process takes place outside the gym. It's better to undertrain than overtrain because overtraining breaks down muscle. What could someone possibly train for 2 hrs? Even legs should not take more than1hr to 1-15 min. I know some folks will disagree but I dont believe in doing cardio after weight training. I have this strange paranoia about burning muscle when doing cardio at that time. Even if you eat every two to three hrs and get the right amout of rest, you still can be susceptible to burning muscle by doing too many sets... My philosophy is once you get a real full pump then quit.... If your muscles start looking flat you're overtraining...

what if it takes only 1 set to get a real full pump? nobody should focus their training on attaining the pump imo... it should rather be focused on progressing. Do you see guys doing strength training with 3-5 sets having massive pumps from anything? Answer is probably no. Do you see douche bags sitting by the DB rack doing DB curls having massive pumps from 25 sets of curls? Answer is probably yes.

 

[ledhead]

what if it takes only 1 set to get a real full pump? nobody should focus their training on attaining the pump imo... it should rather be focused on progressing. Do you see guys doing strength training with 3-5 sets having massive pumps from anything? Answer is probably no. Do you see douche bags sitting by the DB rack doing DB curls having massive pumps from 25 sets of curls? Answer is probably yes.

Yeah well... I never seen anyone do 25 sets of curls...Except for weekend warriors. Second, read the rest of my post. I said if your muscles are starting to go flat then you're overtraining.

 

[JDid23]

Yeah well... I never seen anyone do 25 sets of curls...Except for weekend warriors. Second, read the rest of my post. I said if your muscles are starting to go flat then you're overtraining.

you dont workout at a YMCA with tons of high schoolers coming in around summer and ONLY standing by the rack, lucky you lol. What do you mean by starting to go flat? i've never heard anyone say overtraining is based on the muscles going flat. Overtraining (imo) is caused due working out and coupled with a diet/not enough sleep that does not allow one to properly recover. The way your muscles feel in the gym isn't really indicative of whether or not you're overtraining imo

 

[ledhead]

you dont workout at a YMCA with tons of high schoolers coming in around summer and ONLY standing by the rack, lucky you lol. What do you mean by starting to go flat? i've never heard anyone say overtraining is based on the muscles going flat. Overtraining (imo) is caused due working out and coupled with a diet/not enough sleep that does not allow one to properly recover. The way your muscles feel in the gym isn't really indicative of whether or not you're overtraining imo

What you're saying is true. Overtraining: when your muscles look smooth, they start breaking down. Like you said or someone said you find out about what works for your body. Lack of sleep, poor diet has something to do with how much you're able to train. Your diet can be on spot and you can have adequate sleep and still overtrain. I'm talking about sets and intensity. The smaller the body part the less sets one needs. Now that depends on the person through trial and error. I woudn't recommend doing more than 9-12 sets for bi's. Back, I would train 13-15 sets, some people do 20 for back. I like to hit every part of the body part I'm working with intensity then quit. Example: chest: upper, middle, lower, than maybe inner chest then quit. Tri's upper-head, lower-head, inner tri then quit. There is no need to do excessive sets....Ect... You understand where I'm coming from?