Overtraining and bulking

Phlann

How much is too much?

Most places seem to indicate that you should allow each muscle group to rest between training sessions... but I've heard of professional bodybuilders and powerlifters who might work their pecs in some form or other 5-6 times a week and they don't seem to suffer any negative effects (other than looking like freaks!).

So say if I were to hit the benchpress 5 days a week and rest for two... would that have a negative impact on muscle growth?

There's so much pseudo-science out there in relation to bodybuilding it's hard to know what to believe

Roper

Phlann wrote: »

How much is too much?

Most places seem to indicate that you should allow each muscle group to rest between training sessions... but I've heard of professional bodybuilders and powerlifters who might work their pecs in some form or other 5-6 times a week and they don't seem to suffer any negative effects (other than looking like freaks!).

Some factors at play there which you can't replicate:
1. Professionalism- if you've nothing else to do, you can rest effectively
2. Training age- you don't get to do that after 2 years, you get to do that after 10 years of high quality training
3. Gear- let's be honest

Benching 5 times a week will leave you with bad shoulders and a bad back with about as much gain in your chest as benching effectively twice a week

Hanley

Frequency is directly related to intensity.

You're not gonna get away with going balls to the wall 5x a week. You might get away with some hard days and some easy days tho.

Yapamillias

If you want your muscles to grow then give them a break between workouts. It doesnt matter what bodybuilders are doing. Unless your a bodybuilder then dont copy them. Theres a reason why there is a seperate 'natural' bodybuilding genre...and by natural they mean 'drug free'. Jake Cutler likes to hit his biceps with 8 different exercises in a row. Doesnt mean you should. Stick with fully body with a day of rest inbetween or splits. As said in a previous post, they have been training for YEARS and there bodies have adapted to that type of training. The myriad of injuries sustained in body building dont make it worthwhile.

rccaulfield

Yep- some people will grow just by touching weights and theres no rhyme or reason to it- for the rest of us abbreviated traing is the way to go train less often(find your balance) BUT TRAIN damn hard using progressive resistance in some form or another! Make sure you get your form right in each exercise and avoid accessory exercises(db curls etc) unless your already very big!

Hanley

rccaulfield wrote: »

avoid accessory exercises(db curls etc) unless your already very big!

Uhhhhh