Overtraining on cycle

[auswest]

Hey guys, I'm nearing the end of week 5 on a 8 week tren cycle, I've found week 5 has taken me to a complete other level, I've been training each body part 2x a week do a couple of weeks now, it has just dawned on me I have only had 2 days off from what could be upto 3 weeks, I'm current on day 9 since last day off,

My dilemma being that I just don't want to take a day off, I'm not feeling fatigued at all and my workouts are high intensity pushing bigger weights each session, I'm not seeing much if any weight gain but am seeing alot of recomp in the mirror, which is pretty much my goal, although a couple more lean kgs would be nice.

Am I being counter productive, should I give myself a break to grow, or listen to my body and go if I'm feeling ok? This has really got me confused,

My workouts are very high intensity and am walking out with nothing left.fyi

Cheers for any help/comments

[dooie]

Hey guys, I'm nearing the end of week 5 on a 8 week tren cycle, I've found week 5 has taken me to a complete other level, I've been training each body part 2x a week do a couple of weeks now, it has just dawned on me I have only had 2 days off from what could be upto 3 weeks, I'm current on day 9 since last day off,

My dilemma being that I just don't want to take a day off, I'm not feeling fatigued at all and my workouts are high intensity pushing bigger weights each session, I'm not seeing much if any weight gain but am seeing alot of recomp in the mirror, which is pretty much my goal, although a couple more lean kgs would be nice.

Am I being counter productive, should I give myself a break to grow, or listen to my body and go if I'm feeling ok? This has really got me confused,

My workouts are very high intensity and am walking out with nothing left.fyi

Cheers for any help/comments

Signs of overtraining are DOMS, loss of appetitie, fatigue, getting 'll, loss of strength, sore joints, limbs, bones tendons etc, if you are not experiencing any of these signs, then I'd say ur not over training! Can u post your routine bro?

[auswest]

Thanks for the advice guys, had an amazing chest/bis workout today, my arms felt like they were gonna explode, I'm looking so much bigger and leaner and more vascular but haven't moved much on the scales at all, must be the fat loss muscle gain, but I'm looking much much bigger. My wrist is a little sore, I'm going to take 2 off as of tomorrow then go again until my body has had enough again, feeling really good about this cycle, due to the limited weight gain I can't see how it will be to hard to maintain with proper diet of course, will also start on peptides come pct and run in between cycles in the future, quite excited about that, should help with staying lean

[ironbeck]

If you are feeling good, then your good, listen to your body. I myself while on cycle or not train every other day....if I train 5-6 days in a row with work, I definitely feel drained and fatigue, but then again it only leaves 5-6hrs of sleep and I have sleep apnea.

[castiron]

listen to your body. take a day off if you feel like it. take a few days off if you need to, but do some active recovery excercises. Active recovery excercises would include some calisthenics, pushups, situps, bodyweight squats, pullups, swimming etc. just something that excercises your muscles but doesnt strain them. Anice long bike ride after a leg workout is great. going surfing after a big upper body workout is great. These excercises actually aid in your recovery. It will benefit you. Overtraining is bad news, dont become a statistic. Oh and I forgot to add. Try to get in one day a week where you dont set an alarm and you sleep as much as you need. Training and work tend to build up a sleep deficit, which has a negative effect on mood, hormones, stamina, strength, immune system, etc. This sleepy day will make sure you are in prime shape for the next training week. On sundays I like to do a little cheating on the diet and sleep my ass of. like 12 hours. it works wonders.

[M302_Imola]

I feel ya bro I'm actually starting week 6 of my prop/tren cycle and I like you am loving the results. Not much in terms of weight gain (up 5 lbs.) but my muscles are getting stronger, fuller, and I'm losing bodyfat as well. The vascularity has really became apparent starting last week...kinda tired of dudes approaching me at the gym asking questions! lol Anyhow, I have been training hard 6 days per week and I noticed on my 6th workout this past week that my joints were getting pretty sore in my elbows and knees. This let me know that I should back off and maybe take one additional rest day. Although, since I'm droping bodyfat (less than 10%) this joint dryness could be because of that.

[auswest]

Will post my workout in a week dooie I'm away at work and it sucks typing on this ap, I'll wait till I'm on my comp, this is what I train ATM though.
Day 1 chest/bis
Day 2 back/tris
Day 3 shoulders/legs
Repeat till I feel I need a day off,
I'll post up my typical exercises and sets as I mentioned.

[M302_Imola]

Will post my workout in a week dooie I'm away at work and it sucks typing on this ap, I'll wait till I'm on my comp, this is what I train ATM though.
Day 1 chest/bis
Day 2 back/tris
Day 3 shoulders/legs
Repeat till I feel I need a day off,
I'll post up my typical exercises and sets as I mentioned.

No offense but I don't really like the way you've laid out your workout routine. You're hitting bi's on day 1 and then following it up with back the next day (day 2). With your biceps being fatique or sore from the previous day you're not going to be able to really kill back and the same for shoulders because you're hitting tri's the day before. I personally like this setup:

Day 1: Back and Biceps
Day 2: Chest and Triceps
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Abs and cardio or I sometimes make this a rest day if my body is telling me to do so.
Day 5: Shoulders/Traps
Day 6: Biceps and Triceps
Day 7: Rest

[auswest]

No offense but I don't really like the way you've laid out your workout routine. You're hitting bi's on day 1 and then following it up with back the next day (day 2). With your biceps being fatique or sore from the previous day you're not going to be able to really kill back and the same for shoulders because you're hitting tri's the day before. I personally like this setup:

Day 1: Back and Biceps
Day 2: Chest and Triceps
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Abs and cardio or I sometimes make this a rest day if my body is telling me to do so.
Day 5: Shoulders/Traps
Day 6: Biceps and Triceps
Day 7: Rest

It's working fine for me and am having no fatigue issues, I absalutly destroyed bis yesturday (could possibly be the hardest I've ever hit them) and followed it up today with a killer back workout adding more weight too all exercises. To be honest back doesn't give my bis much of a workout, and I'd say back is my strong point almost to the point the width is starting to look a little silly on my frame. being on for me is all about pushing boundaries and discovering what works for me personally, I would like to say though I would not workout like this off only doing it now because I can.

[dooie]

Will post my workout in a week dooie I'm away at work and it sucks typing on this ap, I'll wait till I'm on my comp, this is what I train ATM though.
Day 1 chest/bis
Day 2 back/tris
Day 3 shoulders/legs
Repeat till I feel I need a day off,
I'll post up my typical exercises and sets as I mentioned.

Aus I don't really like your split either, I understand what your saying about working back and shoulders and don't feel it in your bis and tris but, your arms are still getting worked no matter how good you can isolate your back or shoulders,

Why not try another split to see if your strength goes up on back and shoulder day?
Just a suggestion, my split ATM is
Shoulders/tris
Legs/abs
Rest
Chest
Back/bis
(most weeks I don't have the rest day and will chuck in an arm day the day after back and bis)
This gives me at least 48hours rest for any muscle!
Try it, see if u like it, if not, go back to your old routine!
Good luck brother

[M302_Imola]

Thanks for the advice, as I stated we are all different and it is working for me, with my diet and the gram of juice I'm using a week recovery does not seem to be an issue, once again I don't "tear my biceps down on back days, nor "tear" my tris down on chest days..im not the one saying I know it all, you're the one preaching/parroting what you read everywhere else rather than pushing boundaries and experimenting, if you are tearing down your bis on back day, you may want to look at how you are performing that exercise.

For the record I don't preach on broscience or $hit I read on forums, I go by personal experience and trial and error. I have been lifting seriously for over 10 years now so I've tried about every routine under the sun...I've been stupid and overtrained before and I've also undertrained before. The good thing is I do learn from my mistakes and try to pass that on to others so they're not wasting their time. You do what you want but I'm not the only one in this thread to think your workout routine is subpar.

Aus I don't really like your split either, I understand what your saying about working back and shoulders and don't feel it in your bis and tris but, your arms are still getting worked no matter how good you can isolate your back or shoulders

Exactly! I practice really strict form on all exercises and still find there are days when my bi's are sore after back and tri's after a solid shoulder workout. Just because the muscle isn't getting sore doesn't mean it's not being worked/taxed!

[auswest]

For the record I don't preach on broscience or $hit I read on forums, I go by personal experience and trial and error. I have been lifting seriously for over 10 years now so I've tried about every routine under the sun...I've been stupid and overtrained before and I've also undertrained before. The good thing is I do learn from my mistakes and try to pass that on to others so they're not wasting their time. You do what you want but I'm not the only one in this thread to think your workout routine is subpar.

Exactly! I practice really strict form on all exercises and still find there are days when my bi's are sore after back and tri's after a solid shoulder workout. Just because the muscle isn't getting sore doesn't mean it's not being worked/taxed!

Isn't this thread over already? Zzzz....

[auswest]

Following the so called tried and tested and logical science ect doesn't always work, we are all different, the guy with the biggest arms in my gym works them every day, and his arms are ridiculous to the point he looks stupid, the most ripped vascular guy in my gym eats like shit, does not count calories and has no ****in idea what a macro is and trains half arse and irregular......

[M302_Imola]

Well I was just offering my advice, but seems you know it all so best of luck with what you're doing and I hope it continues to work for you. You do realize how hypertrophy and muscle growth works right? You tear down the muscle and muscle fibers then they hopefully grow back stronger and bigger in time. You're tearing biceps and triceps down 2 days in a row...so I hope you're giving them time to repair and grow. I would never tear down a muscle 2 days in a row on cycle or not.

[auswest]

Well I was just offering my advice, but seems you know it all so best of luck with what you're doing and I hope it continues to work for you. You do realize how hypertrophy and muscle growth works right? You tear down the muscle and muscle fibers then they hopefully grow back stronger and bigger in time. You're tearing biceps and triceps down 2 days in a row...so I hope you're giving them time to repair and grow. I would never tear down a muscle 2 days in a row on cycle or not.

Thanks for the advice, as I stated we are all different and it is working for me, with my diet and the gram of juice I'm using a week recovery does not seem to be an issue, once again I don't "tear my biceps down on back days, nor "tear" my tris down on chest days..im not the one saying I know it all, you're the one preaching/parroting what you read everywhere else rather than pushing boundaries and experimenting, if you are tearing down your bis on back day, you may want to look at how you are performing that exercise.

[Tx89]

Thanks for the advice, as I stated we are all different and it is working for me, with my diet and the gram of juice I'm using a week recovery does not seem to be an issue, once again I don't "tear my biceps down on back days, nor "tear" my tris down on chest days..im not the one saying I know it all, you're the one preaching/parroting what you read everywhere else rather than pushing boundaries and experimenting, if you are tearing down your bis on back day, you may want to look at how you are performing that exercise.

Agreed. Main reason not to train 2 in a Row is cns anyway, not the muscle fibers. They can recover this fast and if u train high frequency your Body WILL adapt. Just make sure not to Stress cns too much by Training every Set to failure etc and you will be totally fine. I myself do 6 whole Body Sessions a week with alternating exercises and auto regulated fatigue management. I have never felt and looked better when according to broscience i needed to be catabolic and shit!

[auswest]

Agreed. Main reason not to train 2 in a Row is cns anyway, not the muscle fibers. They can recover this fast and if u train high frequency your Body WILL adapt. Just make sure not to Stress cns too much by Training every Set to failure etc and you will be totally fine. I myself do 6 whole Body Sessions a week with alternating exercises and auto regulated fatigue management. I have never felt and looked better when according to broscience i needed to be catabolic and shit!

Tx89 your full body workouts is something I would like to know more about, sounds like something I'd enjoy

[auswest]

I'm really only DIRECTLY hitting a muscle every 3-4 days, directly being taking that muscle group beyond failure, if your bis are going to failure on back day you are doing something wrong

[auswest]

Cheers, I do plan to have another play with a new routine over the next few weeks, my main thing I want is to hit arms and chest twice a week, so will have a think about that 2nite, im all for trying new things and mixing it up all the time but I did enjoy what I posted, today was 11 days straight of doing that, I'm feeling pretty run down today so will adopt a new routine when I return something a little more conventional with 2 rest days a week with arms and chest 2x a week

[Tx89]

Sure man, what u want to know?

[auswest]

Sure man, what u want to know?

How have you found your progress since switching to this style of training, what does a typical day look like and do you train the muscle to failure, I once tried push/pull/legs which I enjoyed. And also a upper/lower workout

[Tx89]

Well every Day of Training consists of 3 exercises. 1 power/whole body movement, 1 pushing exercise and 1 pulling exercise.
I only use "big" movements, because for me this led to a ton of functional strength and an overall balanced look. For example today i did regular deads, bent over bb row and military press.
I Train cluster style/fatigue management, Meaning its not about sets, but a total number of clean(!) reps that i shoot for. So 30 reps can be reached for example with 3x10 or 5x6 or 1x10 2x5 1x4 1x3 3x1. All that counts is that i get my total number and every of my clusters ends when i feel the movement is getting a little slower/bad Form/cheating etc
Accessory work is individual and done as needed. Right now i focus on side delts, calves and traps, so i add one exercise for each 3 times a week after the "normal" workout. Like today i did Standing calf raises and bb shrugs and tomorrow its gonna be side lateral raises. Also Cluster style of course.
As i already said this way of training gave me lots of functional strength and helped a ton getting leaner. Because of the High frequency of course u have to adjust the lebgth and intensity of the Sessions. I dont or seldomly train to failure. It isnt necessary for hypertrophy in this plan. Would be Counter productive. But of course i try to Push to the Limit, but just not over it. Ideally you would approach 95-99% of your abilities but Never Hit 100%.
Bottom line, i Love HFT Training :-)

[auswest]

Sounds interesting, I might have to look into it. Cheers