Am I overtraining?

**azmark** · 04-04-2009, 10:06 AM

I'm doing the ROP right now, and have reached the point where next week I'll be at the top for my presses (5 ladders of 1,2,3,4,5). My strength feels fine; I have no problems completing my workouts. I don't feel all that smoked after the workouts either. Kind of 'pleasantly pooped'. My problem is that by Wednesday, I'm excessively fatigued; kind of terminally tired. I've always been slower at recovery than my peers, so it's not all that shocking or anything. It just doesn't seem like I should get this tired during the day. I plan to up my intake of vitamins and I seem to be eating enough even though my weight is slowly going down.

Does this sound like overtraining to you? What I think I'll do is to put off moving up to the next KB size, take more vitamins, and work on getting a little more protein. I know that overtraining is an individual thing, but I'd like some opinions on whether I'm overtraining or if maybe I have a dietary deficiency, or what.

Oh, I have no real muscle soreness to speak of, if that's important to consider.

**Jordan Vezina RKCTL** · 04-04-2009, 10:45 AM

How many days a week are you training? If you're not taking two days off a week, start. Up your protein intake (within reason) and make sure you're sleeping enough. You sound like you have a classic case of overtraining.

**ad5ly** · 04-04-2009, 11:33 AM

Could you be pushing yourself too hard on Variety Days?...And as 0311bravo says..take your days off ... if your not doing so...I would guess that because you have posed this question...you are overtraining ... or getting close to it...Time for a BACK OFF week...(maybe only Swings for 5-10 days)... do not allow an injury to occur...Mostly - you should be going into each Practice ...feeling charged and ready to go...not allways .. but mostly.....Hope this helps...Dennis

**God Squad** · 04-04-2009, 01:29 PM

Can we see your workout schedule? How many times per week are you training? And at what volume & intensity?

I noticed I have a hard time incorporating variety days and medium light days in my training so I alter the volume instead of the intensity. I do a classic "5x5" workout, full body for MWF but I altered it to look like this.

Week 1 - 4x5
Week 2 - 3x5
Week 3 - 5x5
Week 4 - 2x5

Repeat 4 week cycle

I keep the weight high but the volume is altered to allow my body to recover instead of doing 5x5 every week. In my case I like the feel of the heavy weights so this works best for me. After my 2x5 week Im itching to go back to some higher volume.

Listen to your body and if you must shut it down & regroup.

**Phillip Spearo** · 04-04-2009, 01:59 PM

Yes - you are in the red. My rule of thumb is it I start asking myself if I am over trained, then I am.

**MI_KB'r** · 04-04-2009, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by azmark

I plan to up my intake of vitamins and I seem to be eating enough even though my weight is slowly going down.

You aren't over training, you are under eating. The key to recovery is rest (sleep) and food. If your losing weight, your not eating enough. Guarantee you, that if you up your calories, your recovery will improve. Doesn't sound like your workload is even close to enough to bring on overtraining. Another thing that helps alot for energy is to take a vitamin B complex supplement. You will get an energy boost without the let down caffeine has.

Good Luck

**SoGun** · 04-04-2009, 03:47 PM

You may be under eating and you maybe over training. Just because you eat more does not mean you are able to recover between training sessions. It takes time and sleep. Can you sleep more also? I stay very close to over training and on of the signs is I don't sleep well. Could be different for you. Do you look forward to your workout practice? Are you excited to train? Do you have sufficient energy? These are questions you need to ask yourself.

**azmark** · 04-05-2009, 08:09 AM

Thanks for the great replies. Let me answer the questions:

Yes, I am taking two days off a week. I have my schedule set up so that I train M-F.
No, I can't sleep more; at least not much more. I'll start trying to go to bed a little earlier during the week.

My schedule is like this:
Monday; light day - snatches, presses
Tuesday; variety day - TGUs
Wednesday; medium day - swings and presses
Thursday; variety day - TGUs
Friday; heavy day - swings and presses

I use the dice method to determine the length of my 'rounds' for pulls. The only thing I haven't done is to actually have a testing day to see what to base my percentages on for how much volume to do on my pulls. I've been kind of going on my gut to determine what constitutes a given percentage of my max.

I will back off for a while...cut back on the rungs in my ladders. I will take vitamins every day and add a b-complex. I'm going to try to get a little more sleep. I will focus on getting a little more protein.

I appreciate the help; I know for some people my workouts would not cause overtraining. I have to be aware of my own body, however, and its limitations. I would rather be patient and continue to make progress than push too hard and get stuck on a plateau that I can't overcome the way I did when I was younger and dumber.

**Ken Froese** · 04-05-2009, 08:14 AM

Azmark

How old are you, on your heavy press day how long does it take to get all your reps in?

**bill1156** · 04-05-2009, 08:14 AM

If you can swing it, try taking a day off before your heavy day and after your heavy day.

I'm going back on the ROP tomorrow, had good results w/ M,T,W,Th work, F off, Sat, heavy day, Sun off (just like it's laid out in ETK) last fall.

This is high volume stuff. Rest and eat.

One other thing I consider is AM resting heart rate. Check it before you get out of bed in the morning. If it's significantly higher than usual, you know you're in trouble.