The Infonian

Almost anyone that’s picked up a set of weights has or will experience symptoms of over-training at one point in there muscle building program. Over-training can lead to serious injury, chronic fatigue, and even muscle loss.

Over-training is very common amongst athletes and particularly bodybuilders, since they figure that training as much as possible is the fastest way to massive muscle gains.

This couldn’t be any further from the truth however…

Training too much, or at too high of an intensity will lead to over-training.

Now this doesn’t mean you don’t have to put plenty of effort in to see some decent results… Whether you are a bodybuilder, athlete, or just someone that wants to add some additional mass to your frame, you need to train hard and be consistent-that’s a given. In order to get the most out of your genetics, you have to progressively overload the muscles by increasing the weight and / or intensity of each weight training workout.

The problem is however, that many of us increase the intensity of our workouts or get insufficient amounts of rest, or even worse, a combination of both. The trick is finding the right balance between workout volume and intensity, and rest and recovery. And that is exactly what I’ll cover in this article.
The Effects of Over-Training on Bodybuilders

First, let’s take a look at some of the effects of over-training and how one can prevent over-training from happening in the first place.

The Effects of Over-training on the Nervous System

Over-training effects both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in the following negative ways:

If you are experiencing more than one of the symptoms outlined above, you may be in a state of over-training, and should evaluate your routine as soon as possible.

The Effects of Over-training on Hormone Levels

Many studies have indicated that over-training negatively effects the levels of hormones, as well as the hormone response in the body.  Since hormones play such an important role in the muscle building process, this can have a detrimental effect on your training progress.

Over-training has been show to:

The Effects of Over-training on the Immune System

perhaps one of the most alarming repercussions of over-training is it’s negative impact on the immune system-you’re bodies first defense against harmful viruses and bacteria.

Over-training can drastically decrease the levels of antibodies and lymphocytes in your body, making you much more susceptible to illness.  Simply put, this means that if you are in a state of over-training, you are much more likely to get sick.  Since you will have to skip workouts while you are sick, your muscle building progress will slow considerably.

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The Effects of Over-training on the Metabolic System

Here is a list of how over-training can  effect the metabolic system.  These symptoms are the ones that are most commonly discussed, and are ones we can’t ignore:

Is it Worse to Over-Train With Cardio or Weight Training?

Any form of over-training is a bad thing, however, I’ve personally experienced both types of over-training and can honestly say that over-training in the weight room is much worse, and much more prevalent than over-training through cardiovascular training.

Here are some of the reasons why:

How do I Determine if I’m Over-training?

Determining if you’re currently over-training is fairly simple.   If you’re in tune with your body, you can often see the signs of over-training before they get serious.  If you are losing interest in workouts, are having trouble sleeping, and feel weak and irritable, you may be in a state of over-training and should take a week or more off.

If you are experiencing two or more of the symptoms outlined earlier in the article, this should raise a red flag.

Another variable you can use to determine if you are over-training is by tracking the performance of your workouts.

Has your physical performance improved compared to your last workout?

For example, let’s say last workout you were able to perform 8 pull-ups using your body-weight, but were only able to perform 6 pull-ups the following week.  This means that you have not “out done” your previous workout, have not fully recovered, and therefore are likely over-training.  You nave to re-asses your program and make modifications so that you see progress every workout.

How Can I Prevent Over-training?

n order to avoid over-training, you need to take a multi-facited approach.  Determining the correct training volume and intensity, eating the right foods, and getting the right amount of rest and recovery must all be taken in to consideration.  Now let’s take a look at each of those factors in more detail.

Correct Training Volume

Determining the correct training volume can be difficult, especially when you are first starting out.  You have to determine how much weight to lift, how many repetitions and set to perform for every single workout.

You need to use your own judgment in this case, based on your recovery ability and your recovery methods.  Remember that the goal is that you improve every single workout, and if this isn’t happening, you have to decrease the intensity of your workouts.

This is where many people go wrong though.  You begin your workout and realize that you have not fully recovered.  You can either continue to train at a lower intensity than the previous workout, or skip the workout entirely.

As hard as it may be, skipping the workout is the right way to go.  Just turn around and go home!  Your body is telling you that it needs more rest, and you must listen to it!

There is no point in training at a lower intensity, further breaking down the muscle tissue.   By doing this you will increase your risk of injury, and make it harder for your body to fully recovery for your next training session

Proper Nutrition

Your diet plays a huge role in your muscle building program.  It helps regulate hormone levels, provides energy, and provides the raw building blocks that are used to create new tissue.

Here are some dietary recommendations that will limit the chance of over-training:

• Do not skip breakfast.  This is one of the most important meals of the day.  Skipping breakfast is very catabolic, and can promote muscle loss.
• Never let yourself get hungry.  If you’re trying to build muscle mass, you have to constantly feed your body quality foods so that it never has the chance catabolize muscle tissue.
• Unless you are trying to build muscle and lose fat, make sure you have eaten prior to your training session and are not hungry.
• Have the largest meal of the day within an hour after your workout.  Do this every single workout!
• Consider taking proven supplements like creatine, and antioxidants to increase performance and fight free radicals.
• Eat every 2-3 hours to ensure that your body remains in an anabolic state.
• Keep glycogen levels at full capacity to inhibit muscle tissue breakdown.

Rest & Recovery

Rest and recovery is essential when it comes to avoiding over-training.  Make sure that you get at least 7 hours of sleep each night, and that you are on a consistent schedule.  As for recovery time, it’s important that you have days off between weight training workouts.  Try to have one rest day between weight training workouts, and never train the same muscle groups on consecutive days.

If you’ve read more than two articles I’ve written then you should know that I favor unconventional training methodologies that push and challenge both body and mind. I firmly believe that this is the only way to get really big and hit your goals. From that perspective DoggCrapp Training (a.k.a. DC Training) definitely fits the bill. This incredibly intense program includes heavy progressive weights, lower volume/higher frequency of body parts trained, high intensity/rest-pause training, extreme stretching, a high protein diet and periodization (“blasting” and “cruising”). Here are the basics: Lower volume/higher frequency:

In most training routines you train each body part once a week doing 3-4 different exercises per muscle group. With DC Training, you only do 1-2 exercise per muscle group per day but you’re hitting each muscle group twice every 8 days. The lower volume of exercises means that your body can recover more rapidly, which in turn allows for a short turnaround between training sessions;

Exercise rotation:

The base program runs on a cycle hitting every body part 2 times every 8 days. It’s not as complicated as it sounds-you start by picking 3 exercises for each the various muscle groups like this: chest, back (width), back (thickness), delts, triceps, biceps, forearms and calves, hamstrings and quads. You do only one of those exercises per muscle group per workout but then you rotate to the next exercise in the following workout. Remember though that you’re doing each exercise 3 times to total failure in each workout so don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s easy. Here is what a sample routine might look like:

Monday: Chest, shoulders, triceps and back (width and thickness);

Wednesday: Biceps, forearms, calves, hamstrings and quads;

Friday: Chest, shoulders, triceps and back (width and thickness);

Monday: Biceps, forearms, calves, hamstrings and quads;

So you can see how every 8 days you’ve cycled through each body part twice, doing a different one of each of the 3 exercises you’ve chosen per workout. Keeping a training journal can keep you organized and help keep track of where you are in the training cycle;

High intensity/rest-pause training:

DC Training demands intensity. To begin, you do 2-5 warm-up sets (lighter weight) before the first set is performed to failure followed by 10-15 deep breaths before performing another set to failure. This is again followed by 10-15 deep breaths and then a final set to failure before moving on to the next exercise or muscle group. The goal is to explode on the uplift and descend with a controlled negative of about 6-8 seconds. You’ve got to be prepared both mentally and physically to take on Rest-Pause training though because instead of taking a one or two minute break between sets, you’re only resting for 20-30 seconds between each one;

Extreme stretching:

Stretching is an important part of the recovery process in DC Training. There are specific stretches for the chest, triceps, biceps, shoulders, back, quads, hamstrings and calves;

Diet:

The DC Training diet is very high in protein with a recommended intake of between 1.5 to 2.0 grams per pound of body weight;

Periodization:

The “blasting” phase is 6-12 weeks of high intensity, all-out training followed by a “cruising” phase of 10-14 days of maintenance training before repeating the cycle once again;

One of the nice things about DC Training is that it leaves plenty of room for customization. For example, instead of Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Monday, you could do Monday-Tuesday-Thursday-Friday but split the workout into 3 parts in order to shorten your training sessions (great if you’ve got a hectic schedule). Day 1 could include chest, shoulders and triceps. On Day 2 you could train biceps, forearms and back (width and thickness) and on Day 3 you could work calves, hamstrings and quads. This cuts your workout down to about 35 minutes including stretching but still has you hitting each body part twice in 9 days.

A lot of guys have had phenomenal results following the DC Training program. If you’re going to do it though, be prepared to really commit yourself to doing it right. DC Training requires you to push your body as far as it can go and then some-that’s why it works. To get the best results you’ve got to be prepared to give it your all and make it a really intense workout, pushing on for one more rep even when your mind and body are screaming “No!” If not, you’ll just be wasting your time.

Author: Mike Westerdal

Call it what you may love handles, muffin top, or spare tire, waist fat is one of the first areas that you want to skinny down. Unfortunately, it is one of the first areas to usually fatten up. You can fix that dilemma if you learn how to lose waist fat. Lots of supposed fitness gurus use outdated information and still proclaim to know the best ways to lose waist fat. So, to push aside the rumors of losing waist fat this article reveals some lesser known tips. Lose Waist Fat Tip 1

You are what you eat and you probably have heard it a million times. Nobody with a terrible diet will achieve weight loss success. If you choose a diet plan steer clear from the fad diets. The reason being is that with fast weight loss comes fast weight gain. Diets that are most effective include variety. A diet that is effective is one that changes from protien focus to carbohydrate focus from time to time. When you alternate, do it every ten days so that you can allow your body to burn the most calories. Check out this recommended diet

Lose Waist Fat Tip 2

Exercise when put together with a great diet is a sure fire combination. Latin Dancing is the best exercise to lose waist fat. Latin forms of dance are waist targeted because that is the area that moves the most. As a result, you are bound to lose waist fat. There are other exercises that target the waist line but are not as great as dancing. If dancing is not a possibility try out side bends or oblique tilts.

Lose Waist Fat Tip 3

Little known, but more important that most people know is your sleep pattern. Recent research has proved that sleep patterns and obesity are correlated. Bad sleeping habit affects the health in many ways but more often affects your metabolic rate or burning calories. If your metabolism slows down your body will store fat at great quantities. Most often the fat that the body stores is put right at the waist line. So try and develop the habit of going to bed and waking up at a specific time every day with at least 6-8 hours. By doing that you will feel healthier and lose waist fat at a faster rate. If you implement these tried techniques you will surely lose weight more effectively.

Author: Jason Allan

This is the season to overeat! This time of year is full of parties, dinners and get togethers that all have one thing in common, tons of sweet foods loaded with calories. So what can you do this holiday season to stem the growing desire to eat all the goodies in sight? Do Not Get Too Hungry!

It is easy in this busy time of year to forget to eat and then go to a dinner starving. No matter what you do when you set down to a table full of delicacies in this state you are bound to overeat. Make the time for regular meals; do not skip lunch because you have a holiday dinner to go to later. In fact go the extra step to reinforce your diet by eating a low calorie healthy snack before you arrive. Eating before the party will make you feel fuller faster and thereby eliminating the tendency to over indulge.

Water

It cannot be said enough how important water is to your health and in particular your diet. Would you believe that many times when you fell hungry it is the body indicating a need for hydration?

Even though it is wintertime, your body still needs to be properly hydrated. Drink the recommended eight glasses of water a day and be sure at least one of them is before each meal.

Make a Plan

Before attending a holiday party, predetermine what you will eat. That does not mean you must know what is on every menu. It just means that you will decide on one dessert or limit yourself to one plate. This keeps your diet goals fresh in your mind and will strengthen your resolve.

Don’t Stress

Everyone would agree that this is a stressful time of year especially in our current economy. Stress is bad at any time of year but especially so during the holidays. The chances to alleviate stress through overeating abound and in some ways are even expected. Do not fall into this trap, keep the holidays in perspective. This time of year is less about gifts and perfect entertaining and more about spending time with those we care about. When you look back on years passed what stick out to you the most? The dry turkey or laughing with friends and relatives over dinner? Relax the holidays come and go and the best thing you can do is focus on making happy memories.

Exercise

Finally, the holidays are not an excuse to forego your exercise routine. Keep it in the schedule and do not slack! With all the preparation for dinners and parties people often look for areas where they can cut back, do not let this be one of them.

Conclusion

This is the time of year for friends, family and fun, but it does not have to be the time when you gain more weight. Take the tips above and perhaps add a few of your own and enjoy your holidays without the guilt.