Month: January 2012
Signs You Are Overtraining
The rest weeks are important - don't train hard during them - just do the rest week program
8 Signs You Are Overtraining From Marks Daily Apple
One of the comments to this article was as follows
"I had a bout with overtraining this past December. I was trying to do an 8-week Olympic Weightlifting cycle and CrossFit workouts all at once. I hit rock bottom after the 8-weeks was over. My performances went downhill towards the end of the cycle. I did not feel like training at all, was tired all the time, and my body just ached. This threw the red flag my way and I researched overtraining syndrome and that is exactly what was going on.
Since then, I have cut my training in 1/2 and feel so much better. Less is more for me."
1. You repeatedly fail to complete your normal workout.
I’m not talking about normal failure. Some people train to failure as a rule, and that’s fine. I’m talking failure to lift the weights you usually lift, run the hill sprints you usually run, and complete the hike you normally complete. Regression. If you’re actively getting weaker, slower, and your stamina is deteriorating despite regular exercise, you’re probably training too much. Note, though, that this isn’t the same as deloading. Pushing yourself to higher weights and failing at those is a normal part of progression, but if you’re unable to lift weights that you formerly handled with relative ease, you may be overtrained.
2. You’re losing leanness despite increased exercise.
If losing fat was as easy as burning calories by increasing work output, overtraining would never result in fat gain – but that isn’t the case. It’s about the hormones. Sometimes, working out too much can actually cause muscle wasting and fat deposition. You’re “burning calories,” probably more than ever before, but it’s predominantly glucose/glycogen and precious muscle tissue. Net effect: you’re getting less lean. The hormonal balance has been tipped. You’ve been overtraining, and the all-important testosterone:cortisol ratio is lopsided. Generally speaking, a positive T:C ratio means more muscle and less fat, while a negative ratio means you’re either training too much, sleeping too little, or some combination of the two. Either way, too much cortisol will increase insulin resistance and fat deposition, especially around the midsection. Have you been working out like a madman only to see your definition decrease? You’re probably overtraining.
3. You’re lifting/sprinting/HIITing hard every single day.
The odd genetic freak could conceivably lift heavy, sprint fast, and engage in metabolic conditioning nearly every day of the week and adequately recover, without suffering ill effects. Chances are, however, you are not a genetic freak with Wolverine’s healing factor. Most people who maintain such a hectic physical schedule will not recover (especially if they have a family and/or a job). Performance will suffer, health will deteriorate, and everything they’ve worked to achieve will be compromised. Many professional athletes can practice for hours a day every day and see incredible results (especially if they are using performance enhancing substances), but you’re not a professional, are you?
4. You’re primarily an anaerobic/power/explosive/strength athlete, and you feel restless, excitable, and unable to sleep in your down time.
When a sprinter or a power athlete overtrains, the sympathetic nervous system dominates. Symptoms include hyperexcitability, restlessness, and an inability to focus (especially on athletic performance), even while at rest or on your off day. Sleep is generally disturbed in sympathetic-dominant overtrained athletes, recovery slows, and the resting heart rate remains elevated. Simply put, the body is reacting to a chronically stressful situation by heightening the sympathetic stress system’s activity levels. Most PBers who overtrain will see their sympathetic nervous system afflicted, simply because they lean toward the high-intensity, power, strength side.
5. You’re primarily an endurance athlete, and you feel overly fatigued, sluggish, and useless.
Too much resistance training can cause sympathetic overtraining; too much endurance work can cause parasympathetic overtraining, which is characterized by decreased testosterone levels, increased cortisol levels, debilitating fatigue (both mental and physical), and a failure to lose body fat. While I tend to advise against any appreciable amount of endurance training, chronic fatigue remains an issue worthy of repeating. Being fit enough to run ten miles doesn’t mean that you now have to do it every day.
6. Your joints, bones, or limbs hurt.
I’m unaware of any clinical tests that can identify overuse injuries specifically caused by overtraining, but don’t you think that pain in your knee might be an indication that you should reassess how you exercise that knee? In the lifts, limb pain can either be DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) or it can indicate poor technique or improper form; DOMS is a natural response that should go away in a day or two, while poor form is more serious and can be linked to overuse or overtraining. With regard to endurance training, if you creak, you wince at every step, and you dread staircases, it may be that you’ve run too far or too hard for too long. The danger here is that your daily endorphin high has over-ridden your natural pain receptors. You should probably listen to them more acutely. I tuned them out for longer than I should have and it cost me my career as a marathoner (so I got that going for me, which is nice).
7. You’re suddenly falling ill a lot more often.
Many things can compromise your immune system. Dietary changes (especially increased sugar intake), lack of Vitamin D/sunlight, poor sleep habits, mental stress are all usual suspects, but what if those are all locked in and stable? What if you’re eating right, getting plenty of sun, and enjoying a regular eight hours of solid sleep each night, but you find yourself getting sick? Nothing too serious, mind you. A nagging cough here, a little sniffle or two there, some congestion and a headache, perhaps. These were fairly normal before you went Primal, but they’ve returned. Your immune system may be suffering from the added stress of your overtraining. It’s an easy trap to fall into, simply because it’s often the natural progression for many accomplished athletes or trainees looking to increase their work or improve their performance: work harder, work longer. If you’ve recently increased your exercise output, keep track of those early morning sore throats and sneezes. Any increases may indicate a poor immune system brought on by overtraining.
8. You feel like crap the hours and days after a big workout.
Once you get into the swing of things, one of the great benefits of exercise is the post-workout feeling of wellness. You’ve got the big, immediate, heady rush of endorphins during and right after a session, followed by that luxurious, warm glow that infuses your mind and body for hours (and even days). It’s the best feeling, isn’t it? We all love it. What if that glow never comes, though? What if instead of feeling energetic and enriched after a workout, you feel sketchy and uncomfortable? As I said before, post-workout DOMS is completely normal, but feeling like death (mentally and physically) is not. Exercise generally elevates mood; if it’s having a negative effect on your mood, it’s probably too much.
Damo 280kg x3 back squat equal PB
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA35oC1J6OA
2012 "Again Faster" Hard'nup Challenge
We will have people competing in the team event and the weightlifting
Details
http://www.crossfitbrisbane.com/2012AgainFasterHardnupChallengeInfoPack.pdf
Camille and Spencer will be competing
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RXNoCo3S8U
Commonwealth Records and Rankings
2011 Commonwealth Rankings and Records
Ben Turner 69Kg Gold 2006 Commonwealth Games
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942Y5hadJwQ
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zV6dm3VbB0
Its going to be a big Year
There are over 30 athletes in the squad this year so I am asking you to help out a bit
1) Look at the calendar and rankings and qualifying periods and find out what you need to do by when - eg what i need to lift by when to qualify for State Seniors, World Juniors etc
QWA Calendar and Qualifying Periods and Standards
AWF Qualifying Periods and Standards
2) I will have a lot of lifters in each session so you should know how to count attempts and work out your warmup
See this page for a tutorial - however i will help out novice lifters until you get the hang of it.
It would be good if some of the more experienced lifters could give me a hand counting attempts etc.
3) Ensure you get your entries in by the closing date - the same old people always leave it to the last minute - Lad Singh and Josh Wu spring to mind here !
Forms can always be found on the QWA News webpage
4) Every time you lift - help for one session on the comp day - remember a heap of people helped out running the comp in your session so you could lift - so give something back !
I would hope all of you lift in the League Rounds and the JME and the first major peak should be the Australian Club Championships in March
Crossfit Brisbane 2012 "Again Faster" Hard'nup Challenge
From Matt Swift
http://cfb.typepad.com/
We are excited to announce the 2012 "Again Faster" Hard'nup Challenge to be held in the Velodrome at the Sleeman Sports Complex in Brisbane on 11th & 12th of February 2012. The event will be the first of it's kind in Australia, bringing the community together for a 2 day festival of CrossFit.
Olympic Weightlifting Competition
- Australian Weightlifting Federation Rules
- Open to all competitors
- Prizemoney on offer
Individual "All-Comers" Competition
- CrossFit Style Event
- Open to all competitors but aimed at the experienced/advanced CrossFitter
- Top three places offered wildcard entry into the Elite Invitational Competition
Team Competition
- CrossFit Style Event
- Open to all competitors, allowance made for all skill and experience levels
- Prizes on offer to the winning teams
Elite Invitational Competition
- Challenging CrossFit competition, survival of the fittest
- By invitation only, chosen from the best competitive CrossFitters in the Region
- Guest celebrity CrossFitters
- Prizemoney on offer
Registration for the events will open shortly, stay tuned for more information.
Invitations have been sent out for the Elite Invitational Competition. If you haven’t received an invitation, but think you have what it takes to compete with the best CrossFitters in the region, send an email to info@crossfitbrisbane.com include your best competition results and why you think you should be invited.
Mark the 11th & 12th of February in your diary. This is going to be a great weekend of CrossFit competition for athletes and spectators alike!