learn-bodybuilding.com

5th April 2007 - Don't Overtrain

Train smart

You may be, like tens of thousands of other bodybuilders, training too hard and too often, resulting in you not getting the kind of gains you want and expect. This is because our bodies can only cope with a certain amount of demand upon them and if you over-train then your body will have its hands full just recovering from the workouts, let alone increase the size of your muscles.

Try and listen to your body - if you feel quite tired all the time or you're feeling a bit cranky and can't sleep as well as you normally do then you may well be over training and you should reduce the number of workouts you do per week and / or your training intensity. Keep reducing your work load until you feel as though you are fully recovering from your workouts and you are noticing muscle gains.

Also, Remember the four golden aspects to gaining muscle: Training, rest, nutrition and water. If you are lacking in any of these key areas then you will not be growing as quickly as you could and should be. Over-training can result from not getting enough rest, nutrition and water. Try and get as much sleep as you can each night and drink plenty of water all throughout the day.

Post-workout nutrition is vital to preventing over-training. Consider getting yourself a good quality post workout protein and carbohydrate based protein powder - see our Post-workout Guide for more information.