Training to incredible pain...

[Noib Da Mutt]

Ok, first, I'm going to tell you the workout I did, then I'm going to tell the result of it...


Ok, it seemed innocent enough as I planned out my workout during the 2 mile run to the track... I followed that run by some stretching and I ran 6 100 meter sprints with a 100 meter rest interval... Would've done more, but I haven't been doing much running lately... After that, I drank some water, recovered a lap and did lunges the length of the entire football field, and I mean outside of the endzone at the end of the actual field, all the way to the other side, which is more than 100 yards... seemed innocent enough, but before I was halfway done, I really started feeling the weakness in my legs, pure will got me past the halfway point, and I stopped to rest about 20 seconds before going another 20 yards or so, then resting, and another before resting again and finishing it off... It suprised the hell out of me because I didn't expect that one thing to be such an intense workout... And to top it off, in addition to barely being able to walk, my bright self decides to run another mile around the track... After the first lap I feel like laying down, but somehow I finish the mile by continuing to ask myself "how much heart does he have?" For some reason that worked... So anyways, I can barely walk and I walk the two miles back to campus, I hurt alot, but whatever, I always hurt when I train seriously...

So, the next day, and my legs feel unlike any pain I've ever felt from training, the entire quad muscle group on each leg is dead and full of pain every time I move it, I can't even walk down stairs without wincing incredibly, I'm barely able to get myself around the pain is so intense... Honestly, it is unlike anything I've ever experienced... The pain was amazing every step I took, nothing I've done has ever caused this much pain, and in fact, I'm not sure I've experienced such pain for extended periods of time in my life ever, with the exception of when my neck had a muscle spasm and glued my ear to my shoulder... Anyways, I know that the pain is just muscle pain from training, but my question is, why was it so incredibly intense from the workout that I did? What are the possible reasons the workout had this effect on my body?(can't wait til I heal though, the results should be impressive)

[Ikken Hisatsu]

you probably should have stretched afterwards.

[Shadow_of_Evil]

Need to toughen up lad ;)
Nah, but I think Ikken is right here.

[YODA]

You overtrained - waytogo :rolleyes:

Pain is not ALWAYS a sign of good training effect.

Results are measured in months not individual sessions.

[BoxBabaX]

stretching before and after the exercise, with some light warm up

[Knight_Errant]

Anyways, I know that the pain is just muscle pain from training, but my question is, why was it so incredibly intense from the workout that I did? What are the possible reasons the workout had this effect on my body?(can't wait til I heal though, the results should be impressive)
Lunges all across the playing field? I'm not bloody surprised. If you get enough depth, they can HURT afterwards.
Just out of interest, why are you training like this? is your GPP so incredibly high that you can benefit from a routine like that in the long term?
Nothing wrong with the interval running- 100M intervals are a hell of a time.
So where does this routine fall into your long-term training plan?

[Shadowdh]

Sounds like my legs every time I get back into weights after a layoff...

[ninjamonkey]

You overtrained - waytogo :rolleyes:

Overtrained?.. After one particular session?.. How?

[Ad McG]

(can't wait til I heal though, the results should be impressive)

No they won't! There's a reason why training is so scientific. If you just had to destroy yourself every time you trained, then why would anyone bother with science? The results will be pretty much non-existant. It will also take a few days to recover. Next time, be more conservative and try to work your way into it rather than jumping in at the deep end - the results will be far better.

[Noib Da Mutt]

Well, I did stretch ALOT beforehand AND afterwords... As far as how this will fit into my training schedule, I'll have to see, you guys know me, I try stuff and see how it works, and if I like the results I keep it, so, give it a few days and I'll see how I feel once I've healed... The interval running stays though, I used to do that alot last summer and it was great...

[YODA]

Overtrained?.. After one particular session?.. How?

By doing too much in that one particular session :rolleyes:

[Shadowdh]

By doing too much in that one particular session :rolleyes:


I wouldnt label that as overtraining from one session... perhaps pushing it a bit far but it really takes several sessions over days if not weeks before serious overtraining sets in...

NDM... I wouldnt do this sort of training regularly... as a change or a shake up its ok but not everytime (heck not even every week)... Adam is spot on when he says the results from one session dont show... its a process thing...

[holyheadjch]

theres a simple method my old cycling coach used to drill into me when I was training, 'If it doesn't hurt afterwards you've not done enough, but if it hurts the next day, you've done too much'
By training so hard you've probably set yourself back by a week, and you will see absolutely no results from that session,

[GhostOfYourMind]

I think you definitely over did it. As strength coach Charles Staley says, don't seek soreness from your training, if you want soreness, get someone to hit you with a baseball bat a few times (or something like that). ;) :D And I believe it is possible for some people to overtrain in just one session. And from what Noib posted, it's entirely possible as all that puts a huge demand on not only your muscles but also the CNS. :eek:

[ClubbellTrainer]

Incremental progress is the key. Work up to stuff like this. It doesn't take too long and you won't have to take so many recovery days or suffer so much pain.

One of the reasons pain is supposed to be a good teacher is that it's telling you not to do this again.

[Nick K]

There was avery good link to a sprint training regime that I recall somewhere on MAP -try a search.
It started with something like
1st week and 2nd week 25m x10 sprints with 1 minute rest between reps, rest 10 minutes then repeat (only do once a week)
3rd and 4th week 30m x10 sprints with 1 minute rest between reps, rest 10 minutes then repeat
and so on up to 50m reps
Building up any faster than this if you are not a regular runner or do relevant sports (eg soccer/hockey) and you might hurt yourself
Sprinting is extremely demanding on your muscles, tendons and joints. But it's quick to do, easily available and cheap! And good for speed and leg strength

[axelb]

yup its overtraining.
Stretching/warm down afterwards may have helped.

I've done it myself and couldn't do anything for 3 days (could barely walk for the first 2 days) as much as you may think it will give massive improvement... it won't.

you would get more improvement from not overtraining that day, and training the several days after that you spent recovering. :cry:

[Shadowdh]

If you have been training a while then there is no problem with really caning it for 1 workout or so... pain is weakness leaving the body... (of course I mean "good" pain and not the bad injury kind)... and no you cant overtrain in one workout...

[ninjamonkey]

How can it be overtraining after one session?

The principle of overtraining is training in a frequency that does not allow enough rest time. As a result, training performance decreases, and possible injuries occur. Unless if you are talking about overtraining in a different sense than I am, please specify. I'd say he just overdid it, not overtrained. Maybe overreached, as far as I'd go.

[Ad McG]

What is the difference between overdoing it, and overtraining? To me there is none. If you are training (and not in a competition to win) then you want to garner the best results you can. Pushing yourself this hard is going too far and will most likely set you back more than anything else.

[Shadowdh]

What is the difference between overdoing it, and overtraining? To me there is none. If you are training (and not in a competition to win) then you want to garner the best results you can. Pushing yourself this hard is going too far and will most likely set you back more than anything else.

As Ninjamonkey described... overtraining is a product of training without allowing for proper recovery between workouts... at least that is the generally accepted definition... what he did is perhaps overdoing it or over loading, doing too much in one workout session... or perhaps attempting something which causes strain/injury... but I re-iterate that pushing hard in one session is not particularly a bad thing...

[Ad McG]

Pushing TOO hard is definitely a bad thing. Soreness and decreased performance for a few days tells me that he has overtrained. Overtraining isn't some mystical thing where you get ill and can't train, it can be something as simple as this but it can also go so far as to impair the immune system. To me, overtraining = excessive training that impairs results.

[Shadowdh]

Pushing TOO hard is definitely a bad thing. Soreness and decreased performance for a few days tells me that he has overtrained. Overtraining isn't some mystical thing where you get ill and can't train, it can be something as simple as this but it can also go so far as to impair the immune system. To me, overtraining = excessive training that impairs results.


I would just like to make a small addition to the last sentance of your post...

... over a period of several workouts...

I sometimes really push myself and that particular body part may hurt for several days (usually no more than 3 or so though) but I have in no way impaired my training or progress... just hit it hard for that work out to add a little shock to the system... but pushing too hard can be detrimental if its taken to the extreme...

Also no one is implying that overtraining is mystical or that it makes you sick... it impairs results but I havent heard or seen anyone get sick from it yet...

[ninjamonkey]

Hmm, I don't remember saying it makes you sick, it can lead to injuries, is what I said. But the definition that we've been learning now is overtraining = pretty much what I've said before :D . I agree you can overdo it in one session, and it probably won't go down well, he probably won't get the BEST gains, but I wouldn't say it's overtraining, just a bit of overloading like shadow said, so as long as he doesn't do it again or too often, he's alright.