Ask Shannon: Nutrition & Fitness Q & A at Her Active Life

Click here for the Lead Stories

Ask Shannon: Nutrition & Fitness Q & A

Posted April 23, 2008 at 12:00 PM by Shannon Clark

Section: Her Fitness, Training Programs

girl With years of training under her belt, resident fitness and nutrition expert Shannon Clark is ready to help you on your way to a healthy, informed lifestyle. Got a question? Email HAL your inquiries, and be sure to check back every week for the latest Q&A.

Q: Why is it that some days I feel so great during my workout, but then others I’m really physically drained? I find that usually this happens later on in the week, but I am always making sure I rest each body part at least 48 hours between weight lifting sessions.

A: Feeling drained during your workout is definitely something that you do not want happening. While there could be several reasons for this such as lack of sleep, improper pre-workout nutrition, lack of total calorie intake, outside stress factors such as a demanding job or personal problems, and so on, one main concern you may want to address is CNS overtraining.

Most people, when they think about overtraining tend to think of muscular overtraining. This is overtraining that results because of working a muscle too much without enough rest. You are avoiding this by providing at least 48 hours of rest between lifting sessions for any particular muscle group - so good job on that.

However, CNS overtraining, doesn’t necessarily have to be per-muscle related. Every time you lift a heavy weight, your nervous system is being taxed. If you do a very hard leg workout one day for example, then proceed to follow this the next day with a hard upper body workout, this could be too much for your CNS to handle at any given time.

As such, you will notice fatigue resulting.

So, to remedy this, if this is in fact what is causing your problem, have a good look at the overall set-up of your workout program. Be sure that you are providing enough overall total rest for your entire body, not just per workout part. You shouldn’t go more than two days in a row with heavy lifting sessions without a day off and should have one full day off per week. If you use this strategy, you should notice your symptoms improving.

Q: I’m in an argument with my boyfriend and I was wondering if you could settle it for me. He says that I should be doing at least 3 sets for each exercise I do, but I say that if I do one or two that is enough. Who’s right?

A: This is a heavily debated question amongst the fitness crowd. Some people are still stuck in the old ways of very high volume workouts, while others favour shorter, more intense lifting sessions.

I would say it depends on what your particular goals are and your own individual recovery ability.

If you find that you are struggling to make it through your workout with energy when doing three to four sets, then likely, you should either reduce back on the sets per exercise, or number of exercises you are performing overall.

Technically, you will derive the greatest benefits within the first one or two sets, however, the higher volume can spark a little more muscle growth and strength improvement, so long as you don’t cross over and start overtraining.

That is the biggest factor with such high volume workouts - the risk of overtraining really goes up and additionally, usually the more volume you do, the lighter you have to lift. Lifting heavy is THE key aspect that really changes your body so it is not something to sacrifice on.

So, unfortunately no one is technically right here; both have valid points. Although, you being a girl, usually you will have a slightly reduced recovery capacity so likely two sets will be enough for you.