Are you overtraining in your workouts? Part II

Track how you are feeling physically.If you generally feel energetic and upbeat, then this is a good sign that you are NOT overtraining.

However, if you feel tired and burnt out most of the time, then this could be a sign of overtraining.

Another important factor that you want to monitor is your strength gains. If you are making strength gains on your major lifts on a regular basis then this is a good sign that you are NOT overtraining.

If you are not making any strength gains, or even worse, losing strength, then you are probably overtraining and need to make some drastic changes in how you approach your workouts.

And Human racers, I have some good news for you because CHARLIE MIKE puts together the "PERFECT" training system that will help you get down to the nitty gritty and dissect your workouts and turn them inside out so you can quickly develop the lean muscular body that you truly deserve! Follow this killer "PERFECT" training system and you'll have me for a training partner.

Mojo Frog aka Marcus Colburn

Are you overtraining in your workouts?

Overtraining has been a hot topic in fitness world for the last couple of decades and there is a lot of confusion surrounding how much training is enough and how much is too much. In the SEAL Teams we had sayings like, Training is never over and Pain is good, extreme pain is extremely good.

Here are three schools of thought on overtraining:

1. It doesn't exist and the more training you do the better.

2. Everyone is overtraining and we all need to drastically reduce our training volume.

3. Some people (like myself) believe that it is an individual thing and we all react differently to training volume.

You can't simply look at someone's workout routine and tell if they are overtraining or not. It depends on the individual person. We all have different work capacities and some people can handle more workout volume than others and still make progress.

Another very often overlooked factor when it comes to overtraining is your lifestyle outside the gym. Do you have a stressful life or a physically demanding job? Do you get enough sleep?

The best way to know if you are overtraining with your workouts is to do a self-evaluation of yourself and your overall workout progress. I'll talk about that next.


But all you "CHARLIE MIKE" human racers -- here's a picture of my 83 year-young mom as my workout partner! Getting close friends and family involved is easy and makes working out more fun as you enjoy the journey towards "Perfect"tion.

Mojo Frog aka Marcus Colburn

How Do Athletes Recover from Overtraining?

Guest blogger: Dr. Scott Calzaretta

AJ asked: What do you have athletes do to recover from overtraining/over exercising?

Great question as this is an all too common challenge. The athlete's training program of exercises, sets and reps (including diet, stress levels, sleep patterns) must be assessed. Many athletes overtrain, but there are varying degrees of symptoms. Some are evident and some not. A few examples are decrease in strength, endurance, poor sleep and elevated resting heart rate. Active rest/recovery is one of my favorite mechanisms for someone who overtrains and just will not rest. OK, once we literally almost had to lock a US ski team member in the closet for a weekend. After convincing him of how to stop overtraining he performed the best he had done in years.

An example might be a light cardio day keeping heart rate in 60% range followed by full body foam roller and stretching. It does depend on the sport or goals of why they are training, but rest and or active rest/recovery are a good place to start. Did you ever notice how strength can increase with some time off from lifting?

You might need to decrease volume, intensity, frequency or all three. Get help from a trainer and most importantly, listen to your body and train smart.