too much lifting - less gains

[Proskill]

i often hear that lifting too much (like too often or too long sessions) is bad and doesnt actually give expected results - more gains.

how come ? how is that ? what exactly makes it that way ?

[durrtygoodz]

Muscle doesnt grow during your lifts it grows during your rest. If you don't get enough rest time you won't grow.

[aysatsana]

Yes there is such a thing as over training but I doubt you will ever reach that point. It's not like you are limited to going to the gym 3 times a week or else you won't make gains. For naturals the time for protein synthesis after a workout is like 48 hours IIRC (as opposed to much longer for those on juice), so you can hit a muscle group every 2 days or so. This is why frequency as opposed to volume works so well for naturals.

Basically, don't worry about it too much.

[Deleted]

I have a question that fits to this topic, and I don't want to start a new one. I'm losing weight and i'm now "healthy" according to my BMI of 25. My question is, where can I find videos to train my core ( belly etc ) so that in 2 months or so I can lose more weight and shape my body a bit.

[aysatsana]

I have a question that fits to this topic, and I don't want to start a new one. I'm losing weight and i'm now "healthy" according to my BMI of 25. My question is, where can I find videos to train my core ( belly etc ) so that in 2 months or so I can lose more weight and shape my body a bit.

I'm assuming you are "skinny fat" then? Like you lost most of your weight but still don't have the definition you want?

Start lifting weights. Not just training your core, but everything. Because if you just train your core you will achieve nothing, you can't target fat loss if that's what you think. Meaning if you train your core, you won't magically get a 6 pack. You have to lose overall body fat first. It's better to train every body part so that you can get more muscular and defined in every area.

Also start eating a bit more so you can build muscle. Don't go overboard if you don't want to get fat again. Of course depending on your goals you can decide on a program to do. I don't really know what your situation is so I can't say which.

[Deleted]

I'm assuming you are "skinny fat" then? Like you lost most of your weight but still don't have the definition you want?

Start lifting weights. Not just training your core, but everything. Because if you just train your core you will achieve nothing, you can't target fat loss if that's what you think. Meaning if you train your core, you won't magically get a 6 pack. You have to lose overall body fat first. It's better to train every body part so that you can get more muscular and defined in every area.

Also start eating a bit more so you can build muscle. Don't go overboard if you don't want to get fat again. Of course depending on your goals you can decide on a program to do. I don't really know what your situation is so I can't say which.

I'm eating about 1200 calories ( which is hard for me ) a day and I lose around 1200 each day. I cycle 1 hour a day with an average speed on 22 km per hour, uphill,downhill etc. My goal is to lose 10 more kilo's until i'm 80, but I want to shape my body because I still have a little belly. Throughout the day I get the hunger-feelings, because my body wants to go back to the old shape. But I drink a lot of water to prevent that from happening.

A professional kick-boxer told me to first get to the weight I wanted and then try to get muscles. My main problem is indeed my belly, but there are other parts that I want to have trained. I guess I will wait until I'm 80 and then start to gain muscles. By that time I will have a bit of money to spend on equipment and start my daily routine.

Since I will do cleaning about 8 hours a day at old people as a summer job, I will reach the goal of 80 kilo in about 6 weeks.

[Krywulf]

I'm eating about 1200 calories ( which is hard for me ) a day and I lose around 1200 each day. I cycle 1 hour a day with an average speed on 22 km per hour, uphill,downhill etc. My goal is to lose 10 more kilo's until i'm 80, but I want to shape my body because I still have a little belly. Throughout the day I get the hunger-feelings, because my body wants to go back to the old shape. But I drink a lot of water to prevent that from happening.

A professional kick-boxer told me to first get to the weight I wanted and then try to get muscles. My main problem is indeed my belly, but there are other parts that I want to have trained. I guess I will wait until I'm 80 and then start to gain muscles. By that time I will have a bit of money to spend on equipment and start my daily routine.

Since I will do cleaning about 8 hours a day at old people as a summer job, I will reach the goal of 80 kilo in about 6 weeks.

You are eating too few calories. You should be eating roughly 500 less calories than your maintenance to net you around a pound a week. If you cut your calories too low for too long you will see significant muscle loss as well as fat. I'm currently 66 kilo (145 LBs) at around 10-12% body fat and I am cutting on 1750 calories. Also, you cannot directly burn fat in one area. As for guys, we generally lose fat last in our stomach, sides, and lower back last (which is why six packs are so wanted). Even at my lower body fat I will still have to cut to get a more defined core as well as doing core exercises to help it "pop". Also, try pushing your meals later in the day if you can. Drink a little coffee in the morning to suppress hunger and skip breakfast if you can (you're just pushing all your calories into fewer meals) as well as eat a high protein diet.

[AlphaOut]

i often hear that lifting too much (like too often or too long sessions) is bad and doesnt actually give expected results - more gains.

how come ? how is that ? what exactly makes it that way ?

You'd be surprised how much it actually takes to over train a muscle group. The larger the muscle groups, the more difficult they are to over train. It isn't uncommon for amateur physique and professional lifters work their legs for 4 sessions straight. Two AM / PM training cycles in a row at 2.5 hours each. That's 10 consecutive hours on your legs alone. Granted, their muscles are conditions for those rigorous workouts. Most people have the smarts to say, "Yep I'm pretty sore, I'll give X muscle group a rest today." Growth comes with rest, fatigue comes with your workout. Give your muscles time to grow, listen to your body. But if you're losing gains it could be because you've reached a plateau and need to switch up your routine a bit. Throw in resistance bands, have a friend help with negatives, etc.

I have a question that fits to this topic, and I don't want to start a new one. I'm losing weight and i'm now "healthy" according to my BMI of 25. My question is, where can I find videos to train my core ( belly etc ) so that in 2 months or so I can lose more weight and shape my body a bit.

Start swimming, or treading water. Do a 5-10 min warmup run before each workout. Do not run on treadmills for cardio day, switch it up and find some trails will inclines and different terrain. Drink 60-100oz of water daily, especially if you have loose skin. If you're trying to shape yourself up, do your normal workout but focus on core balance workouts. Those will burn fat and strengthen your core simultaneously, opening more avenues to more complex workouts. Core Calisthenics is a good option to look into.

[Deleted]

I'm having quite the difficulty to keep track of my calories. This is what my food mostly looks like:

- morning 3 slices of brown bread with meat + some milk, approx 300 calories
- afternoon I don't eat unless i'm hungry, then I eat the same as in the morning for approx 300 calories
- I eat 2 pieces of fruit each day, probably around 200 calories
- Drinking a shitton of water
- In the evening I eat dinner, that is aprox 500 - 700 calories.

I'm not quite sure why I should push meals later in the day? I thought breakfast was the best meal of the day to get your metabolism started? My income, including my sporting should be 2634. The past 4 weeks I have lost 6,5 kilo's. All this weight loss is making my head spin.

@ AlphaOut: I have no workout :/ I'm trying to get to 80 kilo's and then start to train my core. But I would like to start straight away. My cycling route is 20 km and goes up and down a few bridges. I burn around 600 calories a day with that. I tend to cycle the 20 km within 1 hour.

EDIT: In the near future I will have hard labour work, and I will cycle more then 40 KM's a day.