All in moderation

> Overtraining can do more harm than good to our body

days a week. Intermediate and advanced lifters can bump up their training to four or five days, as long as they continue to focus on recovery.

Recovery days should be spent doing light activities. Going for a walk, foam rolling (self massaging), and yoga or light stretching, are all great alternatives to move your body while still allowing your muscles to recover.

Too much cardio Cardio certainly shouldn’t be a bad thing, but if your main focus is building strength and size, it shouldn’t form the backbone of your training.

Focusing too much on weight loss would also be detrimental.

Your goals would be better achieved if your workout programme was multifaceted and varied.

Doing steady-state cardio at a moderate pace helps to build heart strength, but it also tailors your body towards type I muscle fibres – those with the least potential for growth.

The bulk of your cardio should involve intervals that feature brief periods of intense activity, followed by recovery periods.

The high intensity intervals allow you to increase musclebuilding hormones and hit the bigger type II muscle fibres, all the while offering a great cardio workout.

The overload principle The ‘go big or go home’ mentality that pushes many guys to give it all in the gym may actually may not be the best strategy towards performance and fitness goals.

Similar to working out too often, constantly pushing your body to the limit each workout neglects the need for recovery.

A proper programme should include periods of high intensity with recovery days or ‘deload weeks’, which can include light work at the gym.

Plan out your recovery time in advance around your work and family schedule, so that it falls at a time when it would be tough to maintain your normal routine.

Time wasters With lack of time being a major factor keeping many people out of the gym, it’s amazing how much time is wasted by people checking their cell phones, and chatting with other people in between sets.

The average effective individual should be able to complete a full workout in 45 minutes, not including warmup and cool-down.

The problem with wasting time may mean the workout cannot be completed at the end of the session and you’ll be rushing through the rest of your sets and reps.

To make the most of your time in the weight room, focus on timing your sets. Recovery between sets shouldn’t take more than one minute, which is ample time to prepare for a transition towards the next set or exercise. Start as soon as possible.

Also, have a plan of attack when you hit the gym rather than making it up as you go.

Planning out your exercises beforehand can save you a lot of headache when you hit the gym floor.

Let’s be fit!