Rest, Training and Overtraining

Rest, Training and Overtraining

Most people understand that muscle grows during rest. But how much rest is really necessary? Is there are point when too much rest becomes counter to the goal of building muscle? And what about overtraining? When does that become an issue? These questions and more are answered below.

I've known more than a few bodybuilders who sleep 9+ hours a day and who also napped during the middle of the day. If you asked them then they would tell you that sufficient rest is necessary for building muscle. And although that statement is true, there is a limit. 

How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

The National Sleep Foundation states that adolescents need between about 8.5 and 9.25hours of sleep every night [1]. As we grow into middle-aged adults, the amount of sleep we need decreases about one hour to 7-8hours each night [2]. Additional sleep has been found to have only nominal benefits [3], with some arguing that too much sleep actually has negative benefits [4]. 

Personally, I try to get between 7-9hours of sleep every night. I typically end up on the lower end of that range during the week. And on the weekends, I end up closer to the high end of that range. It doesn't work out that way 100% of the time, and every now and again I get less than 7hours in an evening. But those days are few and far between.

Generally, if you are a few hours short on sleep one day, it might not be a problem. But missing sleep targets on a regular basis can have a negative impact on performance [5]. So, it's important to get the quality sleep you need regularly. But it looks like going overboard probably won't yield much, if any, benefit.

What About Overtraining?

One of the biggest arguments for rest that I consistently hear concerns overtraining. In my opinion, overtraining is the ultimate excuse for taking time off. Now, that's not to say there isn't some credence to the overtraining dogma. Certainly, it is possible to train too much. But that limit is pretty high. And in my experience, the more you train, the higher that limit gets.

Before you go out and start bench pressing every day of the week and twice on Sunday, let's talk about what overtraining means. For some people, overtraining might mean training so much that you spend more time tearing down the muscle that it can't adequately recover. So, what then is adequate recovery?

When we train with a high level of intensity (e.g. weight training), the actual process of training is catabloic (i.e. it breaks down the muscle). Our bodies respond by repairing that damage through protein synthesis, which is what builds muscle. So, if we want to build the maximum amount of muscle per training session, then it makes sense to train after protein synthesis has returned to normal levels. As it turns out, protein synthesis is only elevated for about 36hours following intense exercise [6]. So, just about all the recovery you are going to get has happened after about 36hours following training.

We can take advantage of this 36hour window, by splitting the body parts trained throughout the week so that no body parts are trained on consecutive days. But more than that, it means our body parts can be trained 2-3x per week without overtraining! 

Some of you might be reading this and wondering about Central Nervous System overload. And it's true that high intensity exercise at greater frequency may lead to CNS burnout. However, I wouldn't necessarily consider that overtraining. I think it's more like a side effect of intense exercise over time.

References

[1]  "Teens and Sleep." National Sleep Foundation. Web. 27 Sept 2014.

[2]  "White Paper: How Much Sleep Do Adults Need?" National Sleep Foundation. Web. 27 Sept 2014.

[3] Ferrara, Michele, and Luigi De Gennaro. "How much sleep do we need?." Sleep Medicine Reviews 5.2 (2001): 155-179.

[4] Yong Liu, Anne G. Wheaton, Daniel P. Chapman, Janet B. Croft. Sleep Duration and Chronic Diseases among US Adults Age 45 Years and Older: Evidence 

      From the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. SLEEP, 2013; DOI: 10.5665/sleep.3028

[5] Savis, Jacqueline C. "Sleep and Athletic Performance: Overview and Implications for Sport Psychology." Sport Psychologist 8.2 (1994).

[6] MacDougall, J. Duncan, et al. "The time course for elevated muscle protein synthesis following heavy resistance exercise." Canadian journal of applied 

      physiology 20.4 (1995): 480-486.

Posted by Clayton Long