Will My Muscles Grow Bigger After Overtraining?

Whenever there is a stall in muscle growth, increasing the volume or intensity of your workout program can help to stimulate your muscles to grow. However, overtraining to the point in which performance decreases and health deteriorates will not enhance muscle growth. Cycling your training through periodization, proper nutrition and rest are the keys to increasing muscle mass and avoiding overtraining.

Overtraining

A breakdown of muscle tissue can occur when training becomes too intense or the volume so high that it exceeds greater than your body's ability to recover and adapt to the training. This continuous overload of training volume or intensity, referred to as overtraining, can result in a decline in performance and negative effects both physiologically and psychologically. The effects of overtraining can last for several weeks, months or even years. There are numerous signs and symptoms associated with overtraining, such as a loss in appetite and body weight, sleep disturbances, changes in heart rate and blood pressure, lack of motivation, irritability and fatigue.

Overreaching

Overreaching is similar to overtraining in which you intentionally stress the body for muscle growth to occur by increasing the volume or intensity of the training. The added stress on the body will result in a slight decrease in performance initially but can improve overall strength, endurance and muscle growth. Recovery is also essential for overreaching. However, full recovery may only take several days or weeks but can easily turn into months or years if you are not careful and turn overreaching into overtraining.

Periodization

Periodization is a training method that involves cycling your training programs through different phases over the course of several weeks or months. This is a way to enhance performance and stimulate muscle growth without overtraining. Each phase in your periodization schedule may last anywhere from one week to two or three months with four of five different phases. Phases might include a conditioning phase, a hypertrophy phase, a strength phase, a power or peak phase and a recovery phase. The intensity or volume of the training during each phase will gradually become more intense. After reaching the peak phase, your body will need to go through an active recovery phase. This phase can last anywhere for one week to several months, depending on your training schedule. Active recovery is essentially remaining active but allowing your muscles to recover for intense training.

Prevention

During intense training cycles, it is essential to obtain proper nutrition and get adequate amounts of sleep to prevent overtraining from occurring. Consume regular meals throughout the day consisting of quality protein, carbohydrate and fat sources to help with muscle recovery. Postworkout meals are exceptionally important because your muscles are depleted of their carbohydrate stores and are primed for carbohydrate and amino acid uptake. Consume a well-balanced meal within two hours following an intense exercise session to aid in muscle recovery. Furthermore, get at least seven hours of sleep each night to enhance muscle recovery and growth.