Thread: When is it overtraining?

If you're making gains don't listen to anybody about overtraining. Do what works for you, and if in actuality you are overtraining, you'll know...listen to your body foremost.

One sign of over training is lack of progress, or even going backwards. Keep an eye on the level of intensity that you can pull off, if it starts to drop, then you need to back off.

I got this from Cowgirl at fitchics...maybe it can help!


"Tracking your resting heart rate - a key to tell if you are overtrained or lazy.
Evevry morning as soon as I wake up, I take my heart rate. I do this before I sit up or move around. Doing it this way gives you a consant. After tracking it for a a few weeks you get an idea of your actual reating heart rate. I write it down in my workout log.

On those days where you are wondering if you have been pushing to hard and are run down or on the verge of overtraining, your resting heart rate is the key. If it is elevated by 5 bpm your body is telling you that you are not recovered from the previous days workout and get some extra rest/nap or have a real easy workout that day. If it is 8-12 bpm higher, you probably are due for a day or 2 off untill it returns to normal. anything above that could be a sign of serious overtraining and you can sometimes need days or a week to recover. A cold or flu will also raise your heart rate.

On those days when you can figure out if you are getting sick or are overtrained because you don't have any energy& feel sluggish, your mornings check of your resting heart rate may tell you that you are fine, so get tough on yourself & get to the gym & push yourself!!!

I have done super intense leg workouts & seen my resting heart rate of 48 bpm skyrocket to 95 bpm the following dy & the slowly each day drop down to it's normal level. During that time I was drained & exhausted as my body slowly recovered. It helps to know you are not a slacker or weak willed.

A final note about resting heart rates.

1. The fitter you get, the lower your heart rate drops. You might have a rhr of 75 bpm when you first start excersizing and a few months later it is down in the 50's as your fitness level increases.

2. The fitter you are, the quicker your heart rate drops back to it's resting state after physical exertion."

Originally Posted by SlimShady

One sign of over training is lack of progress, or even going backwards.

There ya' go. As long as you're making progress (getting stronger) you're not overtraining. It's when you stop making progress that you need to re-evaluate your routine.

(Hey Slim, I hope Duncan Donuts doesn't come in here and rip us a new one for over simplifying this too. )

I train chest once every 6 days. Im sore for about 5 of those days. Are my muscles still growing when their not sore?

(Hey Slim, I hope Duncan Donuts doesn't come in here and rip us a new one for over simplifying this too.)

Man, am I in your head that deep? I haven't even spoken in this thread yet..

Originally Posted by nmuriqi

If you're making gains don't listen to anybody about overtraining. Do what works for you, and if in actuality you are overtraining, you'll know...listen to your body foremost.

Yeah this is so true, it does seem to be down to personal preferences/capabilities. BB's like Arnold would train like 30 sets sometimes on a bodypart. Lee Priest says if the muscle still lifts/works it's not done yet, then you get monsters like Dorian who would do a warm up and maybe 2 or 3 work sets only.
I think you have to balance calories consumed with calories exerted ( make sure you have the right excess to train and grow/function ). Get that nearly spot on and you can guage how to make gains without overtraining.

With the exception of my legs, my muscles never hurt after a workout(maybe for 45 minutes they hurt, whereas my legs can ache for days).Train each muscle once every 4 days.I tried doing lots of sets for each muscle,high intensity, supersets and so on.Im startin a new routine with very high intensity and less sets and mixing the rep range up a bit.Does the fact that only my legs hurt mean their the only area being worked sufficiently or is that not a factor in determining if yav worked a muscle to its optimum limit.