Hi LWL. I'm a regular lurker here and have learned a lot from you all.

I've been lifting now for about two years and really, really like it. I found a program in "The Body Sculpting Bible for Women" that I've been doing and would like some advice please.

I don't know if anyone's familiar with it, but there is an advanced six week routine in the book that I've been doing. I mainly tried it to ramp things up a bit and to just plain old give myself a challenge. I've been on a very long weightloss plateau and thought I'd give this a try. I'm in week six now and it's kicking my butt!

The workout progresses in two week increments. You workout six days a week, cardio and lifting. Lifting exercises are divided up into three days (which you repeat during the week). They are divided into bicep & tricep day, leg day and chest & back day. The first two weeks are modified compound supersets, weeks 3 & 4 are supersets and then weeks 5 & 6 are giant sets. There's a lot more details, but I'll spare you all.

Anyway, to make a long post longer, how do you know when you're overtraining? I have felt great this whole six weeks, up until this week. I'm pooped and sore and my joints are hurting. I haven't lost any weight, but I do notice a change in shape.

I'm thinking of finishing the week and then doing a week of pure cardio and no lifting to let my muscles have a break and then starting the whole six week program over again. Do you all think it's too much? Is my body trying to tell me to cool it, or would it be beneficial to do it again? I would appreciate your thoughts!

Chickadee

Quite possibly if you have been training at a high intensity. I try to avoid training to failure on heavy exercises (Squat, Deadlift, Incline press etc.), although i don't worry about it so much on isolation work and grip training.

Here is what my friend Steve Brose posted about it on the HGRT:

Wow, I'm no expert, but I"m intrigued by your post. I think it's funny that you'd see this now instead of earlier, unless you are increasing the weights you're lifting. But, I am not an expert in this field. I wanted to suggest you try another form of exercise that would get the same result. Have you ever heard of the Firm video series? YOu can get most at the library, esp. older versions of the vhs tapes. They do cardio with handweights and it is very effective. Their motto is results in 10 workouts, which is about 2 weeks. I might give that, or something similar, a try rather than giving your muscles a whole week off and going back to the same old same old.

Thanks for your post Robert, it's cleared some things up for me. I'm taking a week off!

Looks like I'm taking a lifting break next week! That was very helpful Robert. I have noticed my form is not as good and my speed is down. Also, I'm having to make myself go to the gym some days, instead of looking forward to it. Great post!

hrbabe, Thanks for the suggestion. I have used the Firm workouts and think they're really good. The only bad thing is tht my living room is not a very good workout space, but I may give it a shot.

Thanks!

Chickadee

I agree, a rest week is in order. Whenever I am working hard I don't seem to lose anything until I take a rest week and then I drop a few pounds!

I took a week off from lifting last week and feel MUCH better for it although I was pretty antsy about doing it.

I think you nailed the answer to your question unless you are getting sick. I find that when I'm overtraining, I feel tired all the time, have trouble sleeping even though I'm exhausted, my resting heart rate is a bit higher, but the most obvious sign is that it takes me longer to recover from workouts or any little injury. When muscle soreness just never seems to go away and you are always tired, it's time to take a week off!

Mel

I agree with Mel 100% there, you need a break...Relax have fun do some Yoga or Pilates for a week, or go for a hike...