Progressive overload and how to avoid overtraining?

What is progressive overload? 
We all want to grow in performance and strength and the surest way of getting to the next level is called “progressive overload” — you challenge yourself to always train hardest and push through ever more intense workouts …. Progressive overload trains your body to adapt to the new conditions you’re putting upon it, and “feeling the burn” after a workout is always a great sign that you’ve done a great job!

The first key however is to make sure that in conjunction with progressive overload, you give your body a chance and time to recover …. it’s called “stress adaptation” : Build up. Back off a little. Build up. Back off a little. Overloading the body and then giving it a chance to recover, adapt, and heal before placing more stress upon it, is a great way to train.

The second key is to cross train:  during your training week, alternate your aerobic activity days with strength training days, lifting weights and conditioning all your muscle groups for strength and volume. This will not only bring you much better posture and overall strength (provided you work hard at it and don’t take shortcuts) 

The third key is to sleep! Yes, sleep! Your body does most of its repair and rebuilding while you sleep. And logically, if you’re not getting the right amount of sleep, you should back off from training until your sleep hours are back to normal. 

How to avoid overtraining? 

1. Follow the 90 percent rule! When you’re doing any workout, do push yourself so that you can feel a real good burn afterwards, but always, always leave something in the tank. Think about pushing yourself to 90% of your max but never push it to your max effort. On the cardio side, do a few days of easy run or aerobic activity like elliptical, stairs or bicycle. 
2. Respect your rest day! One day week, you do nothing, period. 

Common signs of overtraining: if you experience any of the following, you need to stop training and take a few days rest. And if those signs continue to persist, you need to go see a doctor right away

•  Lack of energy
• Drop in athletic performance
• Not able to complete your normal workout
• Fatigued and/or achy muscles
• Headaches
• Feeling sluggish
• Persistent pain in the muscles and/or joints (beyond the typical delayed onset muscle soreness felt after a workout)

That’s all, hope this helps! And always please make sure you have lots of fun!

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@philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate.
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