How to Avoid Overtraining

Most people who begin working out with weights head to the gym wanting to lift everything they see. The truth is, avoiding over training is one of the hardest things for a lifter to do. Over training will completely stop your muscle growth, as well as make you feel horrible.

Steps

  1. Reduce your time in the gym. When building muscle, more is NOT better. Muscles need time to rest and recover before they will grow for you. 3 or 5 days a week is the most you ever need to be at the gym, with a 45 minute session and an hours max.
  2. Give your muscles plenty of rest. Your muscles need time to heal in between workouts - the average person needs a week in between workouts before the muscles have recovered enough for another workout.
  3. Get plenty of rest yourself. A full night's sleep of 8-9 hours is needed for your muscles to maximize their recovering efforts.
  4. Start eating more. The more you eat, the more nutrients your body has to give your muscles, and the faster your muscles can recover.
  5. Take a shower, and put on the hottest water you can handle for one minute, and then switch to the coldest you can handle for another minute, all on your muscles, repeat 3-4 times for great results.

Tips

  • Work out every muscle group once to twice per week.
  • Change up your routine. Changing your routine every few weeks will keep your muscles sharp and stimulated. The idea is progression. It keeps results happening. If you don't progress, your body becomes accustomed to what it's doing and no longer yields results.
  • Eating a balanced amount of macronutrients(carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) is essential. Know what you eat and how much. Also, the real thing is always better than supplements. Don't forget to provide your body with extra protein after each workout as this is essential for the muscle repair process.
  • Always stretch before workouts to expand and wake the muscles up and above all prevent injury.

Warnings

  • If you get over trained take a break from working out!
  • Don't work out when you are sick. If your body is busy fighting off a cold, it can't devote itself to recovering your muscles!
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