A common misconception many beginners in the gym have is that the more exercise, the better.

In theory, yes it makes sense that the more work you put in, the more results you should get because with most things in life, the more work you put in, the better the outcome is.

The more effort you put into your job, the more promotions you get. The more studying you put into school, the better grades you get.

But there is one thing that is overseen in this theory with exercise specifically.

Most of the progress we make is when our bodies are at rest. So if we are constantly putting more stress on it through exercise or diet, we can actually be counteracting the work we are doing in the gym.

Not only that, but during your workouts themselves, you may be doing too much which is preventing you from making progress even if you are taking enough rest outside of the gym.

What is overtraining?

Overtraining syndrome is a condition in which a person experiences fatigue, declining performance, or any type of burnout in their fitness journey.

What are the signs?

It can be hard to diagnose overtraining because there are SO many different things that can be a sign but let’s go over my top 10:

1. Workout plateau or feeling weaker than normal – If you’ve been struggling to see results for a minute now, chances are you could be overworking yourself and that is the reason why you stopped seeing progress
2. Feeling extra sore – It’s normal to feel sore if you just switched up your exercises or you just started working out as your body adjusts, but if you’re starting to feel sore with your normal routine, you’re probably overworking yourself
3. Nagging injuries – if you keep re-injuring the same body part on the same exercise even though you have good form, it is likely because you keep overworking it.
4. Lacking enthusiasm in workouts – if you’re workouts are getting boring even though you switched them up recently but you just don’t have that drive to get into the gym anymore, you may be overworking yourself and you’re mentally/physically exhausted.
5. Low energy throughout the day – if you’re feeling more tired than usual and nothing has changed in your routine, chances are you’re overworking yourself in the gym
6. Low sex drive – if your libido is lower than normal and you haven’t changed anything in your daily routine, chances are you’re expending too much energy in your workouts and leaving no energy left in the tank for other activities!
7. No period (in women) – If you’ve randomly stopped getting your period and you normally regularly get it, it is likely that you’re exercising too much and likely under eating on top of that
8. Getting sick regularly – if you’ve noticed a decline in your immune system, it could be from overworking your body. Too much stress on the body is known to cause weakness within your immune system therefore making it easier for you to catch a cold
9. Having trouble sleeping – doing too much activity stimulates the sympathetic nervous system which can keep you up at night
10. Progress is reversing (gaining weight, losing muscle, etc) – if you noticed a decrease in strength, or not being able to complete your normal workout routine, chances are you’ve been overworking yourself and your body is begging you for some rest

How to counteract overtraining

While there is a lot of thinking that goes into figuring out if you are overtraining or not, luckily there is not much to think about when it comes to fixing it.

1. Rest, rest, rest – This is the MOST effective way. Take an entire week off from weight training, and limit cardio if possible. Light walking or activity is fine but you should really take this time away from the gym to recover and come back your best self
2. Sleep – try to get 7-8 hours a night
3. Eat – chances are you’ve likely been under eating as well. Take this time to catch up on some calories and get your protein in
4. Drink – make sure you’re staying hydrated even when you’re not exercising
5. Get checked out – if you have a nagging injury, go see a professional before returning to weightlifting so you don’t keep re-injuring yourself

How to prevent overtraining in the first place

The best way to prevent overtraining is to plan ahead and make sure you’re not doing too much volume, you workout with good form, you work close to failure & you listen to your body regularly.

If you write out your workouts beforehand and make sure you’re not doing too many reps, sets, exercises, etc. per workout and stick to your plan, it should be easy to stay on track!

A great way to do so is to follow a structured program. If you’re not confident in your ability to make your own, follow my programs within the brand new Freshman Fitness App.

How do I know how much is the “right” amount of training?

Within all your working sets, you should be using a weight that is leaving you within 1-3 reps of actual failure. Close to failure, but not quite to it as training to complete failure is very taxing on the body. You can train to complete failure on your last set if you’d like, or on the last exercise of your workout but it is not recommended to train to failure all the time as you would need a much longer recovery period.

For muscular hypertrophy (growth), which is the goal for many regardless if they are trying to gain muscle or lose fat, you should be doing about 3-5 working sets as detailed in the guidelines below.

Additional work done outside of these guidelines is generally considered “overworking” yourself. We call extra volume or sets overall “junk volume” because it does not benefit you towards hitting your goals and in fact, is generally counterproductive.

Junk volume comes in the form of extra reps, sets, or exercises overall.

Junk sets can be defined as either extra sets that occur outside of your given range OR sets that are not taken close to failure.

For example: You should be doing 3-5 working sets for muscular hypertrophy which is your goal but you are doing 6-7 working sets for a single exercise. If you’re not sure on the terminology –

Working sets = sets done with the heaviest weight you’re able to lift for the given rep range which will bring you within 1-3 reps of actual failure.

Opposed to warm up sets = sets done with lighter weight to build up to your max weight for the given rep range.

Junk reps can be defined as using weight too heavy to keep proper form or using momentum overall.

For example: You try to do a 50 lb ez bar bicep curl but you need to swing back and forth to bring the weight up. These are considered “cheat” reps as you’re making the work easier for yourself.

Junk exercises can be defined as “extra” exercises or exercises that don’t assist you towards your goal.

For example: You have a goal of building your lats specifically. You decide you’re going to do lat pulldowns to help you build your lats but you don’t feel the exercise in your lats. This would not help you towards your goal. You should pick exercises that you can feel that mind-muscle connection and that work best for your body.

Additional guidelines to live by in terms of workout volume:

•2-3 exercises per large muscle groups

•1-2 exercises per small muscle groups

•4-6 exercises overall between both within one training session

•3-5 sets per exercise for muscle hypertrophy (growth)

•(3*4)-(5*6) = 12-30 sets per workout session between all muscle groups for muscle hypertrophy. This is generally the range you’ll train in regardless if your goal is muscle gain or fat loss.

•10-20 sets per muscle group per week, split up between 2 or 3 workouts

Reps refer to the full range execution of an exercise. For example, raising a dumbbell up and down 1 time to complete a bicep curl.

Sets refer to back to back reps done consecutively with no rest in between. For example, doing a rep of a bicep curl 8 times would be 1 set of 8 repetitions.

Extra tips:

A good workout session generally lasts between 30-90 minutes.

Try to workout 3 days a week at minimum and 6 at maximum.

Make sure to take rest days.

Make sure to eat enough for your goal. Even if that goal is fat loss, LESS IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER.

There is a such thing as under eating, which can stall your progress immensely by tanking your metabolism and making it harder to lose fat in the long term even when you’re eating less.

Finding the perfect balance between working out, eating right and resting plenty is key when it comes to getting good results long term in your fitness journey. You’re a human being, not a machine!

P.S. Check out the latest article I’ve been feature in from Headlines Over Sidelines here.

Until next time,

Coach Emily