Am I overtraining?

[Spaullba]

Hey everyone. So I have been wondering if I have been pushing myself too hard for the last month or so. I used to lift 4 days a week in preperation for this football season (I play minor league (semi pro) football in Michigan). Recently practices started up and we now practice 3 days a week. I cut down my workouts to 3 days a week as well. They are still quite intense workouts (http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/online-journals/106531-sawyers-journal.html <-- my journal).

So my current schedule looks like this: Monday-workout, Tuesday- football practice 2-3 hours, Wens- workout, Thurs- football practice 2-3 hours, Fri-workout, Saturday-football practice 3 hours, Sunday- off.

At practice we do not do any push-ups or weight lifting or anything like that. Just a lot of running around, and starting tomorrow starting full contact hitting.

So... Am I giving my body enough rest? I am only 20 so I can handle quite a bit of activity. I feel relatively okay, I don't feel particularly overly fatigued. But do you guys think I am setting myself up for a collapse in the next couple of months? Should I cut down my workouts to 2 days a week and just focus on maintenance instead of still trying to get stronger? Look forward to hearing everyone's opinions.

 

[sassy69]

I think you should just listen to your body as you go. You don't need to set this schedule in stone. I think based on your football practice you can determine your soreness / fatigue level and go from there. In other words, don't feel pressured to do a strict training schedule - it sounds like football practice is your MUST while the rest is your SHOULD. MUST > SHOULD. You may find that you can handle things better cyclically than as a strict 3 + 3 schedule.

 

[pbzhb]

From what I've read if your feeling out of it or not performing at the same level you have been performing at that means you may be over training and just need to rest your body. I've read that most coaches use programs where they overreach there players for a month or so and then give them time to get back to optimal performance.

here's a good article someone else on the forums posted before:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/overtraining-overreaching-and-all-the-rest-part-1.html

 

[Tomi18]

Sometimes is good to take week of rest,just listen your body.

 

[CaptainNapalm]

As long as your football practice doesn't involve resistance training I think you should be fine.