By: MuscleSports.net

A quick look at the concepts of overtraining, and how to spot it!

When it comes to training more isn't always better.

Overtrained Trainee Don’t answer that question too quickly. Many trainees pursue programs which parallel the old medical cliche which says “if one pill is good, two or three will be better.” Doing more sets just for the sake of building an impressive routine on paper isn’t smart training. Current, and popular methods of training involves training the entire body to total (or as close as possible) exhaustion 3-4 times per week.

Training for total exhaustion for every body part during every workout is prohibitive for two reasons:

(1) The body physically can’t withstand such an intensive program over an extended period of time.
(2) The mental process won’t tolerate it.

The fear of the constant pain and perpetual fatigue makes this type of training impractical. Even a limited program of this type will lead to overtraining. If you’re still not convinced, we invite you to give It a try.

What we do recommend is a program which structures the workouts into a system of rotational emphasis on specified body parts. During a pre-determined period, a specified body part will undergo an intense, trained-to-failure routine. All other body parts will be trained at somewhere between 50-75 percent normal intensity. The emphasis should be rotated to a different body part every 6-3 weeks.

This program will permit muscular growth in all areas and will actually accelerate growth in the area receiving additional emphasis. In addition, there are several other important benefits:

(1) Overtraining will not be a problem.
(2) Staleness will not be experienced because of the rotation of body part emphasis every 6-8 weeks.
(3) Injuries are minimized because the entire body isn’t being completely exhausted on a recurring basis.
(4) There will be no undertrained body parts because of the rotation of body part emphasis and of an ongoing maintenance-limited building program for all other body parts.

This program can be effectively utilized by all trainees regardless of their present development. It offers balanced intensity and an opportunity for refreshing variety at predetermined intervals. Give it a try, you’ll earn an impressive reward.

Tags: bodybuilding life