On Overtraining
How much can I safely do without overtraining?
I love to do physical things everyday (cycling, climbing, trampolining, squash), but I worry that I over train, particularly when combinging them with weight training. At the moment, if I do heavy weight training to exhaustion in the morning, by the evening I feel like I could do some more. I’m only just starting out, so maybe I could (maybe my “to exhaustion” isn’t that much), but I do notice that I can lift a lot less when I do.
So how do I safely know when it’s too much?
Thanks
Ed
This kind of question requires context. To start off simple though,
You can imagine that if you were to attempt to run a marathon every day, your body would probably be beat up very quickly.
And for good reason, the human body does not have infinite capacity to recover from training. As such, the question of
"is overtraining real?"
OF COURSE ITS REAL.
Why people argue against this, I've no idea. I assume they are fucktarded honestly. Its akin to arguing against people needing sleep, or oxygen. Its nonsense.
Of course, that wasn't the question that was asked, but I have to make that foundational point first. Yes, overtraining is real.
Your body's recovery potential can be thought of three ways
-Recovery capacity, meaning how much stress (and exercise is a stressor) your body can handle and recover from fully
-Recovery capability, meaning your body's ability to recover to a given stressor
-Adaptive ability-Your body CANNOT adapt if you are not recovering from your training. Let me say that again, Your body WILL NOT ADAPT if you are not recovering from training.
Your body also will not adapt unless your training is pushing you BEYOND your prior abilities.
Now, you might ask, "How can I measure these things?"
And I'll tell you that there is no quantitative "scale" that you can look up. The body is not quantifiable that way, and never will be.
Various apps and trackers claim to do this, but their data varies in usefulness.
And in practice, you only need to answer one question
Are you getting better?
If your training is not measurably improving you, and cannot be measured in any obvious way as to indicate improvement, your training is NOT working.
The question of overtraining then, you must weigh it against progression.
Breaking down the gentleman's inquiry then, My answers are in bold italics
How much can I safely do without overtraining?
-This is impossible to answer. You can safely do what you can recover from. Your recovery capacity is dependent upon your sleep (getting enough of it), genetics (I've no idea what they are), nutrition (eating sufficient macro and micronutrients), stress management, and the type of training that you are doing (different kinds of training stress the body differently
I love to do physical things everyday (cycling, climbing, trampolining, squash), but I worry that I over train, particularly when combinging them with weight training.
Are you doing these things to actively and purposefully improve at them, or are they done more so for the enjoyment? If youre not concerned about progression, do them as hard as you like, but bear in mind that if you are fully recovering, your body will pay for a price
At the moment, if I do heavy weight training to exhaustion in the morning, by the evening I feel like I could do some more. I’m only just starting out, so maybe I could (maybe my “to exhaustion” isn’t that much), but I do notice that I can lift a lot less when I do.
This is the WRONG paradigm in which to view exercise/working out/training. Fatigue masks fitness, how tired a workout makes you does NOT indicate the effectiveness of that work towards progressing you. The amount of stimulus/exercise required to promote ADAPTATION is less than anyone thinks. While the body will progress more if you train more, it only does this to a point.
Going back to the gym to the lift because you think you still have energy is pointless. You are simply digging yourself into a bigger "recovery ditch" and slowing down, or stopping completely, your body's ability to adapt.
So how do I safely know when it’s too much?
Its not a question of safety so much as adaptation and performance. Is your performance improving? Does your body FEEL stronger/better/faster? Are you getting more coordinate? Recovering faster? More muscular?
if the answer is not a "fuck yes" and you are questioning if you are improving, your training is not working.
And additionally, if you are feeling beat as well physically, thats an OBVIOUS sign you need to back off