How to Avoid Overtraining While Bodybuilding

Step 1

For all of us who have caught the lifting-bug at one time or another and gone flat-out insane in our itch to train, overtraining is something to look out for. Overtraining happens when you overexert your body to the point of exhaustion, and then continue exerting it some more. Overtraining does not yield faster results- on the contrary, it hinders your ability to recover correctly and gain muscle efficiently. Rest assured, though, that even if you're training your ass off, there are ways to avoid overtraining. Read on

Step 2

The first way to avoid overtraining is to eat enough food. Overtraining simply means that your muscles have been worked until the point where they cannot be healed enough. The biggest factor for muscle-healing, arguably, is nutrition. If you're eating 10-12 meals a day, there is almost no such thing as over training, because your muscles are constantly supplied with the right amount of nutrients to keep healing and growing. But these 12 meals can't be Big Macs; they've gotta be protein rich and loaded with the right amount of healthy, complex carbohydrates.

Step 3

Another way to efficiently avoid overtraining is to sleep enough. For normal weightlifters, 8 hour of sleep per night is recommended and almost necessary. For those who are training like Hercules, 8 hours of sleep per night should be a minimum. Shoot for at least 8, if not 10 or more. Or, if you can't manage to sleep more than 6-8 hours a night, be sure to grab a couple of naps throughout the day. Naps operate the same way as long-term sleep when it comes to healing trained muscles. If you're sleeping a whole lot, your muscles can almost completely steer clear of the negative effects of overtraining.

Step 4

The third way to avoid overtraining to is simply not overtrain. Overtraining happens when you hit the gym for a period of 2 or more solid hours of consistent weight lifting, every day, possible multiple times a day. This can be an appealing way to gain muscle fast for young lifters, but it will quickly burn you out and ravage your muscles. Try and stick to schedule that employs progressive overload methods, and keeps you in the gym for no longer than 2 hours each given day. This will surely help you avoid any level of unnecessary overtraining.

Step 5

Finally, avoid overtraining your muscles by stretching regularly. Stretching before and after a workout, and whenever else during the day will give your muscles a chance to loosen up. This is important for muscles that are constantly being barraged by a multitude of training methods and iron-beatings. Grab a yoga mat (such as the one I've linked below) and do yourself a favor: get stretching.

Step 6

By staying true to the four methods above (or at least the first two), you will allow your body ample healing time and healing ingredients so that it can bounce back to train hard and grow more every single day. Without the above methods, you will run into all of the negative side-effects of overtraining, which include but are not limited to: extreme fatigue, muscle loss (that's right, LOSS), loss of appetite, loss of motivation, and depression. Overtraining is no joke, so pay attention to what I've told you. Hopefully, if you do all of the above things just right, you will never face the dragon that is overtraining.