How To Avoid Workout Burnout

There’s a fine line between doing just enough physical activity
and doing too much.

Many people make the mistake in thinking that more exercise is
better.

If lifting 3 days a week will get me a certain amount of muscle,
then lifting double the days will even increase my muscle
growth. That is not the case.

There comes a point of diminishing returns if you work out too
much. Your body does not get a chance to recover properly if you
work out too much.

You run the risk of overtraining (which could lead to much more
serious health issues like chronic fatigue) if you work out more
than you need to.

So how much is enough? Well, that really depends on many factors.

A person’s genetics–some people can lift and workout more than
others with no ill effects. A person’s age. The intensity level
of exercise.

Other physical activities the person is involved in–if someone
has a very physical job in which they do manual labor for 8
hours a day, weight training and cardio could lead to
overtraining.

For the most part, as long as you train each muscle group
(chest, back, legs, abs, shoulders, biceps, triceps) intensely
once each week, that will be sufficient.

This could be done in 3 days if you double up muscle groups
(back and triceps, chest and biceps, etc). Or you can train just
one muscle group each day as well and work out 5 to 6 days.

It really depends on your schedule and available time to get to
the gym.

Cardio should be done on the opposite days of weight training,
such as Tuesday and Thursday if you lift Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday.

If you lift every day of the week, try and do cardio separately
in the morning or evening, about 8 hours away from your weight
lifting.

You could also do a couple of short cardio sessions on the
weekend (Saturday/Sunday) if need be. Cardio should be kept
short and intense to lessen the likelihood of overtraining.

Keep cardio sessions under 30 minutes, preferably closer to 15
to 20 minutes.

If your goal is fat burning and losing fat weight, 3 to 4
sessions of cardio, 15 to 20 minutes each session, should be
sufficient each week. You can lessen that amount to 2 to 3
sessions if you’re already lean.

Or, if you’re looking to lose a lot of fat or compete in a
bodybuilding show, you’ll need 4 to 5 sessions a week.

It should be based upon your goals and priorities. Just realize
that if you do too much cardio, it will negatively affect your
weight training.

Now, the way to tell if you’re training too much each week is to
start to really take notice of how you feel.

If you start to notice you’re more tired than normal, or you’re
hitting a plateau on your lifts, or your strength levels are not
up to where they normally are, chances are you’re over doing it
and need to take some time off to recover.

If you’re getting sick or irritable more than normal, that’s
another sign of overtraining.

If you have “brain fog” where you cannot think clear, you’re
overtraining. So really listen to your body, take notice of what
doesn’t seem normal.

If you continue to train while in a tired and weak state,
overtraining is going to happen and so will the ill health
effects associated with it.

The cure for overtraining: Time off.

If you feel you may be possibly overtraining (you’re more tired
than normal, strength has hit a plateau or even gone done,
you’re body feels weak or achy, yawning a lot in the gym, you
don’t even want to go to the gym, you’re getting sick often)
then you need to take some time off from working out immediately.

Take a full week off from weight training and cardio and just
rest up. Keep your protein, carb, and fat intake high for this
week and allow yourself to enter into a highly anabolic recovery
state.

This week off is often times the only thing you need to
kickstart you out of a plateau.

When you return from a week off, you will feel stronger, more
energetic, and much more capable of lifting max weight with max
intensity.

Often times I’ve come back from a week off and had some of my
best workouts ever. I’ve also beaten personal best lifts (weight
lifted) when coming back from a week off.

So, remember that doing more weight training or cardio does not
necessarily mean you’ll get more results.

Much like too much sun can lead to a burn, too much weight
training or cardio can lead to overtraining and the end of your
gains.

Just do what you need to do well (what’s listed here in this
program for each workout) and you will make gains.

Please do not make the false assumption that more physical
activity is better. There comes a point where you will over
train and not allow your body to recover.

If you’re always energetic and feel strong, continue doing what
you’re doing because you’re most likely not overtraining.

But if you feel weak or tired, you’re overtraining and your
results are going to go down if you don’ take some time off.

Always think quality over quantity. If you do your scheduled
tasks well, there’s no need to do more than you have to.

There really is a line between doing too little activity, just
enough activity, and too much activity. If you do too little or
too much, you’re results will not be as good.

With experience and time, you’ll learn exactly how much to do.

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