Over training?

[Randall]

Some friends and I have been working out for 3x's/week for about 9 months. We're all in our 40's or 50's. We want to get bigger. We work our whole body, we do 3-4 different exercises for each body part. We do 2 sets of 8-10 reps and train to failure, first set, we try to do 8-10 reps, then we raise the weight 10# and try to do 6-8 reps. We seem to be getting stronger and just now we've seen an increase in size, but some of us are sore for a couple of days after work outs and some of us get sharp pains in our joints. We want to know if we might be over training? Please give feedback.

 

[Scotty the Body]

Hey Randall, welcome to IM.

The sore muscles are normal, I often am sore for 3 days with the worst being the second day after the workout.
People recover at a different rate, age and diet play a part in it as well.
As for the pain in the joints, it could be a sign of overdoing it, I would ice the sore joint and make sure you don't lift if your in pain, your likly to make it worse and it could result in a permanit injury.

It hard for us to tell if your overtraining, if your doing a 3 day split, I'd say your probably ok.

 

[SteveDeBeave]

Hey welcome Randall!

I'm 39, I also am sore for up to 3 days after my workouts. Lately it seems like I'm sore all the time, but I'm pushing it harder these days.

You should give each muscle group a good workout only once a week. This will give you plenty of time to recover. Like Scotty the Body said, if your doing a 3 day split your OK.

If your working the entire body 3 seperate times a week, then your over training. Also if you feel those sharp pains in your joints during a workout it may be time to give that body part a longer rest between exercises.

Your 2 set routine is a good way to start out.

 

[bigtom422]

I would so something like do your upper body one day, and your lower the next, if you are going to do a whole body workout. It just seems like doing your whole body would be a little much, but that is just my opinion.

 

[Arnold]

If you really want to gain size you should break up the body parts into different work-outs. If I am reading what you wrote correctly you are currently doing a full body work-out 3 times per week. You should try and do a split routine, here is a example --> Click Here!