Overtraining Syndrome
When it comes to bodybuilding we often only look at the training and the nutrition and how these parts can maximise our goals! Most of us however completly overlook resting and recovery time that we need after a heavy workout. You might train over what your body can handle and overtraining syndrome can occur which can result in decreased performance.
We have always been taught that more is better, what you put in is what you get! That is not always the case with weight training and bodybuilding in general. You would think that hours in the gym six times a week would give you more results than maybe spending just under an hour three times a week, right?
People are diffrent as they are many so everybody responds to stress differently. Over time stress starts to accumilate and you come to a point where your body and your CNS (Central Nervous System) can‘t handle it any moreIt is different from person to person, how long or how much your body will handle the stress of training (and all other factors outside the gym like school, work or maybe stressfull situations at home and many other situations). The syndromes that accur when the body is overtrained are many, couple of them are
- Soreness (always feeling sore, in joints and muscles)
- Decreased immune system (getting colds more often)
- Lack of motivation (you just can‘t get your ass in the gym, or when you are in the gym you just want to get the hell out of there)
- You have hit a plateau (what ever you do, you just can‘t brake it)
- Increased resting heart rate
- Injuries (common injuries in bodybuilders are shoulderpains but can vary)
- Constant fatigue (Always feeling tired and lacking energy even though you are over dosed on caffein)
- Irritability (Gets annoyed very easy)
- Depression
- Performance decreased (If your rep range has lowerd, one week you are bench pressing 120kg like a champ 10 times but this week you are only doing 6.. bro, you are overtrained)
- Trouble sleeping (waking up in the middle of the night for no reason? )
- Headaches
- Workout intensity drops (feeling like shit in the gym, your head isn‘t in the game)
These overtraining syndromes are the body‘s way of not handling the stress. We all have set backs in our training and they are different from time to time, but if you find this list being too familiar you need to reassess your training method and maybe your nutrition.
The cause of overtraining are maybe something we do not realise and that we need to fix to handle more stress (more training). Improper training is most often the case, such as constant severe training that does not provide the muscle enough time to recover. For instant to little recovery time between sets or even not long enough recovery period between muclegroups, doing chest five times a week maybe your setback. More factors play in as proper form and always going all in, in the gym. For an example taking lighter daysinbetween so your muscles and your CNS can recover from your heavier days.
Some experts say that overtraining is a myth and you should stop being whiny little b*tch and train hard every day and that overtraining is lack of rest. In some cases they are in fact true, you are not giving your body enough time to recover and that‘s why you are overtrained but in sometimes the individual is so far along he needs to recharge is whole CNS and his muscles.
It is suggested to prevent serious over training to take time off gym every 8 – 10 weeks. It is suggested to take about a week in recovery to let the muscles recover COMPLETLY.You should also be sticking with your diet, feeding the muscles while they grow, you should not be allowing yourself junk food during this time, just eat like you would normally. For some people it is very hard taking time off and they often feel guilt and feeling like they are cheating on their workout plan which is ompletly normal. This week is very important for letting the CNS and the muscles grow, for they will be stronger after this time.
