- Joined
- Nov 20, 2012
- Messages
- 550
Not sure how much this thread will be used on this website, but I decided to put it up for the benefit anyways.
Overtraining is defined as a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. I find issue with this word because it often leads to inept use of the word. I also find that there are better words for explaining the phenomenon known as overtraining.
My issue with the word of overtraining is that it is frequently defined as working too hard. If you do a hard biceps workout for 3 days a week, people will commonly refer to it as overtraining. The truth is, as the original definition implies, overtraining arrives because of a lack of recovery. Calling things like this overtraining gives people an excuse to stop training as hard as they normally would. They are limited by overtraining, as they believe that it will hinder results in any physical capacity.
In order to combat people using overtraining as a means to limit themselves, I have used the phrase "under-recovering" to define what overtraining is supposed to be. Under-recovering suggests that one is not recovering enough from their workouts before they engage in another workout. It doesn't suggest that one is training too hard. It promotes faster recovery; as opposed to easier training.
If you are experiencing under-recovering, then you need to focus on improving recovery between workouts. Below I have detailed out the best recovery methods that I have gotten my hands on:
- Getting proper Slow wave sleep (SWS).
: I cannot advocate this one enough. Slow wave sleep is fundamental in ensuring recovery. The best way to get SWS is to go to bed early, usually 2 hours after the sun goes down. I realize that for the normal person using GC, they want to have a night-life. I focus exclusively on day game because optimal training is much more important to me. If you want to have a night-life and still get enough SWS, I recommend using approximately 0.25mg of Melatonin before going to sleep whenever you stay out late. A small dosage of melatonin encourages your body that it is the beginning of the night, which is when SWS pressure is at it's highest. Don't believe me? Take a look at this graph of a device measuring sleep: http://www.polyphasicsociety.com/wp-con ... detail.png
- Getting proper Nutrition
: There are a lot of things said about nutrition. For a general guideline, be sure to eat vegetables, some fruit, and foods high in magnesium, zinc, and vitamin E to ensure proper nutrition for optimal recovery. Also remember to get a healthy supply of lipids, also known as fats.
- Properly Warming-Up, Cooling Down, and PNF Stretching
: Warming-Up - Warming up is important to get the blood flowing and prevent injuries. All you need to do to warm up is literally warm up the body. Jog for 5 minutes before engaging in exercise to prevent injury and get the blood flowing so that nutrients are forced into your muscles. Also give the weights a warm-up set on your first exercise, where you use light weight to engage the fibers and lubricate the joints.
: Cooling Down - Cooling Down is as important as warming-up in eliminating delayed onset muscle soreness. To cool down, hop/light jog for a couple minutes, followed by walking.
: PNF Stretching - Stretching should be done after the cool down, and is essentially part of the cool down. At this point, while your muscles are warmed up, stretch them while providing mild resistance. An example of this is when you cross your arm across your body, you use your other arm to stretch it farther than you normally could. Do this while letting go every 3 seconds to try and move farther than you could without using your arm to push the other one farther, and then re-engage and repeat.
- Using other techniques
: Contrast Showering - When taking a shower, spend 5 minutes on a warm setting, followed by 5 minutes of a cold setting. The colder you can go, the better.
: Deep Tissue Massages - These can go a long way towards speeding up recovery. I aim to get one done every weekend to ensure optimal recovery, but getting them done once a month can also go a very long way in speeding up recovery.
:Salt Bath - Include Epsom Salt, Sea Salts, and Aromatherapy for a relaxing bath. I don't have access to taking a bath each night, but as soon as I have access to a bathtub I am going to aim to take these each night.
There you have it. You should be recovering in no time at all. If you follow most of these, you should be able to recover respective muscle groups within 2 days if you are a beginner. If you are more advanced in hypertrophy training it may take slightly longer. I currently work out 6 days a week, 3-5 times a day. This is a bit extreme, but I am stimulating a lot of muscle fibers without going to failure in order to ensure that I am able to spend a lot of time working on a lot of different skills needed for the decathlon. The most important thing to do is listen to your body. If you experience the many symptoms of under-recovering, aim to maximize recovery more efficiently.
Overtraining is defined as a physical, behavioral, and emotional condition that occurs when the volume and intensity of an individual's exercise exceeds their recovery capacity. I find issue with this word because it often leads to inept use of the word. I also find that there are better words for explaining the phenomenon known as overtraining.
My issue with the word of overtraining is that it is frequently defined as working too hard. If you do a hard biceps workout for 3 days a week, people will commonly refer to it as overtraining. The truth is, as the original definition implies, overtraining arrives because of a lack of recovery. Calling things like this overtraining gives people an excuse to stop training as hard as they normally would. They are limited by overtraining, as they believe that it will hinder results in any physical capacity.
In order to combat people using overtraining as a means to limit themselves, I have used the phrase "under-recovering" to define what overtraining is supposed to be. Under-recovering suggests that one is not recovering enough from their workouts before they engage in another workout. It doesn't suggest that one is training too hard. It promotes faster recovery; as opposed to easier training.
If you are experiencing under-recovering, then you need to focus on improving recovery between workouts. Below I have detailed out the best recovery methods that I have gotten my hands on:
- Getting proper Slow wave sleep (SWS).
: I cannot advocate this one enough. Slow wave sleep is fundamental in ensuring recovery. The best way to get SWS is to go to bed early, usually 2 hours after the sun goes down. I realize that for the normal person using GC, they want to have a night-life. I focus exclusively on day game because optimal training is much more important to me. If you want to have a night-life and still get enough SWS, I recommend using approximately 0.25mg of Melatonin before going to sleep whenever you stay out late. A small dosage of melatonin encourages your body that it is the beginning of the night, which is when SWS pressure is at it's highest. Don't believe me? Take a look at this graph of a device measuring sleep: http://www.polyphasicsociety.com/wp-con ... detail.png
- Getting proper Nutrition
: There are a lot of things said about nutrition. For a general guideline, be sure to eat vegetables, some fruit, and foods high in magnesium, zinc, and vitamin E to ensure proper nutrition for optimal recovery. Also remember to get a healthy supply of lipids, also known as fats.
- Properly Warming-Up, Cooling Down, and PNF Stretching
: Warming-Up - Warming up is important to get the blood flowing and prevent injuries. All you need to do to warm up is literally warm up the body. Jog for 5 minutes before engaging in exercise to prevent injury and get the blood flowing so that nutrients are forced into your muscles. Also give the weights a warm-up set on your first exercise, where you use light weight to engage the fibers and lubricate the joints.
: Cooling Down - Cooling Down is as important as warming-up in eliminating delayed onset muscle soreness. To cool down, hop/light jog for a couple minutes, followed by walking.
: PNF Stretching - Stretching should be done after the cool down, and is essentially part of the cool down. At this point, while your muscles are warmed up, stretch them while providing mild resistance. An example of this is when you cross your arm across your body, you use your other arm to stretch it farther than you normally could. Do this while letting go every 3 seconds to try and move farther than you could without using your arm to push the other one farther, and then re-engage and repeat.
- Using other techniques
: Contrast Showering - When taking a shower, spend 5 minutes on a warm setting, followed by 5 minutes of a cold setting. The colder you can go, the better.
: Deep Tissue Massages - These can go a long way towards speeding up recovery. I aim to get one done every weekend to ensure optimal recovery, but getting them done once a month can also go a very long way in speeding up recovery.
:Salt Bath - Include Epsom Salt, Sea Salts, and Aromatherapy for a relaxing bath. I don't have access to taking a bath each night, but as soon as I have access to a bathtub I am going to aim to take these each night.
There you have it. You should be recovering in no time at all. If you follow most of these, you should be able to recover respective muscle groups within 2 days if you are a beginner. If you are more advanced in hypertrophy training it may take slightly longer. I currently work out 6 days a week, 3-5 times a day. This is a bit extreme, but I am stimulating a lot of muscle fibers without going to failure in order to ensure that I am able to spend a lot of time working on a lot of different skills needed for the decathlon. The most important thing to do is listen to your body. If you experience the many symptoms of under-recovering, aim to maximize recovery more efficiently.
