Am I overtraining?

[pantsaregood]

Before you say "no," hear me out.

I'm 6'0", 205 lbs.

Last Monday, I successfully completed 3x5x155 lbs on my Overhead Press.
Last Wednesday, I miserably failed my 210 lb Bench Press. I don't think I managed a single rep.
Last Saturday, I Benched 3x5x210 lbs after accidentally doing a set of 205 lbs.
This Thursday, I Overhead Pressed 160 lbs for 5/4/1.
Today, I couldn't manage a single rep of 215 lbs on my Bench Press.

If it isn't clear, I'm afraid my Overhead Press is beginning to interfere with my Bench. I do know that my Overhead Press is disproportionately high relative to my Bench.

Anyway, I've thought about either scaling back my training to two days per week or attempting to take two day breaks after Pressing days, rather than one day breaks.

Any input on this?

[stronger]

looks like you're stalling pretty significantly, and you probably need to weigh more.

how are your other lifts progressing?

also, you can probably forget about 5lb jumps on your press from here on out. 1 or 2lb jumps, maybe 3lbs are what you should work with. Same goes for your bench press. Always consider that when small lifts (bench, press etc) stall.

[gzt]

You're stalling, not overtaining. Also, dude, 2.5# jumps on the press and bench press. You can't make 5# jumps on the presses. It doesn't work, as you are discovering. If you continue stalling, you may be done as a novice and have to switch to more complicated programming.

[pantsaregood]

I don't think you guys properly understand.

My bench progresses very well with 5 lb jumps if I don't Press within a few days of benching. If you paid any attention to the trend I showed, it shows that if I rest significantly after Pressing, I manage my Bench easily.

Similarly, I'm hardly stalling on my Press. I usually fail my three sets once, then successfully perform all three on the next try. That's pretty successful loading, in my opinion.

As for weighing more, I think putting on weight is a little extreme at this point. When I began this program, I weighed about 150 lbs. I'm certainly not skinny anymore.

[Squatson]

2# a week is 104# a year.

You need to start microloading your presses. If you make #2 jumps on both lifts, you prolly won't stall on either.

2# a week is 104# a year.

[tertius]

Pants-

What's your wrist measure, out of curiosity?

I think you might be "overtraining" in the sense that you are clearly exceeding your capacity to recover from the increased loads on days when you're pressing. Whether or not that's because you're not eating enough, or because you simply can't do the 5# jumps anymore isn't clear.

Not pressing within a couple days of benching isn't DTP.

If it's because you're not eating/sleeping enough, eating and sleeping more might fix it.

If it's because you can't do five pounds a session anymore, then switching to less than that will fix it. Also, if you think clearly, you'll find that adding 2.5# every workout comes out to the same as adding 5# every other workout (which is what you're currently doing, apparently). Except you get the pleasure of being able to finish your sets more often.

If you're not willing to eat more, and see what happens, then you're left with option #2.

Or, in theory, you could do one of the movements less (or do a reset). Focus on pressing or benching. I'd focus on pressing, if i were going to do that, because it's far cooler than benching, and seems to be much better for your shoulders.

[pantsaregood]

I understand that five pounds every two sessions is the same as 2.5 pounds every session. 1.25 lb plates, however, are not found in common gyms, nor do I have the money to pay for them.

This is my point:

If I took Presses out of my workout, I'm confident I could progress linearly WITH five pounds jumps for a decent amount of time into the future. It just seems that every time I bench within two days of pressing, my ability to perform the lift is absolutely blasted.

Case in point: going from being unable to do a single rep of 210 lb bench to performing a set of 205 lbs by accident and then 3x5x210 lbs without any issue.

Now, why did my ability to Bench that weight suddenly go from nonexistent to EASY? 210 lbs was clearly too much for me after I had Pressed two days before Benching, but after two days of inactivity after a failed workout (the day I attempted the 210 lb bench the first time), I absolutely blasted through it.

I know enough to know that a 160 lb Overhead Press is not a joke, and it is probably fairly taxing on my body. Yes, my Overhead Press could benefit from microloading. My Bench isn't behaving in the same manner, though. 0 reps two days after an Overhead Press day followed by 1x5x205 lbs and 3x5x210 lbs two days after the Bench day simply doesn't add up as "you need microloading."

When I fail my Bench, I generally fail it miserably. When I fail my Press, I generally perform fairly well. 5/4/1 on Press is fairly good, in my experience. 0/0/0 on Bench is never good.

[ILiftAlone]

Do you pay for your gym membership? If so, you can afford 20 or so bucks to order some 1.25 lb plates. If you have to save for a few weeks then do it, but dont say you cant afford them just because you dont want to use them.

[stronger]

I don't think you guys properly understand.

My bench progresses very well with 5 lb jumps if I don't Press within a few days of benching. If you paid any attention to the trend I showed, it shows that if I rest significantly after Pressing, I manage my Bench easily.

Similarly, I'm hardly stalling on my Press. I usually fail my three sets once, then successfully perform all three on the next try. That's pretty successful loading, in my opinion.

As for weighing more, I think putting on weight is a little extreme at this point. When I began this program, I weighed about 150 lbs. I'm certainly not skinny anymore.

no, what you are doing is called stalling. Pressing a set, missing it and then getting it next time is the first sign that you are slowing down and you are going to hit a brick wall soon. All stalling is not created equal and it's good to nip it in the bud before it turns into a brick wall stall and you have to do some planning around your inability to recover.

you can ignore us and say things like "if you paid any attention to the trend i showed", but we might know what we're talking about.

and 205 at 6'0 is really not big at all. 150 is emaciated, just for reference.

Bench making 5lb gains if you dont press a few days before it makes sense, because your body is unable to recover if you program your pressing movements normally (i.e. the 3 day schedule that starting strength calls for)

good luck, lemme know what i can explain better (typed this in a bit of a rush)

[pantsaregood]

I do completely believe that 5 lb jumps are too much for my Press at this time. I know that a 160 lb Press for 3x5 is damn impressive for a novice, too. I don't pay for a gym membership, either. I go to my university's gym. I'm a broke college student.

Here's how it goes for me.

On a week that's Bench/Press/Bench, I will get through the Bench easily, get through the Press, then get owned by the Bench.

On Press/Bench/Press, the Bench gets failed, and one of the Presses get failed.

The point I'm making is that the Overhead Press seems to adversely affect my Bench, but I've seen no indication of the reverse happening. I consider overtraining to be possible because my Press is pretty damn high for my level of experience, while my Bench is relatively mediocre. It makes sense that my Press would be taking a lot more of a toll on my body.

As for anyone that thinks 205 lbs at 6'0" is skinny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkImOjhUdKo

No, I'm not big, but I'm certainly not small.