Was I Wrong About Overtraining
video description
Date: 2025-07-08
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 20
bluewolf8289
Jeff, you made two videos on overtraining but I think you missed the mark on what true overtraining actually looks like. It’s not just about short-term studies or 2-week high-volume experiments it’s about what happens when you train so much, so often, that your body never has time to fully recover.
You said overtraining is actually a lot less common than people realize. Hard disagree. I used to work at one of the largest gym chains in North America, and I saw it all the time: people grinding out 23 hour workouts, 7 days a week, for months or even years without a single rest day. That’s true overtraining not some exaggerated term or myth. It’s real, and I’ve seen the effects up close.
The studies you mentioned (like 25 sets of heavy compound lifts 4x/week or 1-rep maxes for 2 weeks straight) are honestly poor representations of what long-term overtraining looks like. Two weeks isn’t enough time to experience the chronic burnout, joint pain, plateaus, hormone shifts, or injuries that come from consistently pushing without rest.
I’ve heard the overtraining is a myth line from gym bros too many times and yet I see the opposite daily. Overtraining isn’t about working out hard. It’s about doing it too hard, too long, too often with zero recovery. And the cost Injuries, stalled progress, mental burnout, wasted time.
I’ve been there myself. I used to run the classic bro split: chest, arms, back, legs, shoulders repeat 7 days a week, minimum 2 hours per workout. I kept that up for about 6 months until I completely burnt out. Thankfully, I found your programs and they’ve been a game-changer. I started with the Ultimate Push Pull Legs System and now I’m on The Bodybuilding Transformation System both are awesome and way more sustainable.
Just wanted to give my two cents from real-world experience. I think true overtraining is way more common than most people realize not less.
reply
Jeff, you made two videos on overtraining but I think you missed the mark on what true overtraining actually looks like. It’s not just about short-term studies or 2-week high-volume experiments it’s about what happens when you train so much, so often, that your body never has time to fully recover.
You said overtraining is actually a lot less common than people realize. Hard disagree. I used to work at one of the largest gym chains in North America, and I saw it all the time: people grinding out 23 hour workouts, 7 days a week, for months or even years without a single rest day. That’s true overtraining not some exaggerated term or myth. It’s real, and I’ve seen the effects up close.
The studies you mentioned (like 25 sets of heavy compound lifts 4x/week or 1-rep maxes for 2 weeks straight) are honestly poor representations of what long-term overtraining looks like. Two weeks isn’t enough time to experience the chronic burnout, joint pain, plateaus, hormone shifts, or injuries that come from consistently pushing without rest.
I’ve heard the overtraining is a myth line from gym bros too many times and yet I see the opposite daily. Overtraining isn’t about working out hard. It’s about doing it too hard, too long, too often with zero recovery. And the cost Injuries, stalled progress, mental burnout, wasted time.
I’ve been there myself. I used to run the classic bro split: chest, arms, back, legs, shoulders repeat 7 days a week, minimum 2 hours per workout. I kept that up for about 6 months until I completely burnt out. Thankfully, I found your programs and they’ve been a game-changer. I started with the Ultimate Push Pull Legs System and now I’m on The Bodybuilding Transformation System both are awesome and way more sustainable.
Just wanted to give my two cents from real-world experience. I think true overtraining is way more common than most people realize not less.
reply
samlewis7339
Something I think often gets missed in conversations about overtraining and overreaching is that people talk about them like they’re purely a function of the training program, as if the program itself is what causes overreaching or overtraining.
But in reality, the likelihood of overreaching is heavily influenced by your recovery capital. If you're a surgical trainee working 70-hour weeks, sleeping 5 hours a night, and raising young kids, your recovery ability is going to be drastically different from someone working part-time, sleeping 10 hours, and living with low stress.
That means the same program could push one person into overreaching while being totally manageable for another. I really enjoyed the breakdown in this video, but I think this nuance often gets missed.
A lot of fitness advice is geared toward people who are borderline obsessed with optimizing gains but most people aren’t like that. For them, lifting is a part of life, not the point of it. So when giving advice about volume, intensity, or recovery, I think it's worth stressing that individual lifestyle factors matter just as much as the set-and-rep scheme.
reply
Something I think often gets missed in conversations about overtraining and overreaching is that people talk about them like they’re purely a function of the training program, as if the program itself is what causes overreaching or overtraining.
But in reality, the likelihood of overreaching is heavily influenced by your recovery capital. If you're a surgical trainee working 70-hour weeks, sleeping 5 hours a night, and raising young kids, your recovery ability is going to be drastically different from someone working part-time, sleeping 10 hours, and living with low stress.
That means the same program could push one person into overreaching while being totally manageable for another. I really enjoyed the breakdown in this video, but I think this nuance often gets missed.
A lot of fitness advice is geared toward people who are borderline obsessed with optimizing gains but most people aren’t like that. For them, lifting is a part of life, not the point of it. So when giving advice about volume, intensity, or recovery, I think it's worth stressing that individual lifestyle factors matter just as much as the set-and-rep scheme.
reply
Geoff-0
Overtrain (verb):
to train (a person or animal) to excess or beyond advantage: to harm (a person or animal) by too much training
By definition, overtraining just means training to a harmful or excessive degree. It doesn’t need to be rare, extreme, or medically diagnosed. If you're consistently pushing beyond your ability to recover and your performance is suffering, then you're overtraining plain and simple.
People are using overtraining in the everyday, dictionary-defined way not how it's used in a scientific literature. And since it's easier to control your workouts than your recovery; you have to make adjustments to your training routine to not overtrain your recovery limit.
In other words; Overtraining (general term) is not the same as Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)
reply
Overtrain (verb):
to train (a person or animal) to excess or beyond advantage: to harm (a person or animal) by too much training
By definition, overtraining just means training to a harmful or excessive degree. It doesn’t need to be rare, extreme, or medically diagnosed. If you're consistently pushing beyond your ability to recover and your performance is suffering, then you're overtraining plain and simple.
People are using overtraining in the everyday, dictionary-defined way not how it's used in a scientific literature. And since it's easier to control your workouts than your recovery; you have to make adjustments to your training routine to not overtrain your recovery limit.
In other words; Overtraining (general term) is not the same as Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)
reply
tacboy-o4t
Idk i train hard for hours daily and my energy just goes up and normally after I hit the gym for 2 too 4 hours I have crazy energy and a dopamine rush I get sore but after 20 too 30 mins and after eating and drinking water Im able too throw some calisthenics in there if I wanna its not as much as if I started with them but I can get plenty of dips in a few sets of pull-ups and plenty of push-ups if I do legs probly not squats or lunges cause after leg day im almost always wobbly but my point is I feel like its actually hard too overtrain unless your relatively new too working out or have been lacking for awhile also if im fasting I notice I get less energy after workouts
reply
Idk i train hard for hours daily and my energy just goes up and normally after I hit the gym for 2 too 4 hours I have crazy energy and a dopamine rush I get sore but after 20 too 30 mins and after eating and drinking water Im able too throw some calisthenics in there if I wanna its not as much as if I started with them but I can get plenty of dips in a few sets of pull-ups and plenty of push-ups if I do legs probly not squats or lunges cause after leg day im almost always wobbly but my point is I feel like its actually hard too overtrain unless your relatively new too working out or have been lacking for awhile also if im fasting I notice I get less energy after workouts
reply
KeksimusMaximus
Because of people online saying that overtraining doesn't exist, I got overtrained THREE TIMES in my life. It's a slow creeping process when you're in constant stress, insufficient rest, too much physical activity and not enough calories. I had all of it: physical job consistent lifting weird sleep pattern (job schedule was iffy) not enough food (I was trying to cut too. After several months of living like this I got basically my immune system disabled and I had the worst colds imaginable that could be two weeks long. Was losing gains each time too. I just didn't connect the dots because DOOD YOU CAN'T OVERTRAIN LMAOOOO. Yeah, thanks a lot. I can. And I did.
reply
Because of people online saying that overtraining doesn't exist, I got overtrained THREE TIMES in my life. It's a slow creeping process when you're in constant stress, insufficient rest, too much physical activity and not enough calories. I had all of it: physical job consistent lifting weird sleep pattern (job schedule was iffy) not enough food (I was trying to cut too. After several months of living like this I got basically my immune system disabled and I had the worst colds imaginable that could be two weeks long. Was losing gains each time too. I just didn't connect the dots because DOOD YOU CAN'T OVERTRAIN LMAOOOO. Yeah, thanks a lot. I can. And I did.
reply
kfcfan101
Jeff Nippard’s message about overtraining is misleading because he relies on a clinical definition of overtraining while giving advice meant for everyday lifters. By claiming that most people aren’t overtraining, he dismisses the far more common issue of chronic under-recovery from excessive volume or frequency what Mentzer would rightly consider overtraining. He also says to train hard without clarifying whether that means more volume or true intensity, which confuses the distinction between productive effort and burnout. The result is advice that sounds evidence-based but can push lifters further into stagnation or fatigue without realizing it.
reply
Jeff Nippard’s message about overtraining is misleading because he relies on a clinical definition of overtraining while giving advice meant for everyday lifters. By claiming that most people aren’t overtraining, he dismisses the far more common issue of chronic under-recovery from excessive volume or frequency what Mentzer would rightly consider overtraining. He also says to train hard without clarifying whether that means more volume or true intensity, which confuses the distinction between productive effort and burnout. The result is advice that sounds evidence-based but can push lifters further into stagnation or fatigue without realizing it.
reply
Stealth1228
Me and my buddy hit the gym for the first time a few months back and hit each muscle as isolated as possible and always did last set till failure and about 2 months in we both just woke up not sore but just fatigued and muscles didn’t feel like they were in peak performance we also both got stretch marks on our biceps were both about 20-25% body fat anyone know if it was over training and why the stretch marks appeared on our biceps we still have them 2 months later but we took a like 3 day break from the gym felt amazing again and came back even stronger higher weight same reps except for till failure we went up in reps with higher weight same
reply
Me and my buddy hit the gym for the first time a few months back and hit each muscle as isolated as possible and always did last set till failure and about 2 months in we both just woke up not sore but just fatigued and muscles didn’t feel like they were in peak performance we also both got stretch marks on our biceps were both about 20-25% body fat anyone know if it was over training and why the stretch marks appeared on our biceps we still have them 2 months later but we took a like 3 day break from the gym felt amazing again and came back even stronger higher weight same reps except for till failure we went up in reps with higher weight same
reply
jeffnippard
In my early 20s I was training like a madman. It was muscle mags back then and I was following what all the pros were doing minus the gear. I'd been training hard for about 4 years. One day I noticed I had colour in my urine and I went to the doctor. They tested me and the result were the colour was not a kidney infection but hemoglobin. When I asked what that meant he explained my muscles were actually breaking down from over training and dumping hemoglobin into my blood stream. I was like Maybe that explains why my bench press actually got weaker.
It was then I realized there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
reply
In my early 20s I was training like a madman. It was muscle mags back then and I was following what all the pros were doing minus the gear. I'd been training hard for about 4 years. One day I noticed I had colour in my urine and I went to the doctor. They tested me and the result were the colour was not a kidney infection but hemoglobin. When I asked what that meant he explained my muscles were actually breaking down from over training and dumping hemoglobin into my blood stream. I was like Maybe that explains why my bench press actually got weaker.
It was then I realized there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
reply
Iceman-hb3uk
I did find myself overtraining two winters ago, you can definitely tell when it's happening.
I used to bench 90kg for 6 reps (4 sets) after doing 34kg per dumbbell inclined chest press (5 reps, 5 sets) but then I started struggling more and more, even while being on a bulk, and I went down to 30kg dumbbells and 80kg on bench.
I just couldn't do it, and it felt so bad cause I didn't know what I was doing wrong, asked my gym's owner (ex bodybuilder) and he told me to either take a week off or train really light for a week or two.
Best thing I ever did, trained light for a week and hadn't any issue after.
reply
I did find myself overtraining two winters ago, you can definitely tell when it's happening.
I used to bench 90kg for 6 reps (4 sets) after doing 34kg per dumbbell inclined chest press (5 reps, 5 sets) but then I started struggling more and more, even while being on a bulk, and I went down to 30kg dumbbells and 80kg on bench.
I just couldn't do it, and it felt so bad cause I didn't know what I was doing wrong, asked my gym's owner (ex bodybuilder) and he told me to either take a week off or train really light for a week or two.
Best thing I ever did, trained light for a week and hadn't any issue after.
reply
kcor9169
There's a lot of scientific nuance with overtraining just as it is subjective to classify (for example) a person's personal response of high volume. For some people high volume is any sets past 4 for each individual muscle. For some well trained people it's as high as 30 sets per group but you can alter variables such heavy chest/light triceps on Monday and light chest/heavy triceps on Thursday or even PPL that utilizes 3 leg days and 2 push/pulls that have even more specific goals for legs (heavy quads, light quads, heavy hams/glutes and moderate calves throughout all 3 leg days)
reply
There's a lot of scientific nuance with overtraining just as it is subjective to classify (for example) a person's personal response of high volume. For some people high volume is any sets past 4 for each individual muscle. For some well trained people it's as high as 30 sets per group but you can alter variables such heavy chest/light triceps on Monday and light chest/heavy triceps on Thursday or even PPL that utilizes 3 leg days and 2 push/pulls that have even more specific goals for legs (heavy quads, light quads, heavy hams/glutes and moderate calves throughout all 3 leg days)
reply
elbowstrike
Even better than a deload week, take a nothing week and instead of training just do recreational active recovery activities for the week. You get the same supercompensation as a deload week, but you also resensitize your body to the stimulus of training, like a heavy drinker going cold turkey for a time so that when they go back to drinking they’re a light weight again, or going cold turkey for a week off of coffee so that you can get by on one or two coffees again instead of having to have 5 or more to get through the day.
reply
Even better than a deload week, take a nothing week and instead of training just do recreational active recovery activities for the week. You get the same supercompensation as a deload week, but you also resensitize your body to the stimulus of training, like a heavy drinker going cold turkey for a time so that when they go back to drinking they’re a light weight again, or going cold turkey for a week off of coffee so that you can get by on one or two coffees again instead of having to have 5 or more to get through the day.
reply
isaacbrown4506
I broke my arm in 3 places a bit over a year ago and got into lifting over the last month and a half to get my arm back to normal. After about a month and a week, I was starting to get super exhausted and really having to push to finish my workouts. I just did a brutal leg day a few days ago that forced me to take two days off and i feel great now guess I probably shouldn't have been trying to push it so hard, but i lost 17 pounds in that month and a half and got excited and was pushing it like crazy.
reply
I broke my arm in 3 places a bit over a year ago and got into lifting over the last month and a half to get my arm back to normal. After about a month and a week, I was starting to get super exhausted and really having to push to finish my workouts. I just did a brutal leg day a few days ago that forced me to take two days off and i feel great now guess I probably shouldn't have been trying to push it so hard, but i lost 17 pounds in that month and a half and got excited and was pushing it like crazy.
reply
Sin_Of_Greed
I wanted to get shredded fast and thatbsuper aesthetic look.
So I probably overtrained, more so I overreached.
I continued this for months. I noticed only after I was sick for a month and had to take break from training. Now I'm back to getting results snd and actually breaking PRs. I only train twice a week and when I dobto all out.
One of the problems was that I was constantly in deficit.
I still am, but I allow myself enough recovery time.
reply
I wanted to get shredded fast and thatbsuper aesthetic look.
So I probably overtrained, more so I overreached.
I continued this for months. I noticed only after I was sick for a month and had to take break from training. Now I'm back to getting results snd and actually breaking PRs. I only train twice a week and when I dobto all out.
One of the problems was that I was constantly in deficit.
I still am, but I allow myself enough recovery time.
reply
the55reaper
Hi Jeff. I wanted to share my personal experience. The deload period I introduced let me shove more exercises in the two high volume weeks (4 resistance workouts 1 swimming session 1 boxing session. In the third week, I use the gym for 3 days only, for cardio and stretching, 2 boxing sessions, and 1 swimming session. This added 40kg to my squats and let me introduce new lifts, made me swim longer, and I enjoyed the boxing sessions a lot more.
reply
Hi Jeff. I wanted to share my personal experience. The deload period I introduced let me shove more exercises in the two high volume weeks (4 resistance workouts 1 swimming session 1 boxing session. In the third week, I use the gym for 3 days only, for cardio and stretching, 2 boxing sessions, and 1 swimming session. This added 40kg to my squats and let me introduce new lifts, made me swim longer, and I enjoyed the boxing sessions a lot more.
reply
pluisbollie
So I did train for 4/5 times per week and did around 24 sets per workout (most of them compound lifts. And I might not have been overtraining to the point that is talked about here but I was just not able to recover within 4 days. Only after I stopped for two weeks I could finally sleep again, i wasnt constantly tired anymore. Let's also take into account that that was the first 6 months of me training ever hahahahahahh
reply
So I did train for 4/5 times per week and did around 24 sets per workout (most of them compound lifts. And I might not have been overtraining to the point that is talked about here but I was just not able to recover within 4 days. Only after I stopped for two weeks I could finally sleep again, i wasnt constantly tired anymore. Let's also take into account that that was the first 6 months of me training ever hahahahahahh
reply
Carpe-Diem-gg1hg
Hey smart ppl, i trained to systematic failure on my side and rear delts 2 days ago, and bis and tris, also going to systematic failure yesterday but somehow my bis and tris arent sore but my shoulds still are. Is this normal All of them are relatively small/similar sized muscles, slept and ate about the same, but normally i do probably train more bis and tris than shoulders. Is this normal Could that be the reason
reply
Hey smart ppl, i trained to systematic failure on my side and rear delts 2 days ago, and bis and tris, also going to systematic failure yesterday but somehow my bis and tris arent sore but my shoulds still are. Is this normal All of them are relatively small/similar sized muscles, slept and ate about the same, but normally i do probably train more bis and tris than shoulders. Is this normal Could that be the reason
reply
iamthemobey
I’ve done triathlons, powerlifting, Thai boxing and the only time I’ve over trained is when I was doing Thai / mma training for 12 hours a week while working full time. Also the gym was 40 mins away so over 6 trips a week it adds up.
My body was slow and weak. But mostly my brain was messed up, I couldn’t think straight and decision making was hard. Not great when someone is trying to kick you in the face!
reply
I’ve done triathlons, powerlifting, Thai boxing and the only time I’ve over trained is when I was doing Thai / mma training for 12 hours a week while working full time. Also the gym was 40 mins away so over 6 trips a week it adds up.
My body was slow and weak. But mostly my brain was messed up, I couldn’t think straight and decision making was hard. Not great when someone is trying to kick you in the face!
reply
billyray4716
Another problem I see in modern training styles, only doing hypertrophy training, which will at first seem awesome, you get bigger leaner and more defined shockingly quick, but most people are gassing out before they can reach meaningful stimulus BECAUSE they're only going to the gym to get bigger, building your strength and endurance so you can take your sets farther has been completely overlooked recently
reply
Another problem I see in modern training styles, only doing hypertrophy training, which will at first seem awesome, you get bigger leaner and more defined shockingly quick, but most people are gassing out before they can reach meaningful stimulus BECAUSE they're only going to the gym to get bigger, building your strength and endurance so you can take your sets farther has been completely overlooked recently
reply
aaronschwartz7396
I've only attributed 2 injuries to overtraining. I am an avid runner and both were during the later weeks of 16 week marathon training plans (around week 12-14. I was running 6 days a week over 50 miles per week for multiple weeks on end while working a construction job. I just was not giving myself time to recover and ended up with a calf injury in both cases.
reply
I've only attributed 2 injuries to overtraining. I am an avid runner and both were during the later weeks of 16 week marathon training plans (around week 12-14. I was running 6 days a week over 50 miles per week for multiple weeks on end while working a construction job. I just was not giving myself time to recover and ended up with a calf injury in both cases.
reply
duanedibbley1661
Maybe rare but it does happen. I over trained in my 20's. I was trying to match the workouts of bodybuilders that I long since learned were on steroids when I wasn't. When I didn't make gains like I wanted I'd do more exercises or sets. After a bad accident I got back into lifting slowly. That taught me doing less was actually better for gains.
reply
Maybe rare but it does happen. I over trained in my 20's. I was trying to match the workouts of bodybuilders that I long since learned were on steroids when I wasn't. When I didn't make gains like I wanted I'd do more exercises or sets. After a bad accident I got back into lifting slowly. That taught me doing less was actually better for gains.
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
