Is It Over Training or Under Recovery?

Many people think over training doesn't exist, there's only "under recovery" and others will categorically tell you over training DOES exist and can be a real issue for your progress.

Very much on the side of over training DOES exist and will potentially have a negative impact upon your progress if you don't periodize your training correctly, among other things. 

However, I will also say this. MOST people who over train will do so from a volume perspective, meaning they just train too much for too long. The quality isn't necessarily there, its just an accumulation of too much time spent in the gym. Very few could be accused of training too hard with excessive intensity.

What is over training?

In my opinion the most common form of over training will be spending too long in the gym, doing too many sets and compounding this with not taking enough rest days. 

What is wrong with this? 

If you take your body into a state of being over trained and keep it there for too long, ultimately your productivity in the gym is going to suffer. Your central nervous system (CNS) will become excessively taxed which means that your muscles will struggle to fire properly which means recruitment and stimulation will be poor. I'm sure you've experienced workouts where your muscles just aren't firing and your even struggling to get a pump. I'd be almost certain that's a combination of over training and under recovery.

How do you avoid it?

One of the KEY factors to avoiding over training is rotating your training volume and rep ranges. This ultimately allows the central nervous system to recover properly while still taxing the muscle fibers enough to sustain a steady state of progress. 

Other things which are ESSENTIAL to supporting your body and avoiding over training are -

. 6-8 hours QUALITY sleep every day - supplement with magnesium before bed to help 

. Drink plenty of water daily 

. Make sure your not missing your meals, getting the right nutrients into the body to support recovery

. Avoid excessive use of stimulants so your CNS and glands are not taxed too heavily 

Remember this, training is ALL about quality and not quantity. Anyone can train for 2-3 hours 6 days a week but it doesn't mean the training is challenging or rewarding.

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