Severely over-trained before it starts impacting lifts?

[BPJ]

Has anyone here found themselves to be severely over-trained before it started impacting their lifts?

I'm 48, and have been doing my LP since about the beginning of the year (with a couple of minor injury/illness setbacks), and have been training since the middle of 2013. Before that, it was cardio plus some "fuckarounditis" in the weight room

Although I'm still making slow progress week-to-week, I'm starting to miss the last 1-2 reps on my last set of presses (I am micro-loading now), but am still reliably adding 5 lbs to my squat and DL every week. My squat just hit 300, and my dead lift 320.

But I feel like total crap. Tired all of the time, sometimes have trouble getting to sleep (I usually get 7-8 hours despite this), and really moody. But it crept up on me so slowly that I didn't really notice it until recently. I don't think its diet, as I track pretty closely. Also, I don't think it is my T, as I had that checked as part of my annual physical a few months back.

From what I read in Practical Programming, I'm thinking that it is time to transition to an intermediate program. Until I start feeling better, I'd combine HLM with a 10% deload, and take 2 days between lifts. Once I feel better, I'd probably do HLM on
M-W-F.

Anyone been in this situation before?

[Adam Skillin]

Has anyone here found themselves to be severely over-trained before it started impacting their lifts?

I'm 48, and have been doing my LP since about the beginning of the year (with a couple of minor injury/illness setbacks), and have been training since the middle of 2013. Before that, it was cardio plus some "fuckarounditis" in the weight room

Although I'm still making slow progress week-to-week, I'm starting to miss the last 1-2 reps on my last set of presses (I am micro-loading now), but am still reliably adding 5 lbs to my squat and DL every week. My squat just hit 300, and my dead lift 320.

But I feel like total crap. Tired all of the time, sometimes have trouble getting to sleep (I usually get 7-8 hours despite this), and really moody. But it crept up on me so slowly that I didn't really notice it until recently. I don't think its diet, as I track pretty closely. Also, I don't think it is my T, as I had that checked as part of my annual physical a few months back.

From what I read in Practical Programming, I'm thinking that it is time to transition to an intermediate program. Until I start feeling better, I'd combine HLM with a 10% deload, and take 2 days between lifts. Once I feel better, I'd probably do HLM on
M-W-F.

Anyone been in this situation before?

How's your sleep? Are you doing advanced novice with 2.5# increments at present? HLM's the next logical step after that, in my opinion.

[SteveL]

It sure sounds like you're over trained. I've been there from my long endurance days and it took a couple of weeks for me to come back.

If you are over trained and you let it continue it can take a LONG time to recover so now is your chance.

[Kyle Schuant]

The cause may be the weights lifted, it may be the frequency, it may be not enough sleep, or it might be some other dramas in your personal life. In each case, the prescription is the same: drop the weights back 20% or so, and go to a heavy/light/medium approach, or something similar.

[SteveL]

"Athletic Club East - curing iron deficiency in Melbourne since 2010"


That's awesome!

[Joe Murphy]

Ten months of SS LP is a looooong run for a gent of your advanced age. You might immediately try dropping to a light squat day on Wednesday--and also, are you still deadlifting 3x/week? Trying to LP squats and deads 3x/week will nail your ass esp at 48 and at the weights you're describing. I dropped to deadlifting once a week and squatting twice waaay before your weights and I took it up to (by memory) 345 for the dead and 365 for the squat--and this was 5/3/1, not SS 3x5--I was 53... I'm not a programming genius, but there are a few on this board.

[Meshuggah]

Very few people train hard enough to become over-trained.

[AK49]

Very few people train hard enough to become over-trained.

I have found it very easy to get into an overtrained state. When I started SSLP, I worked out every other day. I started losing progress and feeling run down all the time. Going to 3x per week fixed it.

[dgc]

Very few people train hard enough to become over-trained.

Actually it’s pretty easy for someone to over train. Especially for those of us that are in the geezer forum.

[Sean Herbison]

Very few people train hard enough to become over-trained.

Actually it’s pretty easy for someone to over train. Especially for those of us that are in the geezer forum.

While I usually hate people saying this, it's actually applicable here. There's a difference between being under-recovered and actually overtrained. People use it as a sematics argument, but it can actually be an important distinction. It's easy to be "overtrained" if you're not sleeping, not eating, and just generally not being smart about recovery. This is very much magnified if you're older.

But for people who are being careful about recovery, very few people will actually reach an overtrained state. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but people, especially young men, use it as an excuse far to often.

I'm not saying anything about BPJ's situation specifically, just in general.