Q: Dear Mike,
I am a 29 year old woman. About 5 years ago I weighed over 200 lbs and wore size 22 pants. I studied diet and exercise and cleaned up my lifestyle. Two years ago I joined a gym to tone up and take my fitness to the next level after I'd lost the bulk of my weight. My current weight is about 140lbs at 5'6' tall. My attendance at the gym was fair and my workouts light to moderate. About 2 months ago I started training with a bodybuilder friend who set me up with a very challenging program. My trouble is, he is a man (so he trains like a man, which may not address my needs) and not a professional. I have gained a lot in terms of muscle size, strength, and tone so I know the plan is a decent one but I'm not sure about all of it and have been hearing a lot lately about 'over training'. Right now I work 2 body parts per day (back&bi's, chest&tri's, legs&shoulders, with ab work & cardio sprinkled throughout and an occasional day of strictly abs and more intense cardio). I do 4 different exercises per body part, 3 sets each (20,15, & 10 reps with increasing weights). I typically take 1-2 days off per week. I have increased my protein intake considerably to accomodate the extra muscle development. My problem is, I feel sluggish after a day off and would prefer to keep cycling through my routine but wonder if 2 sessions per week on a given body part at this intensity is too much? My second issue is that I find that I am hungry almost all of the time. I believe my protein intake is adequate. I also know I will sabotage my goal of being toned and defined if I am overeating but the hunger is intense! Any advice about what I can eat in quantity that won't make me gain alot of weight? (salad is a given but doesn't satisfy for very long) Lastly, aside from protein (I buy soy isolate), should I be supplementing with anything to support my goals? I found that Creatine caused a lot of bloating so I prefer not to use that. Any suggestions? Thank you for any advice you can provide!!!
Lynn

A: Congrats on your progress over last couple of years -- it sounds like you've made a great turnaround! Your program now sounds intense. If I understood correctly, you end up working each bodypart about twice a week, with 12 sets per session (24 sets/week) and over 100 sets/week altogether + abs and cardio. This is definitely at the high end of acceptable volume of training for most people, especially if you take most of these sets to or near muscular failure (and it sounds like you do). So you're right to be concerned about over-training.

I would not stay at such a high volume of to-failure training for more than two months or so. I recommend that you take a whole week off from working out. A whole week off every couple months lets your body catch on recovery, heal any little nagging injuries, and keeps you from burning out. The week off is especially a good idea after intense training periods like you've had. After this week off, get back to the gym but with a lower-volume program.

When you get back to the gym you can follow the same routine if you like, but take a day off after each weight-training day so you only end up training each bodypart once a week. Or you can try a different program (check out my weight training article for some sample programs) but just keep it lower volume -- no more than 60-70 total sets/week. I like switching routines every months cycling volume and intensity throughout the year. Follow a given program for two months, then take a week off, then get back with a different program.

As far as your other questions, taking a break and switching to a lower-volume program may well take care of them too. Feeling sluggish and nearly burned out is normal when following high-intensity/high-volume program like you have for a long time. Has the same thing happened in the first weeks when you started the program? If not, it's bvery likely that you're starting to overtrain and the sluggishiness is the symptom of that.

The intense hunger is also understandable given the high demand this program is placing your body. Though another reason for it could be just that you're not eating as much you could and probably should. I'd guess you can easily eat 2000 balanced calories daily and still lose weight and fat. If you're eating much less than that, then I recommend you slowly start increasing your calories (with healthy carbs and fats, not just protein). You're likely to find that you're still able to lose weight and fat at higher caloric intake.

And as far as something you can snack on without having to worry about gaining weight, unfortunately there isn't much that fits the bill other than light veggies (salad stuff, tomatoes, spinach, etc.) and protein-only foods (tuna, egg whites). Other foods that contain substantial carbs and/or fats can add up to weight gains if you snack on too much of them. But as I said before, if you're constantly finding yourself hungry there's an excellent chance you're not eating as much as your body can support. Hope this was helpful. Once again, great job on your progress from your 200-pound days! Best of luck with your training!