Am I working out too much??????

[dianNerd]

In case it matters, I've gained more muscle mass since the pic in my profile.

I've been told I'm working out too much and I've also been told I should keep with my routine. What do you all think?

I work out 6-7 days per week, one of those days is pole dancing class.

On my gym days I start out with 20 minutes of low and high intensity cardio.
Then I move onto working out one or two muscle groups, usually about 5-10 exercises (mostly free weights if I can help it). OR I do circuit training and run up/down stairs between sets.
I finish that off with 25-30 minutes of more cardio.
Usually that's all about 1.5 hours.

After about 3.5 weeks of this routine I just started CRASHING. No energy for daily stuff, not to mention my performance in the gym was seriously lacking.
I recently took a couple of days off to get some rest and picked up some ALRI Hyperdrive supplements. They help, especially when I work out in the morning, but I can only work out in the morning 2-3 days per week (college student!)

Anyway, I'm afraid I'm going to crash again. I cannot STAND skipping the gym. I need it for stress relief and I also love the rush!!!

My diet is pretty much clean most days, and I stick to the zone diet principles, but with a little more protein.

I haven't lost any weight, but have gained some visible muscle mass and strength. I'm still frustrated though, b/c my body fat percentage has only dropped 2-3 percent, and I'm really trying to get cut!

I want to cut carbs back further to lose the rest of the fluff, and I'm already doing about 45-60 minutes of cardio per day, but I'm afraid I won't have the energy to study and go about my business.

SO. What the deuce am I doing wrong? Or do I just need to wait longer for my body to get used to this routine?

[sabonis224]

Sounds like a classic case of OVER TRAINING! There's a reason why you are crashing on a consistant basis, you need rest. Your body can't maintain that much exercise unless you are doing nothing but resting all day. But of course we all have other important aspects of life that take up time and energy. You're workouts look pretty good, just stick to like 4 times a week, every other day would be fine. You really affect your body outside the gym. Stick to your diet plan and you'll be fine. Don't feel like you have to kick your butt every single day.

[Al Swearengen]

mind if i go to pole dancing class with you?



on a serious note seriously?




you are doing too much cardio if you wish to lift. you can only do so much of either. i would find a decent 3 day split, maybe upper/lower/legs and stick to that and adjust your cardio to 3 days a week.

[dianNerd]

I guess I was just confused because I read that you should up your cardio to 45 minutes per day to bust through a plateau...its seems that all I do is plateau!

Alright...I guess I'll try to break it up so that I can still go to the gym everyday. 3 days lifting, 3 days cardio, 1 day pole dancing because if I don't do something I might go crazy.

Ooooh, and I'd love to bring you to pole dancing but it's ladies only in the studio!! Otherwise I'd love to see a guy your size swinging around doing airwalks, reverse back hooks and hanging inverts!
Besides, if you could see the numerous bruises and pole burn/scabs (yes, it can break the skin!) on my inner thighs I don't think you'd dare try to swing your crotch into the pole and hold yourself up with no hands!!! It's hard enough for the girls who are just pierced down there...I can't even imagine how much it would hurt a man...

I'll just say that I have some serious respect for the ladies at the SC's, because it HURTS in a number of ways to do those tricks! I've got the wounds to prove it!

Thanks for the tips!

[sabonis224]

What types of cardio do you do? You could try doing some sprints, do some work on a stationary bike, elliptical, etc. You don't have to increase the time necessarily, you can increase the intensity and keep the session down to 15-20 minutes once and a while to mix things up a bit.

[dianNerd]

Yeah, I try to mix it up depending on my knees (they're kind of tempermental...I used to be a ballerina and royally f----d them up).
If my knees are being bad, then I usually stick to the cross trainer or elliptical and do mostly low intensity.
But on good days I like to do HIIT on the treadmill or just run a lot more and spend less time on cardio.

I'm trying to do a lot of cardio because I've been plateauing with my body fat loss. Can I just eat nothing but protein bars and high cellulose veggies or something?

Just kidding. I would die if I lived off of protein bars alone. The consistency usually makes me gag if I eat more than one per day.

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by dianNerd

I guess I was just confused because I read that you should up your cardio to 45 minutes per day to bust through a plateau...its seems that all I do is plateau!

Alright...I guess I'll try to break it up so that I can still go to the gym everyday. 3 days lifting, 3 days cardio, 1 day pole dancing because if I don't do something I might go crazy.

Ooooh, and I'd love to bring you to pole dancing but it's ladies only in the studio!! Otherwise I'd love to see a guy your size swinging around doing airwalks, reverse back hooks and hanging inverts!
Besides, if you could see the numerous bruises and pole burn/scabs (yes, it can break the skin!) on my inner thighs I don't think you'd dare try to swing your crotch into the pole and hold yourself up with no hands!!! It's hard enough for the girls who are just pierced down there...I can't even imagine how much it would hurt a man...

I'll just say that I have some serious respect for the ladies at the SC's, because it HURTS in a number of ways to do those tricks! I've got the wounds to prove it!

Thanks for the tips!

wow that sounds painful but isn't everything we seem to enjoy. lul

yes if you want to gain muscle and definition you need to progress on a weight training program and ease back on the cardio and eat at maintenance calories with your current level of activity. if you can add muscle it will help break the diet plataeu and also you may try changing the calories every 4 weeks from say x number to x number plus 300 for a couple weeks and then back down to x number for 4 weeks undulating in this way can help.