Not resting enough?

[cw42]

I'm not sure if I've been overtraining, but it may seem like it. For a while now, my workouts are generally:

- Weekdats: Lift 3-4 days during M-F for ~35min. I'd say my lifting workouts are not that intense. I incorporate a lot of the Starting Strength lifts into my regimen.
- Weekends: I'll play golf (not really a workout, but having a bag on your back and walking a course in 90F will get you tired), and/or go for a run (3-4mi)

It doesn't leave me with much rest time since I do like going to the gym. Most of the time my legs/quads feel sore when walking up stairs. So, too much?

 

[purbeast0]

you are lifting approximately 105 - 140 minutes a week, that is far from overtraining.

 

[MJinZ]

I'm not sure if I've been overtraining, but it may seem like it. For a while now, my workouts are generally:

- Weekdats: Lift 3-4 days during M-F for ~35min. I'd say my lifting workouts are not that intense. I incorporate a lot of the Starting Strength lifts into my regimen.
- Weekends: I'll play golf (not really a workout, but having a bag on your back and walking a course in 90F will get you tired), and/or go for a run (3-4mi)

It doesn't leave me with much rest time since I do like going to the gym. Most of the time my legs/quads feel sore when walking up stairs. So, too much?

I don't think so, but if your body part is sore still by the time your next workout for that same body part has arrived, then I would give it an extra day or two.

 

[brikis98]

I believe real "overtraining" is largely a function of CNS fatigue. The symptoms include constantly feeling tired, depressed, losing motivation, getting sick more often, trouble sleeping, and so on. This typically happens after prolonged exposure to too much load/volume in training. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you need to take a few days of rest to recover and reduce the load/volume so it doesn't happen again.

The other possibility is that the load/volume is simply producing sub-optimal gains, even if it hasn't gotten to full CNS overtraining. For example, you might not be gaining as much strength from your workouts as you could had you not been doing as much running & golf. Your legs frequently being sore may be a sign that your body isn't able to recover fast enough. Some things that might help include getting more sleep, eating more calories, eating more protein, massage, and foam rolling. Of course, the best solution of all is to reduce load/volume to a level where your body can recover fast enough, making your training more efficient and avoiding full on overtraining in the future.

 

[MJinZ]

I believe real "overtraining" is largely a function of CNS fatigue. The symptoms include constantly feeling tired, depressed, losing motivation, getting sick more often, trouble sleeping, and so on. This typically happens after prolonged exposure to too much load/volume in training. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you need to take a few days of rest to recover and reduce the load/volume so it doesn't happen again.

The other possibility is that the load/volume is simply producing sub-optimal gains, even if it hasn't gotten to full CNS overtraining. For example, you might not be gaining as much strength from your workouts as you could had you not been doing as much running & golf. Your legs frequently being sore may be a sign that your body isn't able to recover fast enough. Some things that might help include getting more sleep, eating more calories, eating more protein, massage, and foam rolling. Of course, the best solution of all is to reduce load/volume to a level where your body can recover fast enough, making your training more efficient and avoiding full on overtraining in the future.

Personally, load/volume is not the problem, he can be increasing rest days.

If you're reducing load/volume, then you'll never get stronger.

 

[brikis98]

Personally, load/volume is not the problem, he can be increasing rest days.

If you're reducing load/volume, then you'll never get stronger.

Too much load/volume on a single day can be a problem, but so can too much load/volume over multiple days. For example, doing 10 sets of 5 of deadlift is too much load/volume on a single day, but even 3 sets of 5 of deadlift three times per week is too much load/volume over the course of a week. Both are inefficient ways to train and could lead to overtraining.

 

[cw42]

I'm going to try and add an extra day of rest to my week.

Why would over training cause difficulty in sleeping? I would think that being more tired, it would be easier to sleep.

 

[brikis98]

I'm going to try and add an extra day of rest to my week.

Why would over training cause difficulty in sleeping? I would think that being more tired, it would be easier to sleep.

Because "real" overtraining means the CNS is overloaded, which in turn can mess up lots of "normal" functionality, such as resting heart rate, immune system response and even sleep patterns.

 

[Koing]

I don't believe in over training and you are certainly not over trained. I do believe in a lack of conditioning. IMO it's more mental fatigue and being a pu$$y then anything else, unless you have *serious* sympmtons like brikis98 has mentioned

The symptoms include constantly feeling tired, depressed, losing motivation, getting sick more often, trouble sleeping, and so on.

If your generally a bit tired, your just not conditioned enough to train. The first month will be tough going.

I believe most people do not know the meaning of over training. I train 4x a week for 15hrs sleeping on 25hrs sleep in 5 days with a 50hr working week and I spend 2.5hrs a day travelling to and from work FFS! It's mental conditioning. On the 3rd session I really didn't want to go but I went and had a f0cking awesome session!

Koing

 

[magomago]

I don't believe in over training and you are certainly not over trained. I do believe in a lack of conditioning. IMO it's more mental fatigue and being a pu$$y then anything else, unless you have *serious* sympmtons like brikis98 has mentioned



If your generally a bit tired, your just not conditioned enough to train. The first month will be tough going.

I believe most people do not know the meaning of over training. I train 4x a week for 15hrs sleeping on 25hrs sleep in 5 days with a 50hr working week and I spend 2.5hrs a day travelling to and from work FFS! It's mental conditioning. On the 3rd session I really didn't want to go but I went and had a f0cking awesome session!

Koing

Uhh Koing....5 hours of sleep a night??!?! Are you generating that much ATP, or are you tired a lot? ATM I need 7-7.5 hours on a good night. When i'm in absolute peak condition, 6.5 hours is good enough....but I'd struggle if I had to do 5hrs a night for any prolonged period of time without taking naps during the day.

 

[NAC]

When I was doing SS, I found that I needed 8 or even more hours of sleep most nights. If I worked out following less than 7 hours of sleep - the workout would suffer and I'd be tired all day. So I needed to average about 8. Note that my workouts tended to be an hour - so 3 hours a week. And I considered them intense. I was always starving and needed to eat a lot. For much of the time I didn't eat enough - so i didn't gain as much strength as I could have.

When I was cutting, and maintained the intense workouts, I was exhausted and tired. Didn't do that for long. Then I reduced the workouts to about twice a week with fewer sets, and am losing weight, am not tired or particularly hungry, and can get by with my "normal" 6+ hours.

IMO, what the OP described is not overtraining. Are you working out legs almost every workout? If for example you only do them once a week - they'll be sore for a few days after every time you exercise them. If you do them regularly - they'll adjust and although they can be a little sore going up stairs any given day, I'd call it normal.

 

[hiyatran]

your workouts does not appear to be that intense. you should be sore in the beginning when you just start working out for the very 1st time but if you have been doing this a while then maybe you need to see a doctor if it is serious.

 

[Koing]

Uhh Koing....5 hours of sleep a night??!?! Are you generating that much ATP, or are you tired a lot? ATM I need 7-7.5 hours on a good night. When i'm in absolute peak condition, 6.5 hours is good enough....but I'd struggle if I had to do 5hrs a night for any prolonged period of time without taking naps during the day.

I'm getting more sleep now, about 6-7hrs a night. avg about 6.5hrs a night.

I sleep for about 20mins on the way back from work (what feels like a deep sleep LOL) and I'm in a semi light sleep for 15mins on the way in to work.

The training I do is all power, no endurance. You get use to it and just hammer on. Ideally I'd have more sleep but training doesn't pay. But at least in my job I get to sit down at a desk...

Koing

 

[coreyb]

Koing, I'm glad you shared your experiences with training. There seems to be this pervasive overtraining phobia going around these boards, when the reality is people are just afraid to train hard!

I'm not saying overtraining isn't real, but it's not as easy to do as people think...especially when you're not really moving heavy weight.

 

[Red Dawn]

Koing, I'm glad you shared your experiences with training. There seems to be this pervasive overtraining phobia going around these boards, when the reality is people are just afraid to train hard!

I'm not saying overtraining isn't real, but it's not as easy to do as people think...especially when you're not really moving heavy weight.

Well there's another aspect to overtraining and that's nagging little injuries, in my case usually the smaller muscles in the arms, shoulders or feet, especially now that I'm getting up there in age. I still want to work out 6 or 7 days a week(alternating between cardio and lifting) but I force myself to take a couple of days rest.

 

[Koing]

Koing, I'm glad you shared your experiences with training. There seems to be this pervasive overtraining phobia going around these boards, when the reality is people are just afraid to train hard!

I'm not saying overtraining isn't real, but it's not as easy to do as people think...especially when you're not really moving heavy weight.

Indeed corey. For the most part unless your shifting big weights over and over again, multiple times in week for at least 2-3 weeks, you will not be over training.

Most people lack the mental strength to power on when a bit tired or sore...

YES it will hard the first 4-6 weeks of training if YOU HAVE NEVER TRAINED before! Your not a f0cking conditioned athlete!

Koing

 

[katank]

For beginners, undertraining is a bigger risk than overtraining. Unless you see your numbers stall repeatedly/go down, keep at it.

Some soreness while walking up/down stairs is natural after a heavy squat session, esp. initially. Doing stairs is good for you though for flushing blood through the area. Also do some foam rolling if you can.

Other things to keep in mind is to eat more and adequate sleep. Koing's 5 hrs a night is probably too low. If nothing else, because the cortisol that results will really mess with your system.

 

[HomerX]

Indeed corey. For the most part unless your shifting big weights over and over again, multiple times in week for at least 2-3 weeks, you will not be over training.

Most people lack the mental strength to power on when a bit tired or sore...

And sometimes it would be good to lack the mental strenght...

4 Weeks ago i felt a pain in my shoulder when doing bench press... skipped Bench press, ignored the pain during the other workouts.
a Week later i felt the pain in my biceps/forearm too....but i could continue my training.... resting? NOOO....

now i have Tenosynovitis and need to pause for at least two weeks...

So there was no CNS fatigue etc but i still kind of "overtrained".

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I didn't over train last week, but I overworked. I helped my brother tear the roof of his house and put steel on it this weeked. 2 13 hour days. I finally got back to the gym today after that. I had no drive or energy to do anything after working hard for 26 hours in 2 days.

I still felt completely worthless during my workout today. I need to get my energy back.