Am I over training?

[bosoxfan38]

I've been lifting heavy for the past 3-4 weeks now and I feel that I may be over training. I get a lot of advice from a couple of friends of mine, one who is one of the top power lifters in the nation in his age/weight class (weighs 205, squats and dead lifts over 600, close to 400 on bench) and the other who also has respectable lifts (340 bench, 405 squat). My friend who squats and deads over 600 gave me this routine. I've been doing it for the past 3-4 weeks and my lifts are starting to regress and also starting to feel burnt out, mainly aches in my shoulders and lower back (had lower back injury a year ago), tired, and just the feeling that I am not recovering. On bench, the most I ever did for 3 reps was 240, but now I'm having trouble hitting 235 for 2. Squats are starting to stall on heavy days. Last week I did 330 for 3 for 5 sets, and this week I tried to do 330 again and it was just too heavy. Here is the routine:

Monday- Heavy Squat/Volume Bench

Squat- 5x3
Bench- 15, 10, 8, 8, 6, 4

Tuesday- Shoulders/Triceps

Behind the neck BB shoulder press- 5x5
SUPER SET WITH LATERAL RAISES- 4X8
Front BB shoulder press- 5x5
SUPER SET WITH FRONT RAISES- 4X8
Rear Delt dumbbell raises- 4x8
Close Grip Bench- 5x5
Dips- 4x 8-10
Tricep Extensions- 3x8

Wednesday- Deadlift

Deadlift- 4x5 (DO EVERY OTHER WEEK, ALTERNATE WITH STIFF LEG DL)

Thursday- Back/Biceps

WG pullups- 5x10
CG pullups- 5x10
Barbell rows- 5x5
BB curls- 15, 10, 8, 6, 4
Isolated curls- 4x8
Concentration Curls- 3x8

Friday- Heavy Bench/ Light squat

Bench- 5x3
Squat- 5x5
Incline Bench- 10, 8, 6, 6

On a side note, I will say my friend who does 600 lb lifts has admitted he does over train. He is a freak to be honest. Big Italian heritage, sleeps during the day, works out all night. He just rests a lot in the gym, usually 5-10 minutes between sets. My goal is to do some power lifting competitions, I just don't know if this is the way to go about it for myself, as this may work for someone else instead. Also, eating and sleeping are NOT a problem. Any ideas from experienced and knowledgeable lifters?

[paulieserafini]

I've been lifting heavy for the past 3-4 weeks now and I feel that I may be over training. I get a lot of advice from a couple of friends of mine, one who is one of the top power lifters in the nation in his age/weight class (weighs 205, squats and dead lifts over 600, close to 400 on bench) and the other who also has respectable lifts (340 bench, 405 squat). My friend who squats and deads over 600 gave me this routine. I've been doing it for the past 3-4 weeks and my lifts are starting to regress and also starting to feel burnt out, mainly aches in my shoulders and lower back (had lower back injury a year ago), tired, and just the feeling that I am not recovering. On bench, the most I ever did for 3 reps was 240, but now I'm having trouble hitting 235 for 2. Squats are starting to stall on heavy days. Last week I did 330 for 3 for 5 sets, and this week I tried to do 330 again and it was just too heavy. Here is the routine:

Monday- Heavy Squat/Volume Bench

Squat- 5x3
Bench- 15, 10, 8, 8, 6, 4

Tuesday- Shoulders/Triceps

Behind the neck BB shoulder press- 5x5
SUPER SET WITH LATERAL RAISES- 4X8
Front BB shoulder press- 5x5
SUPER SET WITH FRONT RAISES- 4X8
Rear Delt dumbbell raises- 4x8
Close Grip Bench- 5x5
Dips- 4x 8-10
Tricep Extensions- 3x8

Wednesday- Deadlift

Deadlift- 4x5 (DO EVERY OTHER WEEK, ALTERNATE WITH STIFF LEG DL)

Thursday- Back/Biceps

WG pullups- 5x10
CG pullups- 5x10
Barbell rows- 5x5
BB curls- 15, 10, 8, 6, 4
Isolated curls- 4x8
Concentration Curls- 3x8

Friday- Heavy Bench/ Light squat

Bench- 5x3
Squat- 5x5
Incline Bench- 10, 8, 6, 6

On a side note, I will say my friend who does 600 lb lifts has admitted he does over train. He is a freak to be honest. Big Italian heritage, sleeps during the day, works out all night. He just rests a lot in the gym, usually 5-10 minutes between sets. My goal is to do some power lifting competitions, I just don't know if this is the way to go about it for myself, as this may work for someone else instead. Also, eating and sleeping are NOT a problem. Any ideas from experienced and knowledgeable lifters?

im not a powerlifter but i want to say yes. for these reasons, you are pressing on monday and tuesday and you are doing heavy triples on friday two days before you do another chest workout with six full sets and it looks like the last one is heavy since it's only 4 reps. if you are going to press 3 times a week you cant kill yourself every day for very long.


if you are a beginner and want to be a powerlifter pick up a powerlifting routine like SS or all pros beginner workout use a proven template for a while and then expand from there

[CookAndrewB]

Jim Wendler 5/3/1.

[devinfrawley]

If your still increasing in strength/size chances are you not. If its working keep going, if your progress starts to decline just deload for a week and see how you get on again. Its hard to tell from just looking at what you do, intensity is a big factor in overtraining. Also over training is a CNS issue more than a muscular microtear issue.

[Bigsby]

I don't believe you are overtraining as long as you are coming back stronger. You'll know when you're overtraining by the way that you feel. If you're tired and restless and find yourself not wanting to go to the gym then you're overtraining. If you're finding that you aren't as strong as you were the week before, you're overtraining.

When I did powerlifting in high school, I found that rep ranges between 4-6 were best for me to really increase my strength. Doing lock outs and walk outs with slightly more weight than my 1 rep max in the bench, squat and deadlift helped me get more weight at the meets. PM me if you need more info on what walkouts and lock outs are.

Looking at your routine, it looks like you need more chest and leg movements. Incorporating front squat and tight squat will help your squat and movements like incline and decline bench press will help your chest. Doing bench and squat pauses will help you prepare for what the meet repetitions will be like.

Good luck.