FT Questions....

[Scott Stevenson]

Hey Joshua,

I'm sure others will have their opinion, but going back and checking out your log. You blasted for 7 weeks (too long), and took 5 days off the gym (too short). That's not not a prescribed cruise (see page 82 in the book), and I'm guessing that's why you feel like dirt. (also unsure if your food / cardio / supplementation has changed).

But twice I've short changed myself on cruises and paid for it the following blast.

Detective Altamir has done a very nice job here. (Thank you from me. )

The clearest option is to take time off (NO TRAINING) until you feel ready and start back at Tier I.

You sounds like you're actually deep into overreaching and bordering on overtraining here. This could be possible if you tried to string together two blasts that were both too long, with too much volume, and without cruises that were long enough. This could be basically 5+mo. of training with the majority of that time approaching an overreached state.

If you are not making progress and now regressing in the gym (regardless of Set Type) and you would expect to (diet is on point, you're not pre-contest, etc.), then this fits with the main criterion for overtraining. If you don't remedy this, it can mean needing a LONG time off - weeks and weeks, if not months...

I bet if you were to rest and eat up for literally 10-14 days (no training) you would come back and impress yourself with your lifts in the gym. If you were to take that time off and limits your kcal b/c of a fear of gaining fat and try to do some other form of high intensity exercise, you would probably not rebound or come out of this state very well at all (if at all).

I'm hitting you with the diabolical here b/c you sound a bit panicked and tempted to keep pushing. Also, since you weren't quite even sure what program you were following ("I think that's what the e-book refers to it as"), I'm guessing you might benefit from taking a good look at what the e-book says. (Just run a "Find" in the .pdf file for the word "overtraining" and you'll see how important this concept is to me.)

-S