Lesson in Over-Zealous Training...

Ok, so I’m on this topic today because of my own training mistake I made yesterday.

As you may of seen I have re-vamped my personal fitness after having a bit of a lay off from intense training and solid nutrition.

So, for the simple fact that I was re-energized and motivated to once again get my body back in prime shape, I jumped in rather abruptly and ended up over training my calves.

What happened?

Because of my enthusiasm I pretty much jumped back into a routine as if I had no time off. I started my day with 30 minutes of stairs and jump rope. Now, this was a great cardiovascular workout but what I didn’t intend was how much of a calve workout this was going to be.

Of course, I knew better.

My calves were burning about half way through the workout but I pushed on wanting to complete the goal I had set for myself for that mornings workout. And so 30 minutes later, after completing 5 rounds of stair climbs along with 500 jump ropes my training for the morning was complete... but not without penalty.

Now today I have a case of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) like you wouldn’t believe in my calves. Its excruciating pain just to walk. Which means there will be no cardio for the next couple of days like I had originally planned for the next few mornings this week. Not until the muscles have completely recovered.

And my plans to train lower body today? Forget it.

I changed up to Chest and Biceps which is fine but it completely throws my planned training off schedule.

Now, on the plus side of this my calves did in fact get a hell of a workout. I’ll definitely be including this type of training to help develop them (with much smarter training) so stay tuned for those write ups.

What can you take away from this?

First, let me address progressive overload - something I completely disregarded during yesterday mornings workout.

Progressive Overload is the gradual increase of stress placed upon the body during training. It is a fundamental principle for success in various forms of exercise programs and physical therapy. The common goal of progressive overload is to stimulate the muscles with new stresses in which the body must cope with.

Being that the human body is a very adaptive organism it will respond to strength training by developing stronger and denser muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and cartilage. Now it will be able to handle a once stressful situation much easier the next time it is placed under that same load.

The trick here however is to overload the muscles over time. This will help to prevent injury and maximize results. Progressive overload requires a gradual increase in volume, intensity and resistance. It is very important not to just jump into an intense exercise program without this gradual approach.

That was the mistake that I made.

My calves have not been under that much stress in a very long time and to go all out on day one of my training was overzealous. Had I skipped out on the jump rope I would probably be A - Ok, still had a great cardio workout AND be able to continue with my training as planned for the rest of the week.

But, because I’m paying for that mistake I’ve had to change up my game plan. Even though I didn’t damage the muscles to the point of no return (although the central nervous system can only take so much) my point is training smart over training aggressive will always be proven more beneficial to your overall results!

Let me interject here that it is perfectly normal to be sore after an intense workout (especially for the beginner or if you have pushed through a new plateau). However, the soreness should not be so great that it is extremely painful to flex or move a muscle.

Members of MXT and my friends are all laughing at how I’m walking around like an old man right now. It is humorous but again its a great reminder and lesson of why its important to know your limits and train smart.

If you have any questions about Progressive Overload and how to make your training more effective without making this same mistake I did, leave your comments / questions below!

Happy Training and Keep Driving Towards Your Goals Champion!