Audra Yocom is a certified personal trainer based out of Los Angeles, who will be answering your fitness questions on a weekly basis (every Monday) and will also bring you monthly fitness tips via her regular column (resuming in July) to help us to dis-spell those myths we’ve all been subjected to regarding fitness at one point or another in our battle with the bulge. You can also hear Audra with her fitness tips during the early morning (5am – 7am) A.M. Blast block of upbeat tunes geared towards your morning workout and via her new “Fitness and Health” Show the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30 pm on intraffikradio.com (http://tinyurl.com/intraffikradio) or under Intraffikradio under the eclectic section under iTunes Radio. To learn more about Audra or to inquire about training sessions visit her site http://audrayocom.com.
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QUESTION: Is it effective to train 3 to 4 hours a day as opposed to training 1 to 1.5 hours per day?
ANSWER: According to the International Sports Sciences Association training 3 to 4 hours per day provides no greater benefits than training 1 to 1.5 hours per day. Excessive training (where volume and/or intensity is increased too quickly and without appropriate progression) has shown to drastically reduce muscle strength and can lead to chronic fatigue.
If excessive training continues for extended periods of time for several days or weeks it’s possible to reduce strength and performance to the point where it will take several days, weeks or even months to fully restore your performance. In addition, if your body is in a constant state of catabolism it can’t produce necessary chemicals in the body to facilitate healing and repair processes.
Some symptoms of excessive training include a decrease in performance, an increase in infections, an elevated heart rate, chronic fatigue, personality changes, irritability, inability to sleep and high blood pressure – just to name a few.
It’s natural to feel tired after a workout or after repeated days of working out intensely, but if after a few days of rest and a higher carbohydrate diet don’t get you back to your full training capacity it’s definitely time to reassess your workout regimen.
Audra will be answering your fitness questions every Monday. If you have questions you’d like answered you may email her at Audra@intraffik.com or send to info@intraffik.com. To see if your questions have been addressed check out past “Ask Audra” Column Entries here