Am i overtraining? (on cycle)

[serbyte]

My workouts are composed of a light warmup, and 2 working sets per excersize. Both of these sets are to failure. The first one is a heavier weight; failure at about 8 reps, And the second set is at a medium weight; failure by 12 reps. I do about 6 excersizes per day. I workout 5 days a week, taking thursday and saturday off. My split is chest, legs, shoulders+back, and bi's+tri's.
I workout this way weather on, or off cycle. I have recently been taking 40mg BD Var ED, but have bumped it to 60mg. I only go to school, so i get a good ammount of sleep.

Am I overtraining even though im on cycle? Is this overtraining if i am lifting naturally?

I never thought that this could be overtraining, but i have heard that going to failure alot, could lead to overtraining.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

That cycle is a bit mild. Well, if you are overtraining, then I definately am. I go to school full time, work nights as a bouncer, train 6 days a week, and hit each body part 3 times a week. Currently, gaining weight, but slowly leaning out, and gaining strength. I'm on a gram of test a week though.

In all honesty, I doubt you are overtraining on that type of split, especially as a student.

 

[bran987]

I would say naturally, 5 days/week is a little much, especially if you go to failure every set (and didn't mention cardio?)

on cycle AND sleeping a lot, I don't see why you couldn't get away with 5 days/week.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

I would say naturally, 5 days/week is a little much, especially if you go to failure every set (and didn't mention cardio?)

on cycle AND sleeping a lot, I don't see why you couldn't get away with 5 days/week.

Check the training board. Alot of the natural guys on there train 6 days a week, take their sets to failure, and are making gains. The key is that they limit their volume of training. High intesisty and frequincy, but low volume.

 

[p.b.]

i do always 6 days/week 2 body parts a day 3 excersizes each body part 4 sets till failure each excersise on or off cycle

 

[bran987]

BodyByFinaplix,

You can make gains initially, maybe even for a few months or more, I did too, but this all builds up systemically. Overtraining doesn't happen in a day or a week (I'm sure you know). I admit there are a few people who could work out with weights 5-6 days/week (naturally) if their diet and sleep were perfect, but for a normal natural bodybuilder this will be a lot to recover from day in and day out, don't you think?

Low volume/High Intensity can be just as stressful to your system as the opposite if done correctly!

If you are going to train 5-6 days/week, I would highly recommend taking a week off every 6 weeks to let your system recover.

serbstyle, do what BodyByFina said and check the training boards for more info.. but if you notice any of the classic signs of overtraining (taken from sportsmedicine.com):

Pain in muscles & joints
Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
Sudden drop in ability to run ‘normal’ distance or times
Insomnia
Headaches
Inability to relax, twitchy, fidgety
Insatiable thirst, dehydration
Lowered resistance to common illnesses; colds, sore throat, etc.

then maybe you should cut back a little. But like I said before, from what I understand being on cycle makes it harder to overtrain.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Bran, oh, I agree completely, and so do they. Most of them are using HST training, and train 8 weeks straight following by something like a 10 day layoff. Personally I find that if I begin to feel overtrained on a 6 day a week split, that I take a day or two off immediately. If I do not show improvement upon returning to the gym, I take a week off.

 

[bran987]

p.b.

unbelievable. 24 sets per day all the way to failure, 6 days per week, off cycle.

And you don't get sick?

I don't see how this is possible... I'm shocked. Learn somethin' new everyday though

 

[p.b.]

yup. if i take a week off from the gym i will lose at least 3 or 4 pounds. even if i eat my normal 6 meals a day not including protein shakes.

 

[rev dan]

Defrent strokes for diffrent fokes.
When im off,(the juice). I work out max every other day
Your program would make me shrink. But then again I normaly do 4 sets, of 6 reps. and about 5 diffrent exersizes.

Depending on which muscle is worked I need at least 3 days to heal. And each muscle is worked only one a week.
Then again I do powerlifting, not really bodybuilding.(but hey I still want to look good). Ive also been lifting over 10 years though, juicing eight.

 

[Seth28]

some great advice so far especially the things to look for as far as overtraining by bran. I think alot of it has to do with your body type, the load your taking on in other areas, AAS, diet, & sleep. In high school some ages ago, i would push myself to train so hard for so long that it was almost worthless, gained a couple pounds here and there and usually got myself ill in doing so,,, I think as long as you keep your workouts to less than an hour and you have the mindset before you hit the gym that your gonna kick ass then you not overtrained. one of my first symptoms is the lack of mental power to train, if i feel that i take a day off and just do light 30min treadmill pwrwalk and the next day crush it.

 

[concordsize]

I train 4 days a week no matter how much gear I am taking.

E