OverTraining Question

[Strider]

There are two ways a person can overtrain. The first is to not allow enough time for a muscle to recover after a workout before you work out the muscle again. The second is to do TOO many excercises for one Muscle Part on a specific day. I understand why the first one is over training, but why is the second?

I have to add that I know it is overtraining, but the question is WHY is it. I have a friend that works out and believes that if he spends an hour doing triceps, biceps or shoulders, with 5 different exercises with 4 sets per that he will get stonger than doing less. I know this is wrong, but want to provide an explanation, this is what I need your help for.

Thanks in advance

Strider

 

[Blood&Iron]

There are two ways a person can overtrain. The first is to not allow enough time for a muscle to recover after a workout before you work out the muscle again. The second is to do TOO many excercises for one Muscle Part on a specific day. I understand why the first one is over training, but why is the second?

I have to add that I know it is overtraining, but the question is WHY is it. I have a friend that works out and believes that if he spends an hour doing triceps, biceps or shoulders, with 5 different exercises with 4 sets per that he will get stonger than doing less. I know this is wrong, but want to provide an explanation, this is what I need your help for.

Thanks in advance

Strider

I can't give a very scientific answer. The best I can do is to paraphrase Mike Mentzer. He wrote that one should think of training as digging a hole in the ground. The greater a volume of work you do, the deeper the whole. Resting and eating right will help to fill this whole back in, but if you're consistly performing a lot of work, you are simply digging too deep a hole to fill in, and this eventually leads to a state of being overtrained.
Looking over what I just wrote, I'm not sure this really answers your question. I suggest going to
http://www.cyberpump.com
And looking at the writings of Arther Jones, the godfather of HIT. HIT is the school of lifting most concerned with overtraining and there is probably a much better explanation somewhere in Jones' writings.