annoying spams

[backinjured]

I started tuesday of this week to train, dynamic stretching in the morning with basic strength/endurance training (push ups, crunches, leg raises, lunges, etc.), I did that day in the afternoon a training with weights. The afternoon I also do dynamic stretching and basic exercises. I also practiced different extra training during the week. One day I did some shadow boxing, as I said I did weight training tuesday, some skipping rope one day. Yesterday and especially today at school, I felt some spasms in my thighs. Is it due to too much strength/endurance training? or could it be dynamic stretching? I've also done some ballistic stretching in the afternoons and static active such as holding legs in front. Is it about too much stretching? too much strength/endurance training? aerobic training? or is it normal? (I haven't been training for two years) Will it disappear as soons as I get used to the training load or should I stop doing that much training? What is the cause of spasms?

Thanks for your help

[dragon]

It would be easier to understand if you posted your actual workouts for each day(list everything you do on Mon,Tues,Wed,etc) to get a better understanding of what you're doing.Your list sounds like you could be over training.
The muscle spasms could be caused by the static active stretching.If your legs aren't conditioned or if you've tried doing too much,too fast it can cause spasms.
Also,if you're performing dynamic stretching so often there is no need for ballistic stretching(actually,there is no need for ballistic stretching at all).



Dragon.

[backinjured]

Ok then, here's what I did and it was my first "week" of training:


Thuesday

(morning)
running 5-10
dynamic streching for kicks (2 sets of 12 repetitions)
Sits ups, crunches, leg raises
Push ups, other exercises for abs and back
some exercises for knees, it's like lunges but on one leg
It's a training of about one hour.

(afternoon)
same thing as the morning, I call the routine of morning the basics, so I do two times a day the basics.
and then I did some more strength training
dumbbells exercises for upper body and a few lunges (on two legs this time)
Horse Riding Stance (used in martial arts it works a lot on thighs, I hold it maybe 5 minutes)
The strength training took about one hour. (so two hours of training)

I usually get 7 hours of sleep everynight.

Wednesday
(morning)
the basics and some tai chi workout

(afternoon)
shadow boxing
the basics
Horse riding stance
working a lot on boxing (one hour)
Static active exercises such as holding legs in front
And then I practiced slow tai chi kicks (it can be seen as some more static active)

Thursday
(morning)
the basics (but I only had 30 minutes that morning)

(afternoon)
the basics
some skipping rope for 15 minutes
horse riding stance
shadow boxing

Friday
(morning)
the basics (again only for 30 minutes)


during the day(friday) I felt the spasms, my legs were sometimes vibrating, I was only sitting, listening to the teacher and those spasms were pretty annoying. I felt some little spasms on thursday too but that wasn't as much as on friday.

What do you think now? am I overtraining? (During the half of the summer I went to my tai chi classes in bike, it takes 40 minutes and I have to get back home. I do this two times a week since I have two classes per week, by the way I'm just coming back this morning from my class. Of course when I come back I'm tired but I had never felt any spasms because of biking.) So would it be dynamic stretching? But I'm doing them two times a day just as Mr. Kurz says in his book and in his articles. You think it could be static active or my tai chi kicks? well in fact I had practiced this only on wednesday so...

I would like you to tell me what is the cause of my spasms But my question also is, am I going to get used to that training load by just continuating or should I definately reduce my training?

Thanks

[dragon]

In my opinion,definatley doing too much.

I would try and space your days out more(you don't say if anything is done on the weekend) and drop the the routine you call the basics from your morning session.
If you still go to your Tai Chi class,i'd use that day as an active rest day(nothing else on that day) if it's not too strenuous.

Holding your leg out,slow kicks and stance training are all forms of static activity.I'd re-arrange the order of your workouts so you are only performing these about twice per week.

Dragon.

[backinjured]

Ok thanks
I've broken my back because I was doing too much, and I'm still doing too much, when will I learn

"drop the the routine you call the basics from your morning session. "
What do you mean by? I should to what I call the basics (which take one hour) only once a day? Or cut stuff in my basics but still can do it twice a day?

I agree, the static active activities, it would be a good idea to do them twice or three time per week.

And no there isn't anything on weekend since it was my first week of training and I couldn't complete it because it was not appropriate.

[dragon]

In the morning i would only do the running and dynamic stretches(and maybe the Tai Chi if you need to relax).The morning exercises are meant to prepare you for the day and can have a stimulating effect.Doing press ups,leg raises,etc can cause fatigue and affect your performance in your workouts later in the day.

Dragon.

[backinjured]

I didn't know that

What I had in mind is that push ups, crunches and lowerback bodyweight exercises should be done at least twice a day because they're extremely important. I had a lowerback injury and they told me to do the exercises they gave me twice or three times a day. So you think I should do pushups, crunches/sit ups and lower back stuff ONLY in my afternoon workout?

[dragon]

I would imagine the exercises for rehab are performed in a different way than conventional conditioning/endurance/strength work(sets,reps,fatigue levels,etc).

The best thing to do is see your physio/doctor and ask about your current workload.
If it is ok to perform conditioning exercises the same as any other trainee then once per day should be enough unless you are trying to concentrate on improving certain movements/specialization techniques.


Dragon.

[backinjured]

Then what are the exercises I could do twice a day?

and what are the exercises I could do everyday?

[dragon]

If you're talking about conditioning exercises,i've never found the need to perform the same one's everyday(which means definatley not twice per day).

Whether you choose to perform the same exercises everyday depends on how you train.For example,some power lifters may bench press 7 days per week,but the way they work out for strength(sets,reps,not to failure,etc) is very different from a bodybuilder who's training for a pump.

Dragon.

[backinjured]

I want to get a very hard stomach (Crunches), strong arms because my push ups ability is really bad and I also want to get the strongest back (but since I'n still injured I can't use weights like good mornings or deadlifts. Those exercises (I know and use thousands of variations of them), with what I'm expecting from my training, what would be the way to get the best progress?

People wanting great push ups practice them more than once a day, no?

[dragon]

I want to get a very hard stomach (Crunches),

I work my abs 3 times per week-low rep/high weight training 1 week,high rep/bodyweight only training the next week.

strong arms because my push ups ability is really bad

If you want to increase your push up ability(i assume you mean higher reps?),a book called Naked Warrior describes a few techniques for doing this.One such technique is the NASA program-when you get up in the morning perform 10 push ups,then perform 10 every hour until you go to bed.Over weeks of training you drop the time interval slightly(from 1 hour to 50 mins and so on).There are also methods of cycling the training-1 day 20% of your max reps every 30 mins,the next day 50% of your max reps every hour,etc,etc.
Haven't got the book in front of me at the moment but that's the general idea.Is that the kind of high volume training you're after?

and I also want to get the strongest back (but since I'n still injured I can't use weights like good mornings or deadlifts.

To increase pure strength you need to use more resistance or change the leverage(but i wouldn't advise that for your back).For example,if you wanted to increase strength in the push up you could change the angle to hand stand push ups which would make the drill harder.
Increasing the reps of an exercise is only going to produce more endurance not your 1RM.

Dragon.

[backinjured]

"when you get up in the morning perform 10 push ups,then perform 10 every hour until you go to bed." "Is that the kind of high volume training you're after?"

Sorta, yes! I mean, I always thought it would be a good way to increase endurance and my push up ability (and you're right I mean higher reps) by doing push ups more than once a day. If it doesn't have any advantages of doing them more than once a day then I won't do them more than once. And I also change the angle and use other variations to make them harder. However, when I'm practicing I usually do more than 10 push ups... I normally do like 3 or 4 sets of 20-30. And I'm training twice a day. Are you telling me that there aren't any advantages of doing this (push ups training twice a day)? that I should do them only once

I work my abs 3 times per week-low rep/high weight training 1 week,high rep/bodyweight only training the next week.

Well I think I'm not at the weight training level, I should still only use bodyweight exercises for abs such as sit ups, crunches, leg raises too, reverse crunches. My abs training is really similar to push ups training. Is it still wrong to practice twice a day abs? There aren't any advantages of doing more than once?

To increase pure strength you need to use more resistance or change the leverage(but i wouldn't advise that for your back).For example,if you wanted to increase strength in the push up you could change the angle to hand stand push ups which would make the drill harder.

Of course, I can't add more resistance. The way I'm practicing back exercises is again really similar to push ups or abs, it consists of exercises for endurance and some would increase strength since it's hard to perform only a few reps. Let's say it's push ups. Here I come with the same question: No benefits of doing these kind of exercises more than once a day?

and add EVERYDAY to the other question?


Thanks for the help

[Kit]

I recommend you read the articles on planning workouts. Start with this one:
http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch17.html
This article points out how important it is to order your exercises and the benefits of rest.

I agree with dragon - you are trying to do too much too quickly

[Kit]

ps.. if you train at the level in your plan - after a few weeks, you may well find yourself injuring your self, especially your back! Too much too soon is not healthy!