overtraining? how do i beat this?

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ss396

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overtraining? how do i beat this? - Wednesday, January 07, 2009 1:08 PM ( #1 )
I just read  an article on the aspects of over training , first i noticed some side effects that are listed in the article  that i have.  but thought i had them for another reason
 
*Chronic fatigue - i thought i felt this cuz i have bad sleep patterns and dont get enuf , mostly from an anxiety thing im working thru.
 
*Injury - my shoulders are messed , they basically dont exist when i do pull ups or lat pull downs , no matter how slow , controlled or low the weight  is my left shoulder/ collar bone pops .then when i sleep on them , the next day im sore as hell.... i dont know if this is from over training , my shoulders are genetically messed , ive been training now. 20 months.. and only recently started to consistantly train my shoulders , before i never did cuz they were so weak i hated doing them i just did the classic newbie stuff , arms and chest ,  since i started i rarely miss time at the gym . but the only important thing for me was chest bis tris , everything else i just neglected...
 
 
* Lack of ability to get a pump - when i train back , i try all kinds of exercises , weights , reps ect , and rarely get a pump , ill get fatigued in that muscle , lets say i do a set of rows , i dont feel the pump  in my lats then try to do a pull up ill maybe get one , so its like i hit the muscle, its tired , but theres no pump????? i always seem to hit the secondary muscles in every exercise more then the main muscle even when i concetrate ( pec fly- shoulders hurt , bench - shoulders ,anything for back , all in bis and ironically front delts which is wacked cuz i thought it was only rear )this is one reason ive almost quit a million times cuz even when i bring a newbie tot he gym and show them stuff , it works for them they feel it , and ill try and feel nothing in that muscle .. especially db rows.
 
*soreness in joints and muscles - i know the feeling of a good soreness , like wow i got a good work out , but alot times i get this bad soreness like , i did something improper. , ive been realy trying to focus on form ... but its still happens so i think i overtrain . its mostly in my joints tho! more so then muscles anyway
 
* lack of desire to train ( cuz of lack of progress or even going backwards ) get ten reps on a good weight for lets say bench  , next week i try i get 3-4 reps less , feel tired. then next week im back to normal , but i dont seem to progress more , i wanna bench 225lbs 4-5 reps in the next 6 months
 , right now im at 185lbs for about 2 reps unspotted , probably 3 on a good day.  can i achieve that goal?
 
* ive lost weight but my diet sucks , my appetite is up and down. ill eat enuf for a few days then not enuf for a week , i dont know what my bf is but i want to lower it  while gettin bigger so im trying to clean bulk. i live off of cheeseburgers and basically only drink pop , and im not fat just have a little bit of love handles , so ive cut those two things out completely , only water and some juice  after the gym. hopefully that takes care of mos the fat.
and i guess i have insomnia and depression abit , but thats cuz of my anxiety im workin thru and working out has helped it tremendously  except when i look in the mirror and dont have the results i want or should have , ive been platued like 6 months  , lost alittle weight , but got alittle stronger strangley... but my weight is platued , strength up abit 
 
ok now i read about too many sets , i stick normally to the 3-4 sets 8-10 reps for every muscle , i cant do compound stuff for the reason that my range of motion sucks , my legs are sooo weak ... even little guys push more then me and my lower back is weak and screwed,  family trait.  i  am gunna start training legs this week but i can basically only use machines because i try squats lunges  and i always bend my hips as i go down , so its like i lean forward , ahh hard to explain but my friend says i do it wrong , i go down like an inch then basically start to lean with my back , and i seriously can not do it!!!!!!! even with no weight at all , the only way i can do it is holding onto something... dunno fi my friends wrong and its ok the way i do it or im just messed.
 
anyway this guys set list was like this
 
Legs (Hams/Quads) 12-15 Working Sets
Back 12 Working Sets
Chest 10-12 Working Sets
Shoulders 9 Working Sets
Biceps 4-6 Working Sets
Triceps 4-6 Working Sets
Calves 4-6 Working Sets
Forearms 2-4 Working Sets
 
and it says working sets meaning u can do a few warm ups , i do maybe one warm up or two before i start that muscle but dont warm up before each exercise. but heres the thing , i stay in these ranges for every muscle except bis and tris.. i do about 9-12 sets for those and those are the only  muscles that dont bug me , i mean sometimes i get stupid cuz ill get stronger so the next day ill go in the gym and do a few sets of curls the day after i trained them cuz i m just excited im strong.
 but as for the the rest i stay in these ranges...... so how am i over training?
 
anyway its been 20 months ,  ive negelected inportant muscles now for the last  4 months im triaing serious , diet is a work in progress but summers coming and if i dont achieve my goal and look like damn good ill either quit or do something drastic.... im not one for supplements much but i mean , i can only take so much failure.
 
 ive gone from 145lbs(im 5'11-6 feet) , to about 180-185lbs .. dunno about the bf% , but not bad , im not a fat kid most people see me as a bulky guy that works out.... well myf riends anyway that are use to seeing me skinny , it hasnt been a complete failure , i am bigger , stronger , more sore but feel good about myself , except come summer time im more embarassed to take my shirt of cuz people now expect me to be ripped or really muscular... and im not that much.. plus i just keep getting bad stretch marks in weird places , right where the bi and delt meets.. so gross... anyway guys im sorrry this was soooooo blooody long but  if u made it thru this whole thing can u gimme some advice , i dont wanna lower the sets for bis and tris unless u guys think i should i pretty much have no probs with them as far as soreness , i dunno if theyre growing are not , they could be .
 
p.s idont stretch at all really beyond shoudlers and tri  ,.. all simple stretches dont  seem to wrok i dont feel it...  like i said it feels like im hitting something else , i stretch tris i feel it in my delts , im messed! , help!
 
 
 
ss396

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Re:overtraining? how do i beat this? - Wednesday, January 07, 2009 1:23 PM ( #2 )
when i said 3-4 sets 8-10 reps i meant per exericse per muscle.. so ill do for bis and tris , 3 exercises , 3-4 sets 8-10 reps. so its between 9-12 workin sets for those muscles , and my routine has gone from always being

m- chest / tri
t- should be abs but always skip them  UNTIL NOW!
w- back / bi
t- should be legs but always skip them  UNTIL NOW!
f- shoulders - only consistantly for about 4 months
s - off
s- off

 now  m-chest shoulder
          t- abs
         w- back
         t- legs
         f- bis / tris
         s- off
         s- off

only been doing this new one a week , and still working out the routin cuz  some of the exercises dont seem to work for me , thanks again and sorry for rambling , im hoping this is all due to my bad diet , so that when it changes i feel better and get stronger
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Re:overtraining? how do i beat this? - Wednesday, January 07, 2009 6:04 PM ( #3 )
It sounds as if you have a few things working against you;
Sleep means recuperation.
Everyone is on a diet, just what type? It doesn't sound good. Lack of body fat is not always an indication of a good diet. What is a good indication is lack of strength and tiredness. Drink lots of water, too.
What type is your body? Are you built more like a runner than a lineman? If you are on the runner side of things, heavy weight training will not be good for you.
One VERY good thing for the legs is to ride a bicycle. Climb hills and ride hard. Don't ride too long or you will defeat the purpose.
Try only 2 movements per body part, 3 sets each. Do triceps and chest one day, back and biceps another, shoulders and abs another and ride your bicycle to the gym for your legs and aerobics.
You ARE over training. So many people over work at the gym! We think more is better but in this case [bodybuilding] it is counter productive.
Another question is your age. I am guessing you are fairly young. If you are an old guy [like me] recuperation is most important. If I don't get at least 8 hours of good, solid sleep, I won't workout. This was true even when I was in my twenties.
Hang in there, rest, drink water, eat unprocessed foods and work out!
Topper 

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