I was curious, a freind of mine has been working out all seven days of the week without much rest for about two years now and he is an incridible shape (Fitness Model). His routine consits of Monday, Wedsday, Friday: Chest, Triceps, Legs and Tuesday, Thrusday, Satuarday: Back, Shoulders, Biceps. Abs: are worked on all seven days of the week.

My question is, is this not overtraining. And if so, what are the dangers of overtraining in general.

Thank you,

A routine like that probably has put him at a higher risk of overtraining, but it really depends on how the workouts themselves are structured.

If he chooses his exercises carefully, gets it right with volume, has a great diet, and pays attention to his body, then he will be able to get away with it. It's obviously working in some capacity for him; however, be wary if you jump on it -- unless you tweak it, it probably won't work as well for you.

Thank you

What are the dangers of overtraining in general.

I won't speculate about your friend because it's tough to say with any real accuracy whether or not he's overtraining just based on what you've mentioned.

But the effects and dangers of chronic overtraining can be very bad indeed, here are the main ones to worry about:

1) Immune system is weakened, which can lead to diseases, injuries & infections.

2) Reduced performance & endurance because of the altered hormone levels in your system.

3) Extended periods of elevated blood pressure

4) Bone & muscle tissue loss due to the increased breakdown of proteins in the body.

Then there are the subsequent events that often come from this:

Depression
Loss of appetite
Poor nutrition
Fatigue
Insomnia
Decreased metabolism
Mood swings

It sounds like Sunday is a rest day where he just does abs. I would say that would be overtraining for most people but if he's a fitness model he may have

1. Lots of free time. The more time you have to plan meals and rest the more you can train without overtraining. Hollywood stars preparing for roles and pro athletes generally undertake programs that would be considered overtraining by most working stiffs.

2. Good genetics-if he's a model he probably has natural gifts.

Also he may not be doing much volume if it's a 2 day split repeated three times in the week. I mean if he's doing legs on the same day as chest how much volume could he do? That would kill most people to hit the entire chest plus triceps plus quads, hammies and calves and then turn around and do it again two days later. Maybe he just does a few sets per muscle group. :d_confuse

I have a friend who is a fitness model also, and he works out most days.
The intensity isnt high as they mainly are concerned with maintaining the body they have not so much getting bigger.
So to train like this and get bigger you would need drugs to compensate for the overtraining.
It is possible to get in this type of shape at this volume and without drugs, but it takes years as the progress is slow.

I thank you all for those great replays.

i got a question. i lift 4 days a week, and cardio 6-7 days a week. is this overtraining on the cardio end? its just low intensity 45 minutes