Can 'over training' slow down muscle gain?

NFH

Just read somewhere there that sometimes muscle just wont grow or you wont notice any gain in size if you are overtraining, how true is this? I'll tell ya my story.

I'm 24, 6 foot, 12 stonish, slim build. I eat healthy, get good amount of protein, dont take any protein shakes/supplements etc. I do weights every second day and thats all upper body, I dont really bother with the legs and do little cardio. I've been doin weights now for the past 4 months, just looking to gain size etc. I have seen good results in definition and a bit in size but not alot. I know I should probably be eating more but I'm now wondering am I training wrong.

My sessions consist of 5 parts - 10 sets of bench press(first 5 sets at 60kg, then a bit lighter for last 5 sets), 5 sets of those curls ya do while lying on back curling the dumbells across your chest till your arms meet, 5 sets on biceps curls, 5 sets of lat pull down and 5 sets of shoulder press(seated military press). All sets are starting at 8 to 10 reps and then to failure, never less than 5 reps. I do this every second day.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hanley

After 4 months, you're certainly not overtraining. It's a term that's throw around quite often these days and very rarely applied in the right context. Chronic over training will affect your sleep, mood, energy levels and a whole host of other things.

You may need to change what you're doing to see continued progress tho.

A few points and a question...

-Are you just doing the same workout over and over again every second day?

-You don't HAVE to do leg work, but you should. It'll help get you bigger all over.

-I firmly beleive that a strong back is the base from which to progress from, and you're doing very little back work.

-How do you feel about doing a time tested program that's hard work but will give great results all over? It's one that's been recommend to several posters here in the last few months and they're all seeing good gains from it.

rubadub

Have a look here www.exrx.net

I would be doing deadlifts, squats, standing military press, dips, chinups, bench press, incline pushups.

Edwardius

You'll know all about it if you're overtrained. You'll be slow, sluggish, tired, dizzy, confused and generally lacking any energy and will feel like your body is trying to kill you. It's an Awful feeling!

NFH

Hanley wrote: »

After 4 months, you're certainly not overtraining. It's a term that's throw around quite often these days and very rarely applied in the right context. Chronic over training will affect your sleep, mood, energy levels and a whole host of other things.

You may need to change what you're doing to see continued progress tho.

A few points and a question...

-Are you just doing the same workout over and over again every second day?

-You don't HAVE to do leg work, but you should. It'll help get you bigger all over.

-I firmly beleive that a strong back is the base from which to progress from, and you're doing very little back work.

-How do you feel about doing a time tested program that's hard work but will give great results all over? It's one that's been recommend to several posters here in the last few months and they're all seeing good gains from it.

Ya I'd do anything that worked, altough time wise I am only really able to do an hour to an hour fifteen every other day. I am dedicated and can put in the work. I train at home with free weights. I have the standard set up with a few other things. Im just looking to build the upper body really and gain a bit of weight, I've noticed I'm loosing a bit, dropping back to 11 and a half kinda.

jumbopalumbo

sounds like ur puttin d work in but i'd really overhaul ur workouts, i think everyone should train legs as they have a synergistic effect on ur body, i think 10 sets of bench press is way too much, u need some variety, go out and buy a Muscle and Fitness magazine and have a look they have some great workouts in there, ul make some great progress with a couple of changes