How badly am I overtraining? or am I?

[capitalT]

When I get into the gym I just can't stop. I have been training this way (described below) for about 4 years. I have been told that I over train, that I don't over train, or that I was a nut job for training like this. I was stagnate for awhile with gains, then due to external events I couldn't make it to the gym as much as I want and gained 10lbs in a couple of weeks. Now I am concerned that I am over training and need to cut it back. What do you guys think of this training program? I should note that I like to do a light set on each exercise so I can really feel the muscle being worked and can carry that feeling into the heavier sets.

(taken from my training notes for the last week one body part per day)

Chest
Incline db 45x15,75x12,90x10,110x8,110x10,115x8,115x7
Incline fly 45x10,55x10,65x10,65x10,65x8
Hammer Str. Decline press 50x10,70x10,90x7,90x8
Pec Deck 150x15, 195x12, 225x10, 285x10,285x10,285x10
Life Fitness Bench Press 150x15, 225x12, 240x8,240x8,240x8

Shoulders
db press 45x18,75x12,90x10,100x8,100x8,105x7
reverse pec deck 150x15, 195x10, 225x10,225x8,225x8
lateral raises (cables) 45x10,60x8,60x8,60x8
Life Fitness Press (palms facing me) 150x12, 195x10,240x10,255x8,255x8
Upright row (cable) 90x15, 135x10,150x8,150x8,150x8
Behind head smith 1plates/side x 12, 1x12,1x12, 1.5x10

Legs
Leg Press (total plates) 4x18,12x12, 16x10, 20x10,22x8,22x8,22x7
Hack Squats(total plates) 2x12,4x12,6x12,8x11,8x10,8x10
Leg Extension 150x15, 225x12, 250x10,250x8,250x8
Leg Curls 120x12,150x10,150x8,150x10

Back
close grip lats 150x15, 180x12, 210x10, 240x8, 240x8, 255x7
H.S. row (total) 2x12,4x12,6x12,8x12,8x12,8x10
rev grip lats 150x15, 180x10,180x10,180x10 (very strict form)
bent over db rows 75x10,105x10,105x10,105x8
upper back row (done with cables single handle) 60x12,90x12,135x10,150x8,150x8
low row (cables/single handle) 60x15, 90x10,135x8,135x8,135x8

 

[louden_swain]

damn

 

[Dave949]

due to external events I couldn't make it to the gym as much as I want and gained 10lbs in a couple of weeks.

Assuming it was not a fat gain, it appears you answered your own question.......

 

[capitalT]

The problem is that I don't know if I have been gaining muscle all along and was just dehydrated (I sweat like a whore in church) or if it was a sudden mass gain. Ten pounds seems like a lot to gain in such a short time.

 

[capitalT]

Can anyone else help me out on this?

 

[louden_swain]

I can tell you this much. . .you don't need all of this to break down muscle tissue.

Remember, training is about breaking down muscle tissue. All growth occurs outside the gym.

If you break your body down with set after set. . your required recovery time increases significantly.

Personally, I would rather train more frequently. . meaning break down the muscle tissue and let it rebuild so I can hit the gym again.

To answer your question. . yes. . cut down the volume and increase training frequency.

 

[bigstve12]

them are some big weights brother

 

[Tiervexx]

(taken from my training notes for the last week one body part per day)

Chest
Incline db 45x15,75x12,90x10,110x8,110x10,115x8,115x7
Incline fly 45x10,55x10,65x10,65x10,65x8
Hammer Str. Decline press 50x10,70x10,90x7,90x8
Pec Deck 150x15, 195x12, 225x10, 285x10,285x10,285x10
Life Fitness Bench Press 150x15, 225x12, 240x8,240x8,240x8

Shoulders
db press 45x18,75x12,90x10,100x8,100x8,105x7
reverse pec deck 150x15, 195x10, 225x10,225x8,225x8
lateral raises (cables) 45x10,60x8,60x8,60x8
Life Fitness Press (palms facing me) 150x12, 195x10,240x10,255x8,255x8
Upright row (cable) 90x15, 135x10,150x8,150x8,150x8
Behind head smith 1plates/side x 12, 1x12,1x12, 1.5x10

Legs
Leg Press (total plates) 4x18,12x12, 16x10, 20x10,22x8,22x8,22x7
Hack Squats(total plates) 2x12,4x12,6x12,8x11,8x10,8x10
Leg Extension 150x15, 225x12, 250x10,250x8,250x8
Leg Curls 120x12,150x10,150x8,150x10

Back
close grip lats 150x15, 180x12, 210x10, 240x8, 240x8, 255x7
H.S. row (total) 2x12,4x12,6x12,8x12,8x12,8x10
rev grip lats 150x15, 180x10,180x10,180x10 (very strict form)
bent over db rows 75x10,105x10,105x10,105x8
upper back row (done with cables single handle) 60x12,90x12,135x10,150x8,150x8
low row (cables/single handle) 60x15, 90x10,135x8,135x8,135x8

That is a lot of volume, but I don't think you are over training. You are pretty strong so it is obvious that you have at least some idea of how your body reacts to training. As long as you keep getting results I wouldn’t worry about it. As long as it feels right just keep doing what you are doing.

 

[jackangel]

You must be concerned for some reason, right? If you are still gaining on this routine, then what worries you? When you say that you gained 10lbs in 2 weeks of less frequent training, what do you mean? Are you saying that you have noticed an increase in muscle mass during a period of time when you have lightened your training load, and thus feel that you need to lower your volume in order to make gains again?

In any case, it's difficult to say for sure whether your volume is too high, but I think most people would say that it is high. Based on my impression of what other people do in the gym, I would say the same thing.

Let's take your incline DBs as an example:

I'm not sure where your warmup ends and your workout begins on any given exercise, so determing volume isn't as easy. You said that you like to do a light set, but does that mean only one warmup set? If so, you've got 6 work sets of 7-12 reps each (not very high, but certainly not low). I think that's a lot of work for one movement. I would cut out at least 2 sets there.

Looking at your chest workout as a whole, I would definitely cut out repetitive movements. Volume is one thing, but performing very similar exercises in the same session isn't necessary. If you're going to do a lot of work in one day, at least vary it as much as possible. I don't think you need to do incline flyes and pec deck during the same workout. If you like, you can rotate them in and out. This goes for all other muscle groups.

Not counting the first set for each movement, you've got 22 sets of total work for your chest. Again, compared to most people, I think that is very high (I only do 8-9 sets). You can keep four different chest exercises, but you might try restricting the number of sets to around 15 (anywhere from 12-16, if you like a range).

Do you do any direct work for triceps/biceps?

Remember, these are just suggestions and are somewhat abritrary, but are based on the simple idea of lowering volume to focus your intensity yet not overwork your body. It's possible that your current way of doing things will continue to work for you, and that you don't need to change. But it's almost certainly true that experimenting with fewer sets will also work for you and not do any harm. It's worth trying.