Am I over training on cycle?

[paul606]

Hey all,

I'm about 10 weeks into my first cycle consisting of 500mg test e/week.
Before cycle I was always train as followed:

Mon - Chest/bi's
Tue - Legs
Thu - Back/tri's
Fri - Shoulders/abs
Rest days on all the days in between.

About 4 weeks into my cycle I felt I was recovering much much quicker so I started training as above although 4 days on and 1 days off then repeat.
It seemed to be working quite well for me until last week I took 2 days off instead of the 1 and today when doing chest I was able to bench so much more than usual.

Normally I flat bench 4 sets of 10 @ 80kg followed by 4 sets of 10 @ 70kg incline.
Today I was able to do 4 sets of 10 @ 90kg followed by 4 sets of 10 @ 80kg incline.

Was I over training and not allowing enough recovery time in between? I was allowing 5 days before I'd hit the same major muscle group..

[MR-FQ320]

I would say not, are you eating enough?

[paul606]

Yeah mate, eating 700 cals over maintenance, all clean

[krugerr]

I don't mean to criticize, but if you're doing 4sets of 10 at 80kg. The weight isn't hard enough. You might of found that you could of done 90kg a few weeks ago.

[paul606]

It was heavy enough because the last 2 sets I would struggle to hit 10 reps. When I jumped on the bench today I was able to push out 16 reps on the first set which I never would have been able to do. Either I was over training or my gear just kicked in properly haha

[marcus300]

Hey all,

I'm about 10 weeks into my first cycle consisting of 500mg test e/week.
Before cycle I was always train as followed:

Mon - Chest/bi's
Tue - Legs
Thu - Back/tri's
Fri - Shoulders/abs
Rest days on all the days in between.

About 4 weeks into my cycle I felt I was recovering much much quicker so I started training as above although 4 days on and 1 days off then repeat.
It seemed to be working quite well for me until last week I took 2 days off instead of the 1 and today when doing chest I was able to bench so much more than usual.

Normally I flat bench 4 sets of 10 @ 80kg followed by 4 sets of 10 @ 70kg incline.
Today I was able to do 4 sets of 10 @ 90kg followed by 4 sets of 10 @ 80kg incline.

Was I over training and not allowing enough recovery time in between? I was allowing 5 days before I'd hit the same major muscle group..

If your training one major with a minor group you may want to train your bi's with back and tri's with chest, kind of back to front the way your doing it IMHO.

I don't really like the way your training but if your happy with the results carry on until things come to a stop. Personally if you can do 4 sets at 70kg you need to do alot heavier for your working sets instead of staying at the same weight for the 4 sets

[krugerr]

Marcus said it better than me!

It just doesn't make a lot of sense to have your warmup sets and working sets at the same weight/rep range. Or if those 4 sets are all working sets, I think you should make them progressive. Up the weight by 2.5kg or 5kg each set. I found that the 3sets of 10 type training had really slow gains, for me.

[paul606]

If your training one major with a minor group you may want to train your bi's with back and tri's with chest, kind of back to front the way your doing it IMHO.

I do bi's with chest and tri's with back so I hit them twice within the week, I have always been doing this.

I don't really like the way your training but if your happy with the results carry on until things come to a stop. Personally if you can do 4 sets at 70kg you need to do alot heavier for your working sets instead of staying at the same weight for the 4 sets

Well when I hit chest, I try to use the same weight for the 4 sets, but I choose a weight where I'm struggling to do 10 reps on the 3rd and 4th set. Are you saying I should choose a heavy weight so I can only do 6-8 reps? Or slightly go up in weight each set so I'm doing less reps per set?

[paul606]

I think you should make them progressive. Up the weight by 2.5kg or 5kg each set.

I could do this, for example

90kg - 12 reps
95kg - 10 reps
100kg - 6-8 reps
105kg - 3-4 reps

Does this look better?

[marcus300]

I do bi's with chest and tri's with back so I hit them twice within the week, I have always been doing this.



Well when I hit chest, I try to use the same weight for the 4 sets, but I choose a weight where I'm struggling to do 10 reps on the 3rd and 4th set. Are you saying I should choose a heavy weight so I can only do 6-8 reps? Or slightly go up in weight each set so I'm doing less reps per set?

Like ive said your better hitting your bi's with back and tri's with chest imho

If your happy with your gains then carry on but using the same weight for 4 sets isn't going to make your grow bigger, its like warming up with all your sets! you have to increase the weight on your working sets and also the intensity

[paul606]

Like ive said your better hitting your bi's with back and tri's with chest imho

Can you please explain why? I've been taught my way by a former Mr Universe

[marcus300]

Can you please explain why? I've been taught my way by a former Mr Universe

Because when your training your back your biceps are heavily involved and when you train your chest your triceps are heavily involved.
Are your arms growing and are you happy with the size of them? #
what size are they?
if you are you carry on using the program you have but like ive said for me personally I dont like the way your training, but its all down to results are you getting the results doing what your doing all is good

[songdog]

Bro you ask a question and then you question the answers givin? Marcus gave you a proven way to increase your size and strength.Seems to us your way wasnt working.So if you are happy with your results.Keep doing wat you are doing.

[Capebuffalo]

What Marcus is trying to tell you is if it's not working change it.
What works for Mr. Universe doesn't work for me.
And what works for me doesn't work for someone else
I did as I was told for years with lacking results
It honestly has taken me 15 yrs to find what works for ME
And I still change and tweak it to work better.

[paul606]

Because when your training your back your biceps are heavily involved and when you train your chest your triceps are heavily involved.
Are your arms growing and are you happy with the size of them? #
what size are they?
if you are you carry on using the program you have but like ive said for me personally I dont like the way your training, but its all down to results are you getting the results doing what your doing all is good

Yeah my arms are probably the best part of my body, biceps are 16.5", quite large compared to the rest of me.

Great advice though marcus, cheers

[paul606]

Anyway back to my original concern, do you guys think I was over training? Being able to lift so much more during that workout really surprised me!

[krugerr]

I could do this, for example

90kg - 12 reps
95kg - 10 reps
100kg - 6-8 reps
105kg - 3-4 reps

Does this look better?

I would say that'd work. I would drop it to 3 sets though. Make the first set easy. Middle set moderate. Last set failure at 6-8reps. But Im quite big on HIT types of training now.

[marcus300]

Anyway back to my original concern, do you guys think I was over training? Being able to lift so much more during that workout really surprised me!

IMHO your not training correctly if you are using the same weight for 4 of your working sets, so I doubt you was over training because your not really going to failure and beyond to cause enough damage.