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All of us can agree that the modern dogma of most serious gym goers is “science” based decision making. In this day an age, with technology and countless information at our fingertips, you can find an “expert” of hypertrophy within a stones throw distance. Like many topics in health and fitness, the topic of overtraining is highly disputed and highly debatable. And, with good reason.

An athlete that is serious about their profession and constantly looking for daily hypertrophic gratification, will always be toeing the line of what is too much. The problem with this age of “thinkers,” is that in most cases, scientific overanalysis could be causing them to lose focus and prevent them from simply “doing” enough.

In reality, when it comes to making decisions about your training and your progression, there are indeed many variables to evaluate. But, nine times out of ten, the biofeedback your body is giving you each day will be your best answer to what it takes to prevent flatlining.

Let’s evaluate an inverted approach to what many label, ‘overtraining’.

I’m sure all of you know someone, or have read about someone, whose training was progressing amazingly well. They were experiencing gains and setting personal records on a near-daily basis. Then, all of a sudden, they couldn’t recover.

To add to the problem, their body began to get weaker. Their joints began to ache. They may even have then become injured and had to take time away from the gym.

In all instances, the result is always labeled as ‘overtraining’.

I will boldly say that most cases like the aforementioned are NOT a result of overtraining, but more or less mindless, unplanned training.

If you want to have the body you dream of, moving forward in an unorganized manner simply won’t cut it. In addition, your body is a machine that cannot go full tilt day in and day out. You have to begin to listen to what your body is telling you, and train appropriately.

Let’s discuss some of the steps you need to take more of to ensure that you get the progress your hard work in the gym deserves.

1. Design a Proper Training Program

There are very few individuals who really know how to design an excellent ‘progressive’ program. We are extremely fortunate to have two of them here on MI40 Nation, Ben Pakulski and Kassem Hanson.

There must be an understanding that the body is not built to go all out each and every workout, each and every day. In fact, hypertrophy rarely ever progresses in a linear fashion, it often moves in waves. It’s difficult to say how long each of these peaks and valleys will last, but, rest assured, you’ll experience both. A proper training program must also follow a wave-like pattern in order to adhere to the biofeedback of the body.

To do this, many variables should be changed over the course of the program.

In the initial stages for example, intensity and frequency may be moderate. Then, after a few weeks, training frequency could be elevated. After a few more weeks, training intensities might then be increased in an effort to push beyond personal limits (while keeping the same training frequency).

Following one round of an approach such as this, a short reset period (think ‘deload’) would probably work well – the aim of which being to step back a little, reduce training volume, and allow the body to reload and detox properly before continuing a similar cycle again.

Now, I did not list information regarding how long these periods should last because everyone’s body has different tolerances and ranges of experience. All of these will factor into how long you can push, and how long you must back off before ramping up your training again.

2. Design Your Training Around Your Body Type and Goal

There must be a very clear goal when it comes to your program. Any time you set down to make a workout and a program, you must ask yourself, “What do I want to accomplish?”. The reason is very literal and very simple. If I am trying to make a program that adds as much lean tissue as possible while helping staying lean or getting leaner, there is no reason I should be taking three minute rest periods between sets, or doing five sets of three at any point.

Instead, things to consider would be: manipulating shorter rest periods, using ways to extend sets such as NOS, NOS-X, giant sets, applying new variables of tension (bands, chains, manual tension), occlusion training, and HIIT cardio sessions. A steady diet of variables such as these will help to work towards ensuring your body explores multiple avenues leading to hypertrophy, such as cell swelling, mechanical damage, satellite cell production, and so on.

Secondly, pay close attention to how your body responds to the various methods you use. Where are you seeing the most progress? Did your body really take off when you were training at a high volume and a high frequency? Or, did you have much better progress at a lower frequency and much higher intensity? These are examples to consider when designing your training program around your body type.  No one body is built the same. What works best for your training partner is unlikely to work best for you.

In order to get the most out of your potential, you must constantly evaluate how your body responds to changes in training variables, both in the short term, and in the long term.

3. Take Proper Care To Recover Daily

One of the most destructive and physiologically abusive activities is intense resistance training. Imagine, during each workout you are making tiny, minute tears in hundreds and hundreds of muscle cells. This forces them to find a way to rebuild properly. It is your job to ensure that not only do they get repaired, but that they become stronger and larger (assuming a goal of hypertrophy).

Often times, individuals break down in the long run due to improper nutrition and supplementation. All of us have heard the statement, “You gotta eat to grow.”  Adequate food intake along with quality food choices is a MUST.

Each and every process, from muscle protein synthesis, through to growth hormone release, requires energy. If you are not supplying the proper amount of nutrients for your body to conduct these processes healthfully, it WILL pull resources from somewhere in the body if it can. This means muscle breakdown, bone breakdown, and even organ breakdown.

Secondly, weight training causes a unique response in the body – an inflammatory response. Now, before you start thinking that this is a bad thing, remember that this response is what tells your body to start muscle protein synthesis. However, following weight training, the wise approach is to lower this inflammation as soon as possible. To do this, you will need appropriate supplements and nutrient-dense food.

Antioxidants are great for lowering inflammation. Some of the best supplements Ben listed in MI40 were Alpha Lipoid Acid, CoQ10, Turmeric, Omega 3 Fish Oil high in DHA, and Chromium Picolinate.

The beauty of these products is that not only are they very cheap, they will also be beneficial to other important areas such as your insulin sensitivity, cortisol levels, acidity levels, and cholesterol (LDL).

In addition, it would be wise to take special care to detoxify your body multiple times a day. Detoxing will rid cells of any waste they may be carrying in the bloodstream, any bacteria that may be stuck in the intestines, or any bad bacteria build-up in the stomach. Detoxing your body properly will not only help rid your body of unwanted toxins, but will also balance pH levels and alkalinize your body for proper recovery. Some of the best sources for detoxing are: soluble fiber, high quality greens shakes, vegetables and fruits, apple cider vinegar, and glutamine.

Summary

Don’t be naive.

Walk the walk.

If your goal is to constantly build lean tissue in an efficient (dare I say ‘optimal’) manner, then the first requirements are that you must train smart, and you must train hard. In order for your muscle-growth goals to come to fruition, you must arm yourself with good training protocols, listen to your bodys biofeedback each day, incorporate supplementation that detoxes and purifies the body, and eat to be anabolic and healthy.

Do these things, and rest assured you will surely see GREAT muscle-building results.