week off questions / various

hey brolies. i'm at week seven of a six-day program and decided to call it a week off due to overtraining symptoms:

- not wanting to eat
- not being able to sleep
- drop in sex drive
- struggling through warmup sets

but i was surprised how these hit all of a sudden. i was clipping by without any issues and over the course of two or three days i was suddenly unable to get through even my warmup sets without struggling.

i was happy with my results on this program - i'd previously taken two months off from training for a series of injuries and lost a lot of strength and volume - which i gained back promptly. went from 195 to 210lbs (no creatine to with creatine ps.) and have levelled out at 206 after 5 days without creatine and training.

anyway my questions are:
- why do overtraining symptoms hit so suddenly and without warning? admittedly i was training with monstrous amounts of volume and high intensity, but i was eating upwards of 4000 calories a day without noticeable fat gain and had no trouble sleeping. then bam.
- would a supplement like glutamine or amino acids in my pre/post/peri-workout shake make a huge difference in maintaining excessive training volumes / stave off overtraining symptoms for a while?
- i haven't actually been able to train for seven weeks straight in about two years due to my previous work schedule & various injuries (which are DUH aggravated by excessive intensity and volume). when's it acceptable to take two weeks off of training, and when is one just as well?

-> i supplement with just creatine/protein powder, ~3000 cals on non-training days, 1.5g/ lb, ~205 lbs, 25.

maybe you are just sick

overtraining is a bitch and kill ones ability to workout for very long periods of time.
one of my buddies have been off for two years because of overtraining issues.
(massive sweating, shaking of hands etc. when trying to do even the lightest of workouts).
Only way I know of to address these issues is to take a break, and one week is not enough.
See a doctor, sports doctor that is.

And like scurvy with fries said, you could just be sick. You should hope that that is it.

If you are overtraining then you are probably doing too much volume.

You should always start w/ a low volume and build up over weeks or months as needed. By "needed" being not making progress towards your goal. If you are making progress with a lower volume don't be greedy and think that doubling volume would help.

A lot of people take these stupid BB workouts from magazines written by someone taking steroids. And then they decide to throw a marathon training routine on top as cardio.

More is not better. Start small and up the amount slowly until you reach an adequate level, no more.

hey brolies. i'm at week seven of a six-day program and decided to call it a week off due to overtraining symptoms:

- not wanting to eat
- not being able to sleep
- drop in sex drive
- struggling through warmup sets

but i was surprised how these hit all of a sudden. i was clipping by without any issues and over the course of two or three days i was suddenly unable to get through even my warmup sets without struggling.

i was happy with my results on this program - i'd previously taken two months off from training for a series of injuries and lost a lot of strength and volume - which i gained back promptly. went from 195 to 210lbs (no creatine to with creatine ps.) and have levelled out at 206 after 5 days without creatine and training.

anyway my questions are:
- why do overtraining symptoms hit so suddenly and without warning? admittedly i was training with monstrous amounts of volume and high intensity, but i was eating upwards of 4000 calories a day without noticeable fat gain and had no trouble sleeping. then bam.
- would a supplement like glutamine or amino acids in my pre/post/peri-workout shake make a huge difference in maintaining excessive training volumes / stave off overtraining symptoms for a while?
- i haven't actually been able to train for seven weeks straight in about two years due to my previous work schedule & various injuries (which are DUH aggravated by excessive intensity and volume). when's it acceptable to take two weeks off of training, and when is one just as well?

-> i supplement with just creatine/protein powder, ~3000 cals on non-training days, 1.5g/ lb, ~205 lbs, 25.

How many grams of protein are you taking in, i used to power lift and do some pretty insane weights.....if you are not taking sufficient protein and aminos your ability to heal from intense workouts is gonna be extemely hindered, im sure at 4k calories you are getting enough carbs. I have never experienced the symptoms from over training like you have stated but my over training resulted in limited growth and recovery.

I have been doing a high intensity 5 day split for a few months and never experience over training.. you must be doing insane amounts of volume for this to have effect. Why dont you do some research on workout logs/routines before jumping back into it. Over training is only attributed to poor workout ethic throughout the week. BCAA's will help with muscle recovery but not over training. You should not lift more than 3 days in a row to begin with imo.. your last day is almost a waste as your body needs significant rest/healing before jumping back into the weights even if you are not hitting the same muscle groups. Just my .02...

Also, look into a hypertrophy/strength routine to alternate between weeks.. i.e:

Week 1: Strength Training
Week 2: Volume
Week 3: Strength

etc..etc

This will shock your body by confusing your muscles which will allow them to gain mass as well as strength. A volume/strength routine like this is similar to what P90x tries to do, which in almost every case works 99% of the time to people who actually follow the diet and excercise routine.