Bounce Back from Muscle Fatigue!

Call it what you will: hitting the wall, reaching a plateau or just plain muscle fatigue. It seems like every 6-8 weeks or so I find that I need to take a break from the gym. My body just shuts down. Even the thought of doing a push-up does not bode well. Then after a week or so of complete rest I find I am once again ready to revel in the sweat, pain and chalk-dust only found in a weight room.

I don't believe I am the only gym-rat out there who experiences this. Although to be sure, others may deal with muscle shut-down differently than I. If you think about it, taking a break from all that lifting is rooted in common sense. You cannot continually hammer your body.

Ever notice that early on your body reacted to lifting weight as if it were magic: seemed like every rep you performed resulted in an awesome pump. Those were the days! But after you more or less reach the normal limits of what your body is capable of, muscle gains seem to taper off. That's when the real work begins.

In the long term muscle fatigue demonstrates that your muscles have adapted to the level of stress you've been providing them through those basic workouts. You can change your routine and change your weight but you may not necessarily change the level of your muscular development. The most common signs of over-training are sluggishness, fatigue, muscle soreness, a decrease in strength and even insomnia. If this sounds like you, take a step back! Chances are when this happens your body is telling you to GIVE IT A BREAK!

Too Much of a Good Thing

We fall victim to the train of thought that the more we do the better it is! That mentality may be true for some things, but the truth is the longer and harder we train does not necessarily result in super gains and continued growth. Over-training can significantly impede the body's ability to properly recover and rebuild itself.

The common-sense approach to combat muscle shutdown or fatigue or however you want to refer to it is through enough rest and an adequate number of days off between workouts. The "standard" may be every other day, but I can tell you; sometimes you need two days off between workouts. There's no hard and fast rule. Let your body be your guide.

How Much is Too Much (or too little)

In the same way that there is no hard-and-fast rule for workout frequency, similarly there is no golden rule for sets and reps. Although I can tell you that if you are trying for mass and muscle to many reps is self-defeating, just like too many exercises per muscle-group will backfire on you as well.

Consider this: for large muscle groups such as the legs and chest, a good workout strategy is 3-4 exercises x 6-10 sets x 6-8 reps. For smaller muscle groups such as biceps and triceps, it is a good measure to perform 2-3 exercises with the same numbers of sets and reps.

Remember, if you are trying to pack on mass try to avoid high rep strategies. High rep strategies may yield more definition but not mass.

And again -- it's all about moderation. Give it a break when your body tells you so and you'll continue to make progress in the gym!