Overtraining

[Matt W.]

ps. Axelton, I love your Cpt. America avatar.

[Andrew L.]

Unless you are an amatuer or pro bodybuilder/weightlifter/athlete of some kind, you probably don't have to worry too much about overtraining. Most of us slobs who work full time and have families don't even have time overtrain in anything. (I mean, unless you're doing something really stupid like heavy barbel curls everyday.) Follow the most basic rules of lifting and you'll be fine.

The problem is there are literally tons of people who do this.

[Axelton]

ps. Axelton, I love your Cpt. America avatar.

i did it to counter TKD BB's captain canuck avatar.

[Equipoise]

Depending on the type of lifting you're doing, you can be using more than just your arms for lifting. On top of that, lifting taxes the endrocine system and the body's metabolic systems. IE this is why you don't do legs, arms, back, etc. on the same day.

On a side note, if you're overtraining your arms, chances are that you're overtraining period.

[Nid]

Typically, over-training refers to the systemic state of exhaustion brought on by ANY kind of stress. This is simply an exposure to the stress response which is too frequent and/or too long in duration and/or too intense.

If you don't know what the stress response is, it's basically this:

The body doesn't share the wisdom of the brain. It doesn't understand that you consciously want to save muscle and lose fat. It's more concerned with the big picture of energy conservation, cuz we're not that far removed from famine and stuff.

Protein (i.e. muscle and the constituents of the immune system etc) is a less complicated, and more ubiquitous substance. If you have no fat, you're in rough shape. If you have no protein, you don't exist; you're dead. That's what everything important is made of. Fat is gravy, so to speak.

So, when the chips are down (i.e. when the body - not the brain - percieves an emergency) the body's default mechanism is to pump your fat ass full of chemicals which tear the **** out of all the bodily protein it can get it's hands on. Why? Because like I said, #1. the body (not the brain) knows that as long as it's living, there is protein floating around in the blood, organs, muscle, skin...everywhere. #2. It's easier to biochemically break down and access as energy on short notice.

So herein lies the problem. If all exercise is basically percieved as stress, and if all stress is basically a destructive process, how does one benefit?

One benefits by minimizing the duration and frequency of your exposure to this stress, and making sure it (the stress) is profound enough to threaten the body's margins to a degree that it bounces back and heals to state more resistant to that particular stress than before; PROVIDED YOU GIVE IT ENOUGH REST AND NUTRITON.

If exercise is INJURING you; if you are in progressively greater pain; if your mobility is progressively compromised; if you are less resistant to infection and illness, you are not exercising. It's the opposite, actually.

The more muscles you recruit in a given process is obviously going to be percieved as a greater stress. So chronic biceps curls may not result in a general state of "over training" (due to their relative punyness), but you do need to rest the individual muscles as well if you're doing some sort of split routine. You do muck up the physical state of the muscles you're using, but never forget the greater state of stress you're subjecting the whole body to.

[Equipoise]

Perfect explanation. I wonder if there's anyway to connect the brain to the rest of the body in a constant thought process like using the brain to better efficiently burn fat and build muscle, rest and use specific nutrients rather than directly using the metabolic functions.

[meataxe]

Unless you workout sucks, any over training means you need to slow down, rest more, and eat better.

Sounds right to me. I've always though of overtraining as a whole body thing, not a specific muscle group. But then, I've never done much weight training.

It is fairly easy to overtrain especially if you don't have an adequate base.

[Andrew L.]

I would say the easiest way to overtrain is not to kick your ass too hard in the gym or run forever, but rather to not get enough sleep. Its so easy to disregard sleep or play catch up with it ,but your body could give a rats ass about your muscularity if your not getting basic needs like sleep. Eating as much as they need and resting are all most people need to do to make sure they see benefits from their workouts.