When weight training, it is important to stress your body enough to trigger your brains muscle-building mechanism. This will adapt your body to cope with the effort it takes to lift the weight you put upon it. It therefore goes that the heavier weights you can lift, the more your body will grow to enable you to lift them. However, it is possible to give your body too much work to do, so much that it gives up and goes the opposite way. This is called overtraining.
You can trigger this overtraining process in a number of ways, but usually it will only occur if you train too often without recovery, or if you lift a weight too heavy for your body on a regular basis. This is why you much leave room in you training routine for plenty of rest, both after your workout (usually at least a 24 hour break) and even between sets to catch your breath etc. If you think you may be overtraining, one of the first signs is your pulse rate. Because you have pushed your body too far, your heart will beat faster to promote recovery, even when you aren't doing anything. One of the best ways then is to check your pulse as soon as you wake up in the morning. If your pulse is several beats faster then usual, even at rest, then you MAY be heading towards overtraining effects.
If you think you are at this stage then you should look out for the following symptoms, all resulting in your body's breakdown:
And the cure? Simple, take plenty of rest. A weeks total rest can be of great benefit and will help prevent massive muscle atrophy. Also take plenty of protein and vitamins as a supplement to a healthy vitamin rich diet. This is what you should always be aiming for, not just when you feel ill, and the extra nutrients will help the body recover. Take light exercise like walking or light swimming to help the appetite and never jump back into a heavy training routine. When you think you are ready to come back to training, reduce the weight all-round by at least 1kg or more so you can feel the weights are easier to lift. Then build it back up slowly over a four week period until you feel comfortable. Remember, it could be too much weight in the routine which has cause the effects in the first place. Also think about your training days. A five day cycle may benefit heavy users who need to tax their strength quite a lot to maintain their size but for must users a heavier routine three times a week will work best. This gives the user a full days gap between sessions and helping recovery. If you also perform much heavy lifting in you job then sometimes once or twice a week is enough as your job may push you over the weight stress boundary.
Of course, prevention is always better than cure so you must always be on your guard for possible causes. Check your diet, training routine and weight regularly, maybe every few month to make sure you are making gains. Maximise your nutrient intake. Never abuse forced or cheat reps as these will heighten the risk of the worst happening. Some experts believe that taking carbohydrates two hours before and directly after your training will help your body with the strain, but never take a meal until at least an hour has passed as this can lead to all sorts of digestion and fat problems. Protein tablets may also be taken in the same way.
Finally, never forget to use the best cure for all ills - Water!. Take a gallon per day of any water based drink (avoiding tea and coffee where possible) to fully hydrate your body. A good indicated is urine colour, the darker the colour, the more you need to drink water. If your urine is almost clear, then your system is working at it most efficient level. It doesn't hurt to sip water after and even during a workout to oil the works a little. If you sweat a lot or the summer is particularly hot, you may need to take up to 3 times the amount indicated above.
