Overtraining, Sets , No. of Workouts and Age

Hello Fitness "Buffs": Just wondering if anyone knows a rough formula for avoiding overtraining? I am 44 and hear many different things about overtaining. For example, I have heard as we get older we only require two weight workouts per week. I have similarly heard that fewer sets are required. Does anyone have any information on this? Thanks in Advance, Dave

Dave, You can most definitely resistance train more than twice a week at 44! There are so many factors that can influence whether or not you are over trained; nutrition, training intensity, frequency, duration, age, rest etc...... There is not one formula. As I had suggested to you before, I would look into a concept called periodization; if resistance training is something you are really passionate about and want to get the most out of. I hope to be writing some articles in the near future about this concept for a new fitness and exercise forum getting ready for release. Anyway, I would need to know so much more about you, you're dietary habits, your training schedule, training intensity, weight used, reps, sets, frequency, training history, hours of sleep a night......and so on and so on to consider whether you are overtrained or not. Some of the best advice I could offer is this....Don't listen to most people! I don't know where you heard that you need only two resistance training sessions a week! Sure, that may be true if you are simply trying to preserve some lean tissue, while staying healthy and functional as you grow older. But, if you are trying to gain a good amount of strength, perhaps a significant amount of lean tissue, I can assure you that it will require more than two training sessions a week to do so. From seeing your posts in the past, I feel you are interested in more than just maintaining. Most individuals out there who offer you exercise and fitness advice, do so based on knowledge they have from Iron Man Magazine, Flex, or one of the other nonsense mags out there. Don't listen! There are "gold standard" organizations out there who offer guidelines based upon peer reviewed research. Pick up a book from the National Strength and Conditioning Association or if you are interested in learning more about periodization, check out some of the books by a guy named Tudor Bompa. Click on the following link and do a search for periodization or Bompa. www.humankinteics.com If you have more specific questions, please feel free to ask. But, issues like this are more complicated than a simple formula. Overtraining can a be a very complex issue and most of your average gym goers are not reliable sources for info on the matter. Jeremy Gentles, CSCS

Sorry about the link. It should be the following. www.humankinetics.com

Dave, More than 5 sets to failure of any one specific muscle group is probably over training. I train every day but I split my routine up as follows: Monday - Back and arms Tuesday - Cardio @ 80% maximum HR Wednsday - Legs UGH! Thursday - Cardio @ 65% Max Hr Friday - Chest and shoulders Saturday - Cardio Interval workout 65% to 92% Max Hr for 12 intervals Sunday - Rest As a lover of all foods counterproductive I tend to gear my workouts toward burning calories. I use full body movements like lunging cable chest presses (Doing a cable chest press while lunging at the same time.) I have a Polar Heartrate monitor that tells me how many calories I burn during a workout based on HR intensity. Typically I burn about 1000 cal. I have confirmed the accuracy of this or I should say calibrated by using what is known as a bodybugg. Bodybugg is a very cool device that tells you how many calories you have burned in a day to an accuracy of 5-7%. Check out the bodybugg at Apexfitness.com. Don

Hi Dave, Just my 2 cents... Overtraining is all relative. I'm not sure I really believe in overtraining so much as under recovering. Beginners most times can train every day and do, because their nerves and muscles can't generate enough intensity to require a longer rest after a workout. But as you gain in strength and experience, you seem to need more rest between workouts. They used to tell us not to workout a bodypart if you're still sore from the last workout, because you haven't recovered yet if it's still sore. It's a good gauge, especially for a beginner. That works for bodybuilding. There are different types of training though. Olympic lifters really don't get sore because they don't do the negative movements of the lift, they just drop the bar usually. Plus the low reps and high sets generally don't make you sore. They might train several times a day, 5 or 6 days a week also. Some people call that overtraining. But it works for them. When I powerlifted, the loads were so heavy with a slow negative movement and I would be sore for a week. Then a guy named Louie Simmons taught me about feeder workouts, General Physical Preparedness and recovery workouts. Basically, instead of lifting 3 times a week and being sore all the time, workout 14 or 21 times a week with most of those being short 15 or 20 minute, light weight, high rep workouts to help you recover faster. It works. Grease the groove. Someone told me once to look at a Farmer. They get up, work hard all day long, back breaking work most times, go home, eat well, get to bed early and get up and do it all over again the next day...and the day after that. Are they overtrained? The farmers I know are the healthiest, strongest people I know. Good luck.