Is it really possible to "overtrain"

I have a friend who has been lifting for years... I'd love to look like him! Well he trains 5 days a week! Full body every day, he doesn't go real heavy! He uses lighter weights with a lot of reps..
Example...
• Chest - on bench he does 5 sets of 50 reps
10 reg, 15 wide, 10 close, 15 reg

• Legs - squats he does 25 reps 5 sets
Heavier each set!

• Arms - curl bar 75 reps 3-5 sets
Say he starts out with a 25 on each side, he does 25 reps, the lowers weight for another 25 reps, the the curl bar for the final 25 reps

Then he basically "free styles" is what he calls it! He goes from machine to the next until he hits everything basically!!
Spends like 3 hrs in the gym...

He is swole as shit! Ripped up! Doesn't track macros just takes a protein shake and a protein bar post workout! He says he just eats clean no fast food or fried foods...

So who's to say we really overtrain and stuff like that! I started out doing it but didn't have time to hit everything, everyday!!

Just a thought!!!!

Good for him and good for you, but not everyone has 15 hours to waste per week in the gym.

As for the overtraining part, he cannot overtrain, because he isn't really training hard, is he?


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Guess not!!! But dude can lift as much as the guys benching heavy weights he just uses light weight bc it's easier on joint than doing 250 6-8 times

Just wondering yalls thoughts on this kinda training! Theres Soooo many ways to train...

I mean as for training hard... He goes till failure on everything... It's pretty hard, just don't have the time like he does!

I am currently trying something different. Doing full body workout 3 x per week. 1 exercise per bodypart and 8 sets of 5 reps with 40sec rest between sets. According to the original programme i have to do more compound exercises and there is allot of hi intensity cardio involved. I am only doing low intensity cardio about 3 times a week though. So far so good.

Will give this a go for another 8 weeks or so and then move back to 4 day per week split or maybe try a 5 dayer for the 1st time. It is necessary to mix things up a bit. Keeps you interested and the muscles wondering................ or that is what i would like to believe anyway

ABC01 wrote: I am currently trying something different. Doing full body workout 3 x per week. 1 exercise per bodypart and 8 sets of 5 reps with 40sec rest between sets. According to the original programme i have to do more compound exercises and there is allot of hi intensity cardio involved. I am only doing low intensity cardio about 3 times a week though. So far so good.

Will give this a go for another 8 weeks or so and then move back to 4 day per week split or maybe try a 5 dayer for the 1st time. It is necessary to mix things up a bit. Keeps you interested and the muscles wondering................ or that is what i would like to believe anyway

Whats your goal with this training method abc? Sounds fun, recently ive been adding supersets to my workouts and its great!

gorilla wrote:

ABC01 wrote: I am currently trying something different. Doing full body workout 3 x per week. 1 exercise per bodypart and 8 sets of 5 reps with 40sec rest between sets. According to the original programme i have to do more compound exercises and there is allot of hi intensity cardio involved. I am only doing low intensity cardio about 3 times a week though. So far so good.

Will give this a go for another 8 weeks or so and then move back to 4 day per week split or maybe try a 5 dayer for the 1st time. It is necessary to mix things up a bit. Keeps you interested and the muscles wondering................ or that is what i would like to believe anyway

Whats your goal with this training method abc? Sounds fun, recently ive been adding supersets to my workouts and its great!

The day after my last pin of my cycle i started travelling for work purposes. Was in South America and Europe for about 3 weeks and had food poisoning as well. Obviously i could not stick to a diet while travelling and with the bonus of food poisoning i dropped about 5kg after cycle and bf went from 6% to 10%.

Came across this training programme while paging through a fitness mag at 1 of the airports. It is modelled on a theory that states that you get more growth response if you stimulate muscle contraction for short periods over a extended time (or something like that). So you basically do 8 sets of 5 reps for each exercise with little rest in between. Actually you also have to do hi intensity interval training after workouts and on some other days leaving 2 days a week to rest. It is designed to shock your body and give rapid fatloss. You basically do the same routine mon/wed/fri.

Been doing this for 3 weeks now (with only some of the cardio). Managed to gain back almost 3kg and should be on 8% in a week or 3. Must say my calves responds well to this sort of training. Rest of the upperbody seems to stay conditioned. When hitting 8% bf i will increase my protein and fat and see if i can pack on some more weight while staying below 10% bf

ABC, would you mind posting this routine you're doing?
I'm thinking of doing a TBT type of thing 3x a week during my PCT. My body is kinda a wreck right now and I'd like to do something that will help me hold onto strength but allow me plenty of rest for those 30 days. I want to do Doggcrapp after PCT but the way I'm feeling right now I'll burn out after a week.

I find that all a waste... When i first started gyming a few years back, the first 6months a followed a similiar training regime basically getting maximum reps and light weights to firstly better my technique across the board and to learn the ins and outs of the array of exercises.

I then for 2years followed an alternating program training 2x muscle groups per day doing core 3x per week and calves 3x per week. Gave a great foundation but what I've found to truly work for myself is 1muscle group per day as in back+traps,shoulders,chest,biceps,triceps,legs. Doing core everyday and calves everyday, its not so much what done in the gym but allot of how you let your body recover. And i wish i knew how important it is a few years back.

Bru that program you posted is bound for overtraining, especially the hammering hes cns is taking. Also lacking consistency in jumping from machine to machine, but i guess some people don't care about symmetry and proper proportions. But if it works for him, and he has the time...

Headhunter12 wrote: I mean as for training hard... He goes till failure on everything... It's pretty hard, just don't have the time like he does!

Till failure for 3 hours you say

iMan wrote:

Headhunter12 wrote: I mean as for training hard... He goes till failure on everything... It's pretty hard, just don't have the time like he does!

Till failure for 3 hours you say

As one does..

Say and think what u want... Dude has to have some hella genetics going for him or something!!! Yea till failure... "light weights" a couple mins of rest in between each different exercise!

I brung this up bc ppl always say ur crazy or stupid, or u can't do that u won't grow!!! I don't know if it's just his body is used to it or what, I like it but I have a fam and can't spend 2 1/2 - 3 hrs mon-Friday...

What kills me is he's not like all serious about macros, and everything he just eats whatever when he's hungry...
Dudes a monster, IMO could compete! Never taken any AAS or pro hormone!!

Headhunter12 wrote: Say and think what u want... Dude has to have some hella genetics going for him or something!!! Yea till failure... "light weights" a couple mins of rest in between each different exercise!

I brung this up bc ppl always say ur crazy or stupid, or u can't do that u won't grow!!! I don't know if it's just his body is used to it or what, I like it but I have a fam and can't spend 2 1/2 - 3 hrs mon-Friday...

What kills me is he's not like all serious about macros, and everything he just eats whatever when he's hungry...
Dudes a monster, IMO could compete! Never taken any AAS or pro hormone!!

The has great genes! There was this oke with me in res at varsity who permanently looked like he can be on the cover of Mens Health. The guy did not go to gym, drank like a fish and had no form of diet. He did do some surfing on wknds in between all the shagging and drinking

Your body will grow from any training as long as the training triggers an adaptive response that helps your body increase it's ability to generate force.

Low weights will also do this, but it will take longer and thus become a less effective time wise.

Very few people will find spending 3 hours with light weights as productive as 1 hour on heavy weights. In the end the heavy weights will get the job done quicker leaving your body with more time to repair and adapt to the next training session.


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Lol... Same here... He COULD b on the cover also!! It just shows how everyones body is different and u never really know what works best for you! We just kinda go with the flow, doing the same stuff everybody's doing except maybe changing up a few movements...

Stanabolic wrote: ABC, would you mind posting this routine you're doing?
I'm thinking of doing a TBT type of thing 3x a week during my PCT. My body is kinda a wreck right now and I'd like to do something that will help me hold onto strength but allow me plenty of rest for those 30 days. I want to do Doggcrapp after PCT but the way I'm feeling right now I'll burn out after a week.

No probs bud! If you want i can give you the original programme as well but here is the one i currently do. The only thing that differs is the abs part on each day. Focus on quick contraction and slow release

Routine: All 8 x 5 reps with minimal rest
1. Dumbbell shoulder press
2. T bar rows (4 sets with palms faced towards you and 4 sets with palms facing inwards)
3. Dumbbell bench press
4. W bar (EZ bar) arm curls
5. tricep press down
6. Hack squad
7. standing calve raises

abs:
Mon: Hanging windshield wipers 4 x 10reps
Hanging knee raises 3 x 15reps
weighted crunches 2 x 25reps

wed: Knee cable crunch 4 x 10reps
Hanging leg raises 3 x 15reps
Decline russian twist 2 x 25reps

Fri: Decline reverse crunch 4 x 10reps
Decline twisting crunch 3 x 15reps
Knee up 2 x 25reps

Routine takes about 1h20min

THats Volume Training:Like Ronnie Coleman said!! Everyone wants Big Muscles,but are too Fuck-in Lazy to lift Heavy weight.With A due Respect: That routine is INSANE,and your buddy is a SLIM?Skinny type guy,as this type of training Raises the Cortisol Levels and Cortisol levels rise after approximately 45-minutes.That why people Nowadays train 1-bodypart per 7-cycle.Beginners are different they can trin 3xper week as they are graduating and dont have the intensity to overtrain. thank for sharing johnny

No! He's not a slim guy... I'm 5.9 168
He's prolly 5.7 1/2 @ 175ish or a lil heavier!!! Like 8% bf
He's just "GOT IT"!!!

Ive got a a friend with a very similar approach to training, gyms about 3 times a week and just goes into gym and hits close to all the machines at gym, does some curls some side laterial raises and has waterpolo training twice a week, he eats absolute shit probably around 2500 calories a day, starves himself all day and has a huge dinner. Hes 18yrs old weighs in at 94kgs at 12% bodyfat. He's got some mad genetics, just thought i should share.

PS he's never touched steriods.

manery wrote: Ive got a a friend with a very similar approach to training, gyms about 3 times a week and just goes into gym and hits close to all the machines at gym, does some curls some side laterial raises and has waterpolo training twice a week, he eats absolute shit probably around 2500 calories a day, starves himself all day and has a huge dinner. Hes 18yrs old weighs in at 94kgs at 12% bodyfat. He's got some mad genetics, just thought i should share.

PS he's never touched steriods.

Sucks balls for ppl like us... Lmao
Gotta but our asses n diet to get 3kgs of muscle!!! haha

manery wrote: Ive got a a friend with a very similar approach to training, gyms about 3 times a week and just goes into gym and hits close to all the machines at gym, does some curls some side laterial raises and has waterpolo training twice a week, he eats absolute shit probably around 2500 calories a day, starves himself all day and has a huge dinner. Hes 18yrs old weighs in at 94kgs at 12% bodyfat. He's got some mad genetics, just thought i should share.

PS he's never touched steriods.

ya I have one of those friends too except he sits at about 8% and 93kgs, he's starting his first cycle soon.

My buddy, the way he tries to explain to to me is.... "going in the gym and hitting only chest or triceps or legs or back is like taking water hose and crimping it off, stuff can only flow to those parts making it slower to grow! Hittin everything is like a open water hose, blood n test flow through the whole body evenly." lol

If you can stimulate, put in the effort to progress in the weight room, get in the time and food for recovery and be consistent then yes you can grow off of a full body routine. On top of that some people just have the genetics to eat either less or more than what you think they should. In the end it doesn't matter much if he eats once at night. He is still getting in the calories.

Look at Doggcrapp training. There is the 2 day split version and the 3 day split version. The 2 day version seems to be the most popular. You are training 3 times a week, smashing one exercise for each body part and people are growing like weeds. On the other end you have guys sitting in the gym for over an hour doing every variation on the bicep curl that they can think of and then going 7 days before touching them again.

EDIT: I also have one of those friends. He is not big but he has never been higher than 8%BF. Every time I look in his fridge all I see is garage pies, donuts, hot dog buns and boxes of oreo cookies. He has eaten Mac Donalds for every meal every day for week before and at the end of the week he looked as diced as usual.

manery wrote: Ive got a a friend with a very similar approach to training, gyms about 3 times a week and just goes into gym and hits close to all the machines at gym, does some curls some side laterial raises and has waterpolo training twice a week, he eats absolute shit probably around 2500 calories a day, starves himself all day and has a huge dinner. Hes 18yrs old weighs in at 94kgs at 12% bodyfat. He's got some mad genetics, just thought i should share.

PS he's never touched steriods.

Never touched roids that you know of hahaha, ag rather see it as how amazing he would look if he took proper care of himself. Living such a counter productive lifestyle sommer makes me jealous i don't get off that easy, i gotta work damn hard for results

Yea, I decide to keep it simple! Just gonna hit one to two parts a day, 5 days a week! What works best for me, I like to break it down, completely down, and not touch it till the next week that same day!!! As for doggcapp or whatever u called it I'll look it up.... Growing like weeds huh??? I need that routine then!!! Lol