By Nick Nilsson
Overtraining is NOT evil. In fact, overtraining can be exactly what you need to achieve continuous and rapid results in your training and breakthrough muscle-building plateaus!
So first, what IS overtraining? Overtraining is, most simply, training too much. Your body is unable to recover from the volume or frequency of training and begins to break down. You not only lose motivation to train, you become more susceptible to injury and illness, and you may even start to go backwards in your training, getting smaller and weaker on almost a daily basis.
So how can overtraining possibly be good for you?
I’ll tell you.
It all begins with the incredible adaptive power of your body. As you become more advanced in weight training, you will generally notice that you cannot make consistent gains for a long period of time on one training system. Your body quickly adapts to whatever training system you’re using and hits a plateau. To get around this, it’s usually recommended that you change your program every three to six weeks.
The question now is how to use this adaptive ability to your ADVANTAGE.
It’s really quite simple. You gradually build up to a state of temporary overtraining, then, when you’re overtrained and your adaptive processes are working to their fullest capacity for recovery, you back off. This backing off results in what is called overcompensation.
And overcompensation is where the REAL results are.
On a normal program, you work a bodypart, it becomes temporarily weaker, then becomes stronger as it overcompensates so you can lift more next time. What a normal program does on a small, local basis, this targeted overtraining does on a full body, systemic basis.
Sound good? We’re not done. Now we’re going to harness the power of overtraining by using what I call “Controlled Overtraining.” This idea goes by many other names but the core concept remains the same.
First, though, here’s an eye-opener for you…most programs have plateaus built right in…
With “normal” training programs that don’t take your body’s response to workload into account, you can get into either of two outcomes, neither of which is completely desirable in the long run. They’ll work in the short term because they DO spend some time in the optimal training zone, but then something happens…
In the graph below, you’ll see two lines. The top graph line is “Too Much Volume/Intensity.” The bottom graph line is “Not Enough Volume/Intensity.” Both hypothetical training programs spend time in the optimal training zone and both will get you results for awhile…
In the top line, the problem happens when the program DOESN’T PULL BACK. You hit overtraining and your body stops getting results. The usual response? Add even MORE volume and/or intensity. This can result in chronic overtraining and hitting a MAJOR plateau in your training.
In the bottom line, the problem happens when your body adapts and you DON’T INCREASE volume or intensity…i.e. you keep doing what you’re doing. This is chronic UNDER-training and it’ll put a stop to your results, too.
Accumulation and Intensification
The core program stucturing principle you’ll be putting to work in Controlled Overtraining is known by many names…”Accumulation and Intensification” and “Dual Factor Theory” are two of the most common.
As far as this base concept goes, I definitely won’t pretend that I created it…it’s been around for a LONG time in various forms and has been used and talked about by many top coaches and trainers such as Charles Poliquin, Charlie Francis, Jason Ferruggia, and many Eastern Bloc coaches.
There is a tremendous amount of research on the subject and I could give you a HUGELY detailed physiological explanation of how it all works but I have a feeling you’d rather just know how it’s going to build muscle on you!
So let’s get right into it…
For a period of a few weeks, you will increase workload by increasing training volume (number of sets for each bodypart) and decreasing rest periods between sets until you get to the point at or near overtraining. This is “accumulation” as you’re accumulating workload and fatigue on the body and demanding more of it than that is currently able to recover fully from.
When you REACH that point, you then back off and dramatically reduce the training volume, doing fewer sets, while also increasing rest periods between sets and increasing the amount of weight you’re lifting (i.e. intensity). This is the “intensification” part of things and it’s where the REAL growth happens.
Here’s what it looks like graphical form…the white area in the in middle is the “optimal” zone for muscle growth. As you can see, you’re spending a LOT of time there with this program!
When you begin the program, you gradually accumulate workload and training volume, moving more and more towards overtraining. This training “on the edge” is where the REAL results are – you won’t get anywhere if you stay too far away from it!
At the end of the “accumulation” phase, you’ve hit Overtraining. THAT is when we back off and reduce the training volume, increase rest periods and start using heavier weights. This “intensification” will gradually move you towards “undertraining” as your body adapts to the reduced workload.
This is followed by a deloading phase where you pull WAY back on your training and allow your body to more fully recover before you start ramping back up in the next training cycle.
Think of a car going up a hill with the gas pedal down. As you come to the top, you’ve got the pedal floored but you’re not going very fast…you’re overtraining the engine, so to speak.
Now you go over the top and start heading down the other side. If you keep that pedal floored, you’re going to start going VERY fast! Your body/engine is no longer overtrained by the steep grade but it’s still pushing just as hard.
THAT is the power of this type of training. You’re going to systematically push your body’s gas pedal to the point where you have it floored and aren’t really going anywhere, then you’re going to pull back and let it ROAR forward. The results you get from this type of overtraining and rebounding can be HUGE and THAT is what each of these four programs will do for you.
“Accumulation and Intensification” is the Cure For Plateaus…
When put to work in a targeted, organized plan, this pattern of loading and unloading can deliver serious long-term results in muscle and strength. This type of training really does hold the key to avoiding plateaus because of how it works WITH your body’s natural responses to training rather than fighting them.
In my new book “Mad Scientist Muscle,” what I’ve done is taken this core framework of “controlled overtraining and rebound” and created a number of training cycles using THE most effective muscle-and-strength-building techniques and training session structures I’ve read about or come up with myself in my 20+ years in the gym.
Each program is packed with powerful training techniques designed to build MASSIVE muscle and all structured on this type of volume/intensity-driven format.
Each of these programs attack muscle growth on a SYSTEMIC level…you’re going to be using the adaptive power of your entire body as a system rather than trying to grow bodyparts in isolation.
Click HERE to learn more and grab your copy now!
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Jason here. Just wanted to chime in and let you guys know that Nick’s new program is kick ass and he and I are in full agreement on a great number of topics. Any of you who follow my stuff know that I am a big fan of accumulation and intensification and use it extensively in my programs. Check out Nick’s new, Mad Scientist Muscle before this Friday, Sept 17th at midnight and save twenty bucks on the regular price of the program.
Click HERE now.
14. Sep, 2010
at 10:28 am #
Jason,
I have had better gains in the last six months using your programs involving these methods than any other. I have also gotten over several injuries, thanks to the regular breaks in the loading throughout the program.
I feel like this is the best way to go once your past the novice stage.
Great stuff. Thanks.
-Chris
14. Sep, 2010
at 11:01 am #
Jason,
Nice article. I like any article that corrects the occasional perception that progressive resistance is a simple linear process of more always following more. Like you say, when people try this and overdo it, a typical response is to push harder and do some real damage or delay progress by months.
But I don’t think it wise to use the term “overtraining” in any positive light. Overtraining is inherently bad and to be avoided by exactly what you are describing, but which is more accurately termed periodization. Push hard, as hard as possible, and then back off for full recovery before pushing to the next level. I think we all learn this either the easy way, or the hard way.
Also, what you describe as “intensification” just sounds more like a recovery phase. George Polaquin defines these phases differently. Accumulation is higher rep with somewhat lower weight, designed for pure hypertrophy (growth) without necessarily the gain in actual lifting strength to go with it. Intensification, to him, is nothing like a recovery period, but rather a phase where volume is reduced, but also where the amount of weight is increased. This is where strength is intensified, with less volume growth. Both phases involve working to exhaustion. Nothing easy about either phase, and he’s a proponent of a more linear approach. Now who am I to question GP, but I favor more periodization and insertion of lower intensity weeks to insure real recovery and avoid overtraining. Just thought I’d try to clear some of the nomenclature.
- Doug
14. Sep, 2010
at 11:22 am #
Yeah I don’t know my muscles are in a state of confusion perhaps.
I have been doing a lot of high volume work that’s how I like to train but every since I started Muscle Gaining Secrets ( a few week ago) the lower volume has helped a lot and I have been able to lift heavier.
But maybe the trick is in cycling off the high volume maybe I didn’t do enough?
Which the mad Scientist according to his graphs looks like you go into under-training?
Gee if under-training means lying down on the beach drinking a few beers then I start using his program straight away!
yeah like the idea though
14. Sep, 2010
at 2:44 pm #
Do the Boris Sheiko regimen and you will be in the right track . Get over tired by doing more than you did last time . Rest while your whole body is in aches and pains and can’t walk straight and eat right . Put more weight on the bar next time to test if you can surpass your best maximum . Rest rest rest , and repeat the whole thing again, progressive progression. Vitally
14. Sep, 2010
at 9:52 pm #
Good day,
Thank you for the advice, my son is 18 years old,, his weight is 78kg and lenght 1.8m, he really needs to gain mass as fast as possible as he wants to weigh 90kg in January, he eats alot of oats and eggs and takes a protein shake inbetween. He is a rugby player and he really also batle to build in his legs, pls any advice for me to help him.
Thank you
16. Sep, 2010
at 7:36 am #
Arther Drechsler has a decent, though brief treatment of the different types of overtraining. He touches on the topic of intentional overtraining, which some coaches would use in search of a ‘supercompensation’ effect, while others would use it as a gauge for determining the optimal training stimulus.
It’s worth noting that overtraining is not merely a function of training, but of recovery; if I simply cut back on sleep or calories but keep up my usual workouts, I promptly swing towards overtraining. Needless to say, progress is worse than if I simply lift within myself and get adequate rest.
17. Sep, 2010
at 5:55 am #
i really like how some of the concepts of block periodization are starting to be implemented into training programs. based on this article, i’d say nick has done a fantastic job of putting in the time to develop a great system in mad scientist muscle. i’ve purchased products from nick before, and they’re always a great value.
09. May, 2012
at 5:59 pm #
ive been training 5 days a week. whole body routine. One set per body part. Reps are done very slow 10 – 20 sec. Sets last 40 – 120 sec. The whole workout is designed around one of your articles on interval training.
By the middle to the end of the week i am sore and usually slightly weaker. I train through the soreness. The weights used are light, but the intensity is so high that it is often difficult to keep accurate track of rep count. The whole workout last 15 to 25 min; the workout cycles through 3 to ten sets. i dont worry about body parts that get ‘skipped’, because i believe in what i call ‘overflow’. Every exercise produces some overflow on some other part of your body.
To increase the overflow i use synergism.
For example while doing curls i will also try to flex and contract every muscle in my body.
This takes some practice.
I no longer worry about how much weight im moving…if size is my goal, why have I been using strength as a measurement of progress?
Thus far the results are simply unbelievable and astounding.
I cut and climb trees for a living…so i have a good ‘feel’ of how easy or hard it is to pull myself from branch to branch. After doing this workout for 20 days i noticed that climbing trees was significantly easier. I ran track in high school…i feel that i can now sprint faster, way faster, than i did in my teens due to the strength increase of this style of training…thats the overflow! And i don’t even practice sprinting!
I am 48 years old. Been training on an off since my teens. Owned a small gym. And have done some personal training.
Thanx for your shared intrest
chris