Overtraining - Page 2

Eating Muscle
At this point, athletes have already spent a good deal of time in a mode where their bodies are not getting enough food to support energy demands. Once fat stores start to get a little low, the body goes into 'conservation' mode. The body senses that you're going into 'starvation so it'll prepare for the famine.

Your body will take measures to reduce energy needs and cling on to remaining fat stores. A reduction of energy needs is achieved by slowing the metabolism down. The body goes into a mode where it burns calories at a slower rate in order to get more out of what energy sources it is getting.

In addition to the slowing of metabolism, the body may also start to turn on itself for energy. Once a body begins to fight to hold onto fat stores from sensing starvation, it becomes more likely that muscle tissue will be broken down to get the energy needed, and this is definitely not what athletes want to have happen, especially at contest time. On contest day they usually end up having no difference in muscle definition or worse - look more depleted than they did at 4 weeks out. Sound familiar?

Rest & Overtraining Resting is one of the crucial parts of your contest preparation if you want to look great on the day. Resting can mean cutting back on your time doing cardio or change the type of cardio you do. Listen to your body and take a complete rest day if you're feeling exhausted. You won't get fat!!

Overachievers are thinking "Rest? what's that? I've got too much cardio to do. I've got to lose alot more fat before I can rest!". There are many bodybuilders who do not realize the important role rest plays in obtaining maximum performance and results from the hours spent in the gym.

We admire the overachievers' quest for excellence but they need to know that applying too much effort is basically doing too much exercise for the amount of energy sources (food) they take in. Consequently, things become more difficult for them when they cross the line and enter the over-dieting/over-training stage of contest prep. They will have less energy, feel exhausted much of the time, and their bodies will work against their efforts to try to achieve leaner conditioning.

Conclusion Training for a contest shouldn't be a miserable experience. Sure, its hard but it doesn't have to be too draining on your mind and body. If you can identify with these characteristics then you're overtraining: * If you find your legs start to feel heavy, that your energy becomes low for more than just a short duration here and there * that you have insatiable hunger (even still starving right after a meal!), * that your bowel movements become less frequent (slowed metabolism), * that you experience a noticeable decrease in strength watch out! These are signs of over-dieting and over-training.

It's only human nature for us to be better, the more we try to be better, the more we want to add more and more stimulus in the hopes that they will continue to improve. Often the end result may not be what we imagined ourselves to be despite all the effort we put in.

If you're an overachiever and/or perhaps identify with the above overtraining scenario, you have to learn to relax and step back and look at yourself. Or get someone to look at you for you. And listen to the advice they give!

The key to succesful contest preparation without overtraining is to balance your energy resources and expenditures more. Maintain only a slight caloric deficit. Avoid these pitfalls, and preparation will be much easier and more productive. Don't let the overachiever in you lead you astray!