Is overtraining a JOKE?

OK, heres my question......construction workers......most of the time, these dudes lift heavy ass shit for 8-12 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week.....yet, these dudes (some) get pretty fing big and we know they arent eating 8 times a day..........so, whats the deal? How come we cant train everyday? I mean even if its tris and abs one day, something.........?

Adaptation, my friend. You think those construction workers got like that overnight? You put stress on your body, your body will adapt. I like the phrase 'overtraining is overrated.' To some extent, this is very true. People like to throw it around on message boards, because it sounds cool: "Oh, you're doing 15 sets of chest? You're definitely overtraining." Or, I love this, "I workout 5 days a week, and I can't grow. Do you think I'm overtraining. By the way, I eat like a 12 year old Vietnamese girl." Can overtraining happen? Of course. Your body needs rest in order to grow. But your body is a fucking machine, and it will adapt, especially if you feed it and sleep enough. I haven't experienced incredible gains until I started doing MASSIVE amounts of sets in the gym. Fuck overtraining. Kiss my ass.

Sorry about the rant, I just hate how EVERY message board is filled with someone suggesting to another that they are overtraining, just based on their workout routine.

I tend to agree.........to an extent.......I know, personally, I can do cardio every am, and train most pms, and still grow.albeit, not nearly as much as Id like, nor as quickly, but I can.........and the gains tend to be on the leaner side as well i.e. not as much bf% increase..........so, what is your current split, routine and diet like?

a couple of guys i know do cement work, lots of heavy lifting. they are in the gym for an hour total, and probably do 4 exercises max. one of these guys was doing standing overhead presses with 325.

JKurz1 said:

I tend to agree.........to an extent.......I know, personally, I can do cardio every am, and train most pms, and still grow.albeit, not nearly as much as Id like, nor as quickly, but I can.........and the gains tend to be on the leaner side as well i.e. not as much bf% increase..........so, what is your current split, routine and diet like?

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You'd probably grow faster if you ate more

And it's not just limited to construction workers. Full-time soccer players have gigantic legs. Basketball players have large shoulders. Swimmers have big backs. If overtraining was as real as some people make it out to be, all of these athletes should have no muscle. How do football players survive 2-a-days during training camp and still look huge when the season comes around?

BOOEY said:

You'd probably grow faster if you ate more

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More? No.........more caloric dense foods, definately.......I eat till I'm stuffed bro, then some more, albeit my fats arent what they should be (although I do down my fair share if peanuts while watching college hoops at night) but my other 7 meals are shakes, high protein, oats and rice.......still go the abless phobia which no one will cure.....guess i have to live with it........

Id also gain 2x as much if I nixed 430am cardio for an extra hour of sleep, but that comes with eating so late at night, guilt.......

cause they eat their asses off..........exce[t a few, which Im shocked.........every read that MF from a while back with shannon sharpe? Dude was stronger than piss and like sub 5%bf.........he ate 6 times a day but his meals were nill.....maybe full of shit, but he had like 3 MRPs, and 3 meals of chx and rice/potatoes........yet he inclined 405 for reps (so they say) and squated 6+

Few people truly overtrain

There's a distinction that needs to be made... that between overtraining and local fatigue. Overtraining is a state of your entire body. It can occur after a period of some weeks of excessive weight training and also excessive cardio training. The symptoms are poor sleep, declining performance, weakened immune system, etc.

However you cannot "overtrain" any specific bodypart... because, like I said, it's something that happens to your whole body or not at all.

WHat does happen is that individual bodyparts can fatigue. Fatigue is the reduced ability to produce force, and it happens after every lifting session and can last for quite some time. The intensity and duration of fatigue for a particular bodypart depends on the volume and how much failure training was employed. Generally the more of both the more fatigue.

A common post is "I can't make progress on my X bodypart. I do 15 sets. Am I overtraining?" the stock answer is "yes probably." or something

What's probably going on is that the person is doing too much volume to failure and has not recovered from each session's fatigue in time to make strength gains. If they were actually overtrained they would know it and would feel miserable. In actuality they're fine, they just can't make strength gains. They would be benefitted by a reduction in volume and a move towards submaximal training.

Overtraining is very hard for me to do. I can see it being possible in an older person who doesn't eat enough. I just always have so much energy. I'm only 18.