Training too hard? Use this checklist
By: Charles DeFrancesco
http://www.fitandfunctional.com
If you experience any of these symptoms, you may be over-training:
- Totally run down after a workout
- Experience chronic joint stiffness
- Perform too many sets per body part
- Not resting long enough between heavy workouts
- Not eating enough food
- Training beyond failure in every workout
- Taking in too little protein
- No longer making any progress
- Have a bad attitude towards your workouts
- Your resting morning heart rate is 5 to 10 BPM too high
- Experience an increase in body temperature
- Have a positive Keto-Stix reading
- Insomnia
- The development of a chronic overuse injury, usually in the joints
Over Training and Its Effect on Muscles
There are three (3) distinct stages of metabolism undergone in the cell; Equilibrium, Catabolism and Anabolism.
Equilibrium
Equilibrium can be easily defined as a fully recovered state where energy is neither being depleted nor replenished, and structural tissue is not being damaged or repaired. As a resistance athlete, it is desirable to achieve a momentary state of equilibrium if over training is to be avoided. However, if this stage of metabolism is maintained for long periods (10-15 days or more) atrophy of contractile proteins will result in gradual tissue loss. It is worth mentioning that the over trained athlete’s metabolism, seldom, if ever, enters into the stage of equilibrium, because the muscle tissue never reaches a fully recovered state. Reducing the duration of intense training sessions, allowing for longer rest between workouts and eating plenty of total calories from healthy protein and carbohydrate foods can all help to avoid over training.
Catabolism
Catabolism is the stage when energy is being depleted and tissue damage is taking place. Catabolism obviously is occurring during exercise. There are two distinctly different processes taking place. Energy is being depleted and structural tissue is being damaged. Your ultimate goal is to “keep catabolism in the gym”. If you are over training, catabolism will continue long after the workout is over, the body continually feeding off of hard earned muscle tissue for recovery needs (Gluconeogenesis).
Anabolism
Anabolism is the stage of metabolism when energy is being repleted and tissue damage is being repaired. This is the most valuable stage of metabolism to the resistance trainee. The purpose of expending less total energy during catabolism is to allow for the post-workout presence of sufficient pyruvate (converted form of stored glycogen) to initiate anabolism. Only in the presence of cellular recovery energy can anabolism be initiated. Most successful resistance athletes know the value in ingesting a high carbohydrate post workout meal, but even these carbohydrates can be a day late, and a dollar short if the training session was too exhaustive. It takes time for digested nutrients to reach the exhausted tissues, and during this time, guess what’s happening in the over-trained muscle continued catabolism.
All things considered, you are better off slightly under training and reaching the stage of equilibrium, than over training and remaining longer in the stage of catabolism.
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