am i overtraining? (not on cycle)

[georgie24]

ok since i first got into bodybuilding i loved it so much, i would go to gym 6 days a week minimum. this has been on going for about 5 years RELIGOUSLY. my question is what kind of split should i follow when im not on gear? i train intensly and vigorously and my diet is usually spot on. i have no clue how to train "moderatly". i go balls to the walls I LOVE BODYBUILDING but i think my gains as well as well-being has been suffering for a while cause i give it everythingh i have w/out proper rest or supplementation.

this is my split i follow for years consistently
monday chest/bi's

chest press-cybex 4x10-12 reps
chest incline-cycbex4x10-12 reps
dumbell chest press4x10-12 reps
chest cable flies4x10-12reps

barbell curls4x10-12 reps
straight bar curls 4x10-12 reps
curved bar curls4x10-12

tuesday back only

hammer seated row's 4x10-12
hammer lat pull down 4x10-12
lat bar pull down 4x10-12
close grip lat pull down 4x10-12
close grip row 4x10-12

wedsday shoulders-tri's

dumbell overhead presses 4x10-12
overhead staright bar4x10-12
fly's 4x10-12
hammer shoulder press 4x10-12
forward one are lateral 4x10-12

tri pulldown rope 4x10-12
straight bar4x10-12
hammer tri machine 4x10-12

thursday i usually take off or wedsday

friday-repeat cycle

this is what i have been doing roughtly this whole time. anyone wanna pitch in and help me design a split? you see mine is very simple yet intense the simplicity helped me stay focused

 

[princeton]

I would make wednesday you rest day. I think you need legs to go withthat huge upper body. And maybee pick a core exercise and go less reps more weight and cut some of the sets off the last exercises. Imo its a little much, especially because you dont do legs

 

[georgie24]

thanks for satch's flame the other day he opened up my eyes. i never thought i could train too much to the point of negative effects from lifing

 

[eviction]

thanks for satch's flame the other day he opened up my eyes. i never thought i could train too much to the point of negative effects from lifing

yep yep, gotta give your body time to heal bro

 

[40butpumpin]

where's the deads and squats?

 

[Riker29]

Yes.

You are.

The more I see how people react,

after years of training that hard, they start to have various join problems and sometimes even immune system issues, because that much training for too long with elevated cortisol levels and all of its other problems wreaks HAVOC on your body long-term


the more I read,

books like BRAUN, and others, written NOT by supplement-industry shills, or by those who simply regurgitate what other have said


the more I see what happens to guys who train like that for years and years,

health problems, stalled progress, problems sleeping, etc etc etc


and the more I see what happens when guys DO back off and train properly,

they GROW, they feel better, they sleep, their anxiety goes WAY down, they are less depressed. Their TEST levels RISE.


the more I am convinced that most dedicated bodybuilders WAY overtrain.




Sure, a bunch of kids will chime in now and say that I am wrong. Yeah when you are 21, and for a while, you can get away with that. But do it for too long, and it will catch up with you. Trust me.

 

[georgie24]

i was 21 when i started this training habit

 

[Goldprospector]

I think it is totally dependant on the person. I train 6 days per week and each body part twice per week. I train to failure but within two days, I am ready for more with no soreness at all. The main split that I do is:
Moday is chest & tri's...I do my compound heavy lifts...
Tues, is back & bi's, I do my compound and heavy lifts
Wed, is leg day...Heavy squats, leg curls, and extensions.
Thurs, chest & tri's....Isolation lifts, lighter weight, more reps.
Fri, back & bi's.....Isolation lifts, lighter weight, more reps
Sat, legs...light weight front squats for more reps, leg curls and extesion for more reps.

Either way, I get a good solid muscle burn on each day. But I am ready for the next workout when the time comes. My workouts last roughly 45 minutes.
This method has worked best for me. I see virtually NO strength gains or muscle size when I train each BP 1 time per week.

 

[40butpumpin]

more compound exercises and less supplemental stuff.

 

[Goldprospector]

georgie24, another thing...you say you work chest & bi's on Moday....then you work "Back only" those are NOT "Back only" lifts. each one of those lift work the hell outta you biceps, so in essence you are working you biceps 2 days in a row.

 

[flex2win]

I never know what i'm gonna lift until i get there, except for legs..that requires more prep.. I think that you are going a bit excessive here, if you are eating right, and busting ass, let the rest take care of itself, Eat, Sleep, Train....don't forget, your body grows at rest, not in the gym...good luck...

 

[junk]

I train 3 times a week which I find is more than enough. If I'm on gear I may go for 4 times. Each session about 50min but I.N.T.E.N.S.E. as hell. I think you're doing too many sets if you're really training hard there's no need to do endless number of sets. Sometimes, when I'm really in the mood I would do just 1 or 2 sets of an exercise and feel this is enough for stimulation, however I do it with intensity out of this world and the pain is unbearable

 

[Mandinka2]

where's the deads and squats?

Ditch everything else , work on these two and ull explode.

 

[gilly6993]

what about your lower body?

 

[ProtienFiend]

maybe hes going for the super-hero look...

 

[mphowells]

I thinks it spretty much been covered but I'd do more compount exercises swapping 4 sets for less and more weight. Not only is it important to do legs to keep in proportion , but since your body grows when resting doing legs will be a welcome break for ur upper body. Just my views.

 

[mrjrock19]

doing it naturally i would do two days on one day off. hell i have a buddy who's a body builder and took gear like it was candy and this is still the only way he trained. where are the legs bro? your body's like a tree... how many trees have you seen with skinny trunks and massive branches (weird analogy but you see what i mean) and a plus to doing legs is when you do legs your body releases more testosterone.

 

[georgie24]

i have naturally huge quads w/out working them, geneticly im gifted from the waist down..well maybe not everything from waist down= 0

 

[genarr3]

So you don't train legs. Because you have been built naturally large down there.

Or could it be that those areas are the most taxing to train, and therefore you CHOOSE to skip them?

 

[40butpumpin]

training legs also trains back as well as other areas if you're doing compound movements. that's not a smart move imo.

 

[georgie24]

no gennar3 i like the "rush" i get when i sqat/leg press i just dont think training my quads is a priority right now