Overtraining? Will this program do it?

Hi Guys,

I am stew, new around here, been having a bit of lurker, thought I might post my current workout program which I am on.. hopefully it can help people out as its been doing my some serious wonders since I started on it.

Also I would like to say that nutrition is the key to success should be really most strongly emphasised!


So this is my current, rather intense workout / training schedule.

Currently doing a hybrid cutting / bulking training

Basically I am trying for 2 times a day every week day (obviously I miss a few due to work/sleep in commitments) and a saturday morning training.

I am taking up alot of bodypump classes also as I started them when I was cutting, and liked them so I keep them up 2/3 days a week to help

mon: abs (morning) / bodypump (lunch)
tue: chest - tris (morning) / rest or cardio (ride) (lunch)
wed: bis - back (morning) / bodypump (lunch)
thu: cardio / rest (morning) or cardio or bodypump (lunch)
fri: chest / sholders / legs (morning) / cardio (lunch)
sat: morning gym session mixed up with spartan workout
sun: rest



abs:
4 sets of 15x seated leg raise alternating with 12x hanging leg rasies then 10x hanging body twists
4 sets ab crunches using machine on max weight I can do 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
then sort of mix it up with the last of the workout and select a few of the following (trying to train all up for around an hour)
4 sets of legs hanging off a bench with weight in between lifting horizontal then pulsing
4 sets of floor wipers (on a bench holding the bar locked in, lifting legs from left up to center down to right up
4 sets of disc jackknife
4 sets swiss ball crunches with medicine ball
4 sets of alternating side with medicine ball
as many sets as i can do of crunches with weights then leg raises lying on bench.


chest:
3 sets machine flys
4 sets incline press, try and do drop sets for this
4 sets decline press
3 sets dips superset with 5 sets pushups

tris:
- 3 sets single tri pull down
- 4 sets skull crushers superset with 4 sets tri barbell press

back:
- 4 sets seated row machine
- 4 sets wide grip chinups
- 3 sets close grip pull down

bis:
- 4 sets standing bar bell curls on easy bar (7 reps bottom half, 7 reps top half, 7 full reps) then 6 then 5 then 4
- 4 sets chin up (doing negative reps on failure)
- 3 sets seated close grip preacher curls
- 3 sets standing hammer curls

sholders:
- 4 sets sholder press with db
- 3 sets lat raises
- 3 sets trap pull (barbell pulling up alongside body)

legs:
- 4 sets squats
- 4 sets leg press


Too much?

stewface said:

Too much?

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in short, yes.

Seems like a lot to me, what are your goals?

I also am interested in your goals. What is with the boypump classes?

To be honest man, some of it seems a bit pointless.

stewface said:

Too much?

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No. For most there isn't over-training, just under-eating.

What is a concern is this:

stewface said:

abs:
4 sets of 15x seated leg raise alternating with 12x hanging leg rasies then 10x hanging body twists
4 sets ab crunches using machine on max weight I can do 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
then sort of mix it up with the last of the workout and select a few of the following (trying to train all up for around an hour)
4 sets of legs hanging off a bench with weight in between lifting horizontal then pulsing
4 sets of floor wipers (on a bench holding the bar locked in, lifting legs from left up to center down to right up
4 sets of disc jackknife
4 sets swiss ball crunches with medicine ball
4 sets of alternating side with medicine ball
as many sets as i can do of crunches with weights then leg raises lying on bench.


chest:
3 sets machine flys
4 sets incline press, try and do drop sets for this
4 sets decline press
3 sets dips superset with 5 sets pushups

tris:
- 3 sets single tri pull down
- 4 sets skull crushers superset with 4 sets tri barbell press

back:
- 4 sets seated row machine
- 4 sets wide grip chinups
- 3 sets close grip pull down

bis:
- 4 sets standing bar bell curls on easy bar (7 reps bottom half, 7 reps top half, 7 full reps) then 6 then 5 then 4
- 4 sets chin up (doing negative reps on failure)
- 3 sets seated close grip preacher curls
- 3 sets standing hammer curls

sholders:
- 4 sets sholder press with db
- 3 sets lat raises
- 3 sets trap pull (barbell pulling up alongside body)

legs:
- 4 sets squats
- 4 sets leg press

Click to expand...

abs aside, that's 56 sets for your upper body and 8 sets for your lower body!! You're doing almost twice as much just on direct work for your biceps compared to what you are doing for your legs!

You have shown us the path you are taking. But you have not shown us where you are now, or where you want to go, so we cannot say if it is a good path for you.

That said, looking at the path, I cannot imagine any possible useful destination for it. But I could be wrong, I don't know where you are now and what you want to do.

You need to tell us things like,
any health issues forcing or banning certain kinds of exercise
current height and weight
current chest and waist measurement (so we get an idea of how much of the weight is muscle and how much fat)
recent and current non-gym physical activity, ie general fitness
specific goals (eg "get stronger" or "make my waist 82cm" or "get stronger for volleyball")

Hybrid cutting/bulking? You cant do both mate unless you are a total novice or a fat bastard.

And your weights program is about 95% garbage. I would chuck it and start again.

But post up your current height/weight/lifts and goals so we can make a better assessment.

How long have you been lifting for?

It may be that the current program is working for you simply because you are new to weightlifting, however I would be very surprised if after a few months it continues to do so.

Shame has summed it up very well.

Looks like a waste of time to me. Most guys on here will make faster progress than you by doing heavy compound lifting 3-4 times per week and maybe a cardio session or two.
You could do what your doing now for about 15 or so hours per week or you could do the above for six hours per week and progress heaps faster.

No offence, just my two cents.

Firstly, I would just like to say thanks to everyone for their very informative replies!

I am excited to get to work perfecting my program to make sure it is as most effect as possible.


Do you guys have a solution for this time of year what is best to do so you build muscle but don't put on any fat? After summer I will go nuts on a bulking program / diet

Should I do two weeks on / two weeks off?



eaglebay:

my goals are to build muscle while not putting on much fat right now, as its coming right into summer and I have reached my cutting goal I want to try and add muscle without starting a bulking program again, after summer I will jump straight back on a bulking diet.


Josh_GTiR:

I selected bodypump when I was in the cutting phase, I wanted to tone up and it seemed like a perfect option, and it was easy to keep me motivated, I could go on my lunch break and do a solid 45min workout even if I wasn't feeling up to it.

I ended up sticking to body pump after I finished cutting because I was enjoying it.

I might drop it for the moment, until after summer or strip it down to one class a week and ramp up some cardo instead.


Shame:

I was doing a lot of leg work in body pump, I am not a fan of the leg workout, but I know its important so I try my best.


Kyle Aaron:

I trained for a year prob about 3-4 years ago, then been training solidly for the past year.

A few months ago when I measured myself I was

39cm bicep
103cm chest

I am assuming I am slightly bigger than this now.

My aim is to increase chest size and increase abs, happy with the size of everyone else.

I don't have any health issues, occasionally have problems with my wrists and shoulders, but haven't had them for a few months.

Body Pump will not be sufficient for leg work Stew. You need to do more leg work and compound work and less isolation stuff if you ask me.

You can do this many sets for upper body, but not for very long. You need to be in tune with your body. All programs for weights come to a abrupt end. This is where you need to know to stop, time off 1 week, and do something different. Going past the point of return with programs is most peoples down fall. After falling into the over training catergory myself, i basically dont do 2 days in a row anymore. The central nervous system can only take so many hits if you are continuing to train to failure and high intensity. I also now only do enough for muscle growth, which means less is more. Your amount of sets is the same as a pro bodybuilder with all the fruit they have. That is the resaon i would cut back on the weight, dont go over 75% max. You can also train away a muscle pump by doing to much. I now if training back only do a max of 3 sets for bi's. Same for chest and tri's. You have to work out the indirect work these body parts are getting. Maybe depending on BF% drop the cardio class, you can make weight training cardio. Rest less, move around more, finish the work sooner by going faster. Alot of this depends on your goals though. Dont copy a pro's workout unless you have the same recovery and artifical sweetners they use and rest properly because they dont work. Hope this helps.
AZZA

stewface said:

A few months ago when I measured myself [...] I am slightly bigger than this now.

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I find it good to weigh and measure myself once a month - same date and time each month. This lets me know if my current programme and diet are working.

stewface said:

My aim is to increase chest size and increase abs, happy with the size of everyone else.

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To some degree, other exercises are necessary because if you get muscle imbalances, you get postural problems and risk injury.

For example, if you work only chest and arms, your shoulders are drawn forward, so you end up hunched over like an office worker - with a big chest no-one can see.

And many sports injuries are caused or made more likely by muscle imbalances. For example, it's very common to have hamstrings (back thigh) very weak compared to quads (front thigh). So that if you change direction quickly (eg in soccer), the strain your hamstrings can't take, your knee ligaments take instead. Pop, ow, surgery, 18 months' physiotherapy, bummer.

Certainly you can focus on certain parts, but for good health you need to do all parts. Given your stated aims, I would suggest,

If your diet and sleep are right, this programme will help you achieve your stated goals.

I don't have any health issues, occasionally have problems with my wrists and shoulders, but haven't had them for a few months.

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Any pain, see a physio. Otherwise, just go slow and steady.

bodypump dont work your legs mate

my fiance does bodypump and they make her squat, thats legs.*























*in no way am i endorsing bodypump, i am just stating a fact.

Of course aerobics work legs, or any other bodypart you care to name.

But remember there are muscular strength, and muscular endurance. These are different things. Muscular strength lets you bench 100kg. Muscular endurance lets you do 50 pushups instead of 20 pushups.

If you want to get bigger and stronger, doing only aerobics won't do it, just as doing 5kg bicep curls for 100 reps alone won't do it.

Resistance training for well under 20 reps will do it.

Aerobics will build endurance to help you get through heavy weights workouts, recover from heavy weights workouts, and so on.