Don’t Let Overtraining Kill Your Muscle Gain
By Ricardo d Argence | November 21, 2008
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You obviously are trying to get yourself in shape. If you aren’t spending hours in the gym doing intense weight training, you are probably not going to achieve your desired results, and may think about enhancing your program. However, keep in mind that you must not overtrain.
If you work too hard without giving your body time to rest and recuperate between weightlifting sessions, you will get what is called overtraining.
Once you understand that when building muscle, muscle is breaking down, you will understand overtraining. You’re not building the muscle in the gym, really. When you are inside the gym you are actually breaking down muscle and producing small injuries to that particular muscle that your body must then heal and repair. When these injuries heal and repair, they heal and repair stronger than they were previously. The process that actually builds muscle is that your body, while you rest, will repair the muscle tissue that is broken down during the workout.
Your body can be damaged when you overtrain because you are not allowing it the proper time to build and repair between workouts. This is an indication that you are stopping the creation of new muscle tissue. Worse than that, though, you’re actually hurting yourself in a number of other ways, too. Be alert for these symptoms as they indicate you are probably overtraining.
If this applies to you, improve yourself by getting on the track of building your physique. That is number one thing that you will possibly notice. Along with these symptoms, if you continue to overtrain your body, you will probably start to experience other symptoms.
Letting yourself recover after a workout is necessary so that your testosterone levels do not drop.
It’s hard to believe but it might even make you gain weight. You might gain weight you don’t want to, in the form of fat. That’s because if you keep training, not only will you be breaking down muscle without building it back up, and muscle burns fat, but you also increase your levels of cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that makes your body want to retain fat, especially in stomach.
When you overtrain, your immune system reacts by becoming weaker. That’s because it’s trying to handle that your body is in a state of constant inflammation from damaged, sore muscles. So if you find yourself getting colds and flu more easily, slow down. A good bodybuilding regimen should make you less susceptible to colds and flu, not more so.
Finally, keep in mind that when you overtrain, you’re losing more muscle than you are gaining. This is the opposite of what you actually want to accomplish, and a good bodybuilding routine will assist you in achieving the muscle you want as well as avoiding the symptoms that you do not.
When you’re bodybuilding, your pattern should be one day of intense weightlifting followed by one day of rest. Do heavy duty lifting three to four days a week and give yourself a day off in between intense workouts. It’s a good idea to do some light cardio on your rest days, but the big point here is that you should be resting your muscles from heavy duty lifting. They need time to recover and to repair. This is what’s going to help you bulk up in a good way, with muscle.
Your body can’t rebuild itself, even if you’re resting, unless it’s got the tools do so. That means that nutrition is just as important as rest is. Now, don’t pile on the potato chips or other junk food, opt for good, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. Good, nutritious calories that will fill you up and give your body the means to repair itself in between workouts. If you do this, you should see results in no time, and you should feel much better, too.
Topics: Nutrition |
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