Overtraining or just the ups and downs of recovery?

Hi guys.......I’m curious how you all felt on the first few weeks of starting your program. At present I have decided to extend the 4 workout days to 7, but do limited muscle groups as I can manage going hard on say chest only then I max out my energy. The other day I did shoulders and after that I couldn’t manage biceps so i just said I’ll do biceps separately and do the sprints after it etc.

At present I am like super tired after my workouts and huge mood swings one day I’ll feel amazing and actually cried after my workout as I could “feel” something shift in a good way and was just appreciative this is going to come to an end one day and felt super happy, then other days extreme fatigue and super lows.

Do you all create the mentality like fuck my emotions and the tiredness I am gonna man up and just stay consistent push through no matter what? Or at which point do you say to yourself maybe I need to backup a little?

Thanks fellas appreciate your advices

Yeah bro. @ Last paragraph you wrote

I just said fuck it and ignored EVERYTHING.

& it’s been the same mindset till this day.

yeah i pretty much ignore everything too. unless i'm feeling like super weak and totally wiped out.

even when my body was physically shaking from the anxiety and brain fog when i first started back at the gym i would just push through and do my workout as best as i could.

I've done anywhere from four days a week of lifting to six days a week. There's times that I have felt like I was overtraining on six, and this was at peak performance post-PFS. I would keep it to four or five max during recovery - you're already working with a compromised system. Build it back up slowly as you get better.

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Originally Posted by joelander

Hi guys.......I’m curious how you all felt on the first few weeks of starting your program. At present I have decided to extend the 4 workout days to 7, but do limited muscle groups as I can manage going hard on say chest only then I max out my energy. The other day I did shoulders and after that I couldn’t manage biceps so i just said I’ll do biceps separately and do the sprints after it etc.

At present I am like super tired after my workouts and huge mood swings one day I’ll feel amazing and actually cried after my workout as I could “feel” something shift in a good way and was just appreciative this is going to come to an end one day and felt super happy, then other days extreme fatigue and super lows.

Do you all create the mentality like fuck my emotions and the tiredness I am gonna man up and just stay consistent push through no matter what? Or at which point do you say to yourself maybe I need to backup a little?

Thanks fellas appreciate your advices

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The whole thing is one big mind fuck. You have to learn that "you" are not your emotions. You're the presence behind them. It's difficult at first, but you have to learn to just observe your emotions while you're feeling them and try not to let them dictate your day. Observe them, don't react to them. Be okay with whatever it is that you're feeling. Know that it will certainly pass, which it will. Always does.

At the start, there are going to be alot of days that you don't feel like doing most of the new regimen you've put yourself on. Ignore those feelings. Do them anyway. Breathing, cold showers, exercise. Sometimes they feel like a monumental task. Most of the time though, once your get yourself through them, you're always typically going to be better for it.

You have the right idea....stay consistent. Keep grinding.....always.

In regards to weight training, I've always felt that more then five days per week lifting heavy is too taxing on the system, PFS or not. Recovery is hugely important. If you're lifting with the correct intensity and volume, you shouldn't need more then four or five days per week.

The tiredness will fade as you continue to build health along with your other symptoms.