Overtraining and getting sick

dss62467

dss62467

Cathlete
Hello everybody!!!! I need your expertise on something. I have this young male friend who has been training pretty hard. He thought he was a bit fat awhile back, though he didn't look too bad to me. Of course, what you see is always different than what's under the clothes and I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

He started exercising daily a few months ago. He goes to the gym almost everyday and lifts for 2 hours. Sometimes he does cardio, but not as often as he knows he should. He's had a cold twice in the last 2 weeks and I'm telling him maybe he should scale back on the workouts because it might be hurting his immune system.

Would you consider 2 hours a day overdoing it? He's not a small guy. He's about 5'8" and 230 lbs - he's definitely beefy. He doesn't want to scale back because he's starting to see results. I was thinking maybe if he did 2 hours twice a week, and then the other 4 days he should keep it to less than 90 minutes.

What do you think? I told him to take vitamins too. But I don't take them and I never get sick, so I'm not pushing that on him.

I think he might have a little of the old "if I take a break for a few days, I'll stop and get fat again" syndrome that we all get.
 
Hi,
He could be overtraining but what I am more concerned about is he's lifting for 2 hours a day. That's definitely no good for men. If the man lift for more than 45 min, their testastrone level drop significally and they won't be able to gain muscle mass. What I personally suggest is for him to do is 2 body parts a day with ONLY 20 min of interval cardio or higher cardio training 3-4x a week. He won't lose anything. If anything, he will get better results. He should be a little more concerned about his nutrition. Hope you tell him this because this is important.

Lisa :)
 
Whether the person is a man or a woman, I'd say two hours of lifting is a bit extravagant, especially if he just recently started. A person needs to work up to that intensity. I'm not a doctor, but I can sure see how such a sudden change in routine could through the body's systems out of whack.
 
If he cools it off for a few days, then goes back to a similar but slightly less rigid routine, he might find that he LOOSES weight.

It definitely sounds to me like his body is pleading for a rest.
 
That is absolutely too much and WAY unnecessary. If he is going to workout everyday, he needs to balance weight training so that he is giving his muscle groups adequate rest. It would probably benefit him to up the cardio a tad and scale down the training. Nothing wrong with everyday training as long as you have a good balance and aren't overdoing it each day.


Debbie

I don't want to take a pill. Go to Africa, go follow some bushman around. He's being chased by a lion. That's stress. You're not going to find a pygmy on Paxil, I'll tell you that right now.
-Ellen Degeneres
 
Hi-

I agree with all of the advice that everybody said above, but had one more thing to add....

He may be getting colds because of the high germ factor one finds at a gym anyways... everybody is touching the same equipment, laying on the same benches, etc.

In addition to the other suggestions, I would also tell him to avoid touching his face,eyes, mouth while working out and to wash his hands immediately after if he can. Gyms can be a real reservoir of disease!!

Take care, Lynn M.
 
Hi-

I agree with all of the advice that everybody said above, but had one more thing to add....

He may be getting colds because of the high germ factor one finds at a gym anyways... everybody is touching the same equipment, laying on the same benches, etc.

In addition to the other suggestions, I would also tell him to avoid touching his face,eyes, mouth while working out and to wash his hands immediately after if he can. Gyms can be a real reservoir of disease!!

Take care, Lynn M.
 
Does he actually lift for 2 hours or spend 2 hours at the gym? You can space a workout for a long time especially if your lifting with the "buds".
 
Does he actually lift for 2 hours or spend 2 hours at the gym? You can space a workout for a long time especially if your lifting with the "buds".
 
I agree with Dave. If you are lifting the right way, your workout should not take over an hour, get in, get out.
When I trained at the gym, guys would make a big show of bench pressing on set and then taking a 15 minute "break" and hit on girls, or talk o whatever. Not saying that is what your friend is doing, just a thought.
 
I agree with Dave. If you are lifting the right way, your workout should not take over an hour, get in, get out.
When I trained at the gym, guys would make a big show of bench pressing on set and then taking a 15 minute "break" and hit on girls, or talk o whatever. Not saying that is what your friend is doing, just a thought.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top