The journey of an ectomorph

[BiggT]

Nice gains....and yes, your body does become conditioned to volume. You're a tower, brother, you have a ways to go before bodyfat is even an issue. At your height, 300lbs will be a nice, trim weight......and honestly, depending on how far you want to take oly lifting, you'll probably need to be someplace between 350-375 to really maximize your potential.

Great lifts though, and good progress.

 

[eager2learn]

I hit the wall HARD. A month ago I started not sleeping at all.

When I first started lifting I had huge trouble sleeping. It subsided for a while. Now it's bad, worse than ever.

Been to doctor, got checked out, nothing is wrong with me. My diet is great.

The bottom line is, any sort of lifting destroys my seep for the next 2-3 days.

I'm talking a couple hours a night, max. Whenever I stop lifting, my sleep returns to normal and is perfectly fine.

Which in turn has caused my body to turn to crap. Down to 230 lb. More fat than I've ever had in my life. I've developed a belly now yet I am skinny. Sknny-fat is the best word. Lifts getting weaker.

Have taken time off just in case I was overtraining. Mostly 3-4 days at a time. Have done it twice so far.

About ready to quit totally because I see no solution, and no sleep is really messing with me.

Going to try DRASTICALLY reducing weights this week.. A 300x3 lb squat becomes 260x3. A 90kg jerk becomes 70kg. I will not strain at all in lifting, nor require a spot. If I still have sleeping troubles, I don't have much choice other than to stop.

 

[BiggT]

I hit you up in the "I can't sleep" thread.

Now that you mention you were cleared by a Dr, and the body comp issues, I am almost certain you're a bit "overreached". I think your levels of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol are high.

The high volume and brutality f olympic lifting takes a long time to condition yourself to......you'll be fine over time. I'd deload until you start feeling good again though.

 

[eager2learn]

I hit you up in the "I can't sleep" thread.

Now that you mention you were cleared by a Dr, and the body comp issues, I am almost certain you're a bit "overreached". I think your levels of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol are high.

The high volume and brutality f olympic lifting takes a long time to condition yourself to......you'll be fine over time. I'd deload until you start feeling good again though.

Thanks. I read the post. I'm going to have to agree with you. It's hard to admit it though, because I have a pretty reputable coach who decides my workouts and watches my technique. In his words, overtraining in weightlifting is extremely rare and super hard, so even though the thought has crossed my mind all month that I could be overtraining, his words have made me second guess it.

When I do a deloading week (which is every three weeks now), twoards the end of that week, I'm sleeping well again. When I start my heavy week back up, no sleep. I'm going to take a deloading MONTH until my sleep is back to 8 hours a night for at least a week solid. If my sleep ever goes below 7 hours, I'm going to immediatly switch back to light weights.

 

[BiggT]

You're caught between a rock and a hard place. When you commmitt to a coach, you need to have faith and not second guess them. The problem here is you're not simply "being a pussy" lol, you have real symptoms of overreaching.

I agree that overtraining gets thrown around a lot with no real basis. I do know that O-lifting is brutal and you do need to condition your body to the types of workouts. I can guarantee that you'll do well with it over time, but I see no sense in plowing through feeling miserable with 5 hrs of sleep a night either. I don't see how a deload can hurt.

 

[eager2learn]

I think coach and I had an misunderstanding. He didn't know how ragged out I was.

I've never felt this bad in a long time, even when comparing to being sick. I felt like someone just took all the energy and joy out of me. It's such a weird feeling, but it's like looking at the world in grey.

I started my deloading month. Usually today I would try to break my records as this is my third heavy week in a row. I'll post the weight I did, and the weight I would have tried to break today.


Back Squat (lbs) 5x5 132, 154, 176, 198, 220 (max 5 rep 286)
Front Squat (lbs) - 110, 132, 154, 176, 176 (max 5 242)
Overhead Press (kg) 4x5, 40,40,50,50 (max 5x60)
Snatch Grip Shrugs - 3x10, 50,65,65 (max is 80 kg i think)
Bench Press lbs5x5 (135, 145, 165, 175, 185 (max 225x5)
Incline Bench 5x5- 115, 125, 135, 145, 155 (max 205 x 5)
Hypers - bodyweight (35 lbs max)
Lat PullDowns
Curls
Dips

Everything felt pretty nice. Didn't strain on any of the lifts.

No elevated heart rate after the workout. Is this how it should be? It would be nice if I could gain on a workout like this.

Slept 6 hours that night. Longest I've slept in a row in a while.

Wednesday my body was starting to feel better. I got horny for the first time in a while. My sex drive had been completely dead for the past month.

When my sleep goes back to 8 hours a night, I'm gonna stop deloading I think, or I might keep it up. Not sure what to do here. Maybe get a solid week of sleeping well before I go back to the heavy weights and pushing myself?


Now I've gained all this fat from being overtrained and lost weight. What should I do to fix this? I know my weight will go back up when I recover and get my appetite back, but what about this fat? Will it go away as well? BigGT, please advise Thanks

 

[eager2learn]

wow, I'm way worse off than I thought.

did lifting last night. i dropped down 20kg on all of my lifts and STILL felt super fatigued after the workout and only slept TWO, yes TWO hours at night.

i've taken way too much out of my body with this lifting, going from no athletic experience to full on olympic lifting. not sure what to do at this point. i know there is nothing wrong with my body, i just went to the doctor recently. i don't feel sick, and only exercise is making me super fatigue afterwards.

then again i did spend over a month and a half pushing through no sleep and only getting weaker. perhaps i need to spend that long not lifting, or not lifting hard, and unfucking my body.

advice anyone?

edit: I slept 6 hours in a row on my off day wednesday. It's only after lifting that my sleep and how I feel goes to crap.

 

[BiggT]

You just need to let the fatigue fade. You sound like you're in further than I thought originally (and I did think you were in pretty deep). It'll get better, you'll gradually start feeling like you again. Worst case scenario if it keeps up is you'll need a week or even 2 completely out of the gym.

Your body comp will take care of itself. I'd assume your cortisol levels were sky high. As you star to feel better, the stress hormone production will cease, just eat how you normally would, then get back in the gym and do your thing.

 

[eager2learn]

You just need to let the fatigue fade. You sound like you're in further than I thought originally (and I did think you were in pretty deep). It'll get better, you'll gradually start feeling like you again. Worst case scenario if it keeps up is you'll need a week or even 2 completely out of the gym.

Your body comp will take care of itself. I'd assume your cortisol levels were sky high. As you star to feel better, the stress hormone production will cease, just eat how you normally would, then get back in the gym and do your thing.

Thanks =) Your posts are like a breath of fresh air that make me feel relieved, haha.