Is It Easy to Truly Overtrain? 

Overtraining is a controversial concept. While it’s possible to overdo resistance training, leading to stalled gains, what’s the limit? Should we worry about training too much? House of Hypertrophy (HoH) sifted through the science, revealing that true overtraining is far rarer than believed. 

It’s exceptionally difficult to overtrain.

—House of Hypertrophy

HOH used a training spectrum, ranging from undertraining to maintaining, effective training, functional overreaching, non-functional overreaching, and overtraining.

• Undertraining – Less effort produces suboptimal results. 
• Maintaining – Enough stimulus to keep, but not lose or increase gains.
• Effective training – Adequate stimulus to progress.

Overreaching vs. Overtraining

Functional overreaching involves a short-term dip in performance followed by progress, while non-functional overreaching causes a decline in performance without subsequent gains. 

Overtraining is more severe, as performance drops with or without symptoms, prolonging recovery, with no improvements once recovered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB9znHdMvIg

Easy to Overtrain? 

A meta-analysis of 22 studies aimed at overreaching or overtraining found that “10 failed to even induce any sustained performance decrease.” Overtraining wasn’t easy to achieve. (1)

In one trial, participants performed over 40 weekly sets of leg exercises, including hack squats, leg presses, front and back squats, all at six-rep max intensities. (2) Some fatigue and a slight drop in testosterone were noted, but “neither overtraining nor non-functional overreaching occurred, as leg press strength actually improved four days after the final session.”

Another study from 1994 had subjects complete 10 sets of one-rep maxes 6 days a week, or 60 one-rep max sets, on a squat machine. (3) “Strength decreases with follow-up surveys revealing it took subjects two to eight weeks to get back to lifting their normal loads.” Moreover, testosterone levels or rep max endurance weren’t consistently impacted. 

“The literature tends to focus on the time frame of performance recovery to define overtraining and not other symptoms or markers,” HOH explained.

How to Actually Overtrain

In one intense block of training with 36 total weekly sets, power clean strength failed to recover even after three weeks of reduced training and complete rest. However, some detraining may have occurred during the rest period. Performance returned to baseline in one week in other literature. (4)

The Dangers of “Too Much Too Soon”

Straining muscles without proper progression or training experience could cause adverse effects.

A study by Foley et al., involving untrained men who performed five sets of 10 eccentric-only biceps curls with a 110% one-rep max load, showed significant damage and reduced muscle size below baseline. This could be due to excess fiber damage.

Some case studies found more severe outcomes. (5) Although these are rare, they still indicate that abrupt high-intensity training is far riskier than gradual progression.

Gradual Progression & Repeated Bout Effect

The repeated bout effect is when the body adapts to training over time, reducing damage and fatigue. 

Two studies showed that gradually increasing training volume — from 22 to over 50 weekly sets — led to the greatest strength and hypertrophy gains, without overtraining. (6)(7)

Size and strength gains scale with higher training volumes, but there’s a point of decelerated gains. It appears to be individual. 

Individual differences, such as genetics (e.g., muscle fiber types, bone size), age, and lifestyle factors, should be considered. Undereating or poor nutrition can inhibit recovery and performance; chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body. (8)(9)(10) Mental health plays a crucial role in recovery. (11)

Overtraining Is Real, but Rare

“Although overtraining is possible, it is improbable for most. The body can tolerate a lot, especially if you gradually progress over time,” HOH stated.

Avoid pushing training to extreme levels. Hitting a wall doesn’t necessarily indicate overtraining, but normal fatigue. A few rest days with reduced training volume and intensity could help.

More Training Content

• Beginner’s Guide to the Gym
• How to Build Muscle
• How to Train on a Cut

References 

1. Grandou C, Wallace L, Impellizzeri FM, Allen NG, Coutts AJ. Overtraining in Resistance Exercise: An Exploratory Systematic Review and Methodological Appraisal of the Literature. Sports Med. 2020 Apr;50(4):815-828. doi: 10.1007/s40279-019-01242-2. PMID: 31820373.
2. Raastad T, Glomsheller T, Bjøro T, Hallén J. Changes in human skeletal muscle contractility and hormone status during 2 weeks of heavy strength training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2001 Jan-Feb;84(1-2):54-63. doi: 10.1007/s004210000328. PMID: 11394254.
3. Fry AC, Kraemer WJ, van Borselen F, Lynch JM, Marsit JL, Roy EP, Triplett NT, Knuttgen HG. Performance decrements with high-intensity resistance exercise overtraining. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994 Sep;26(9):1165-73. PMID: 7808252.
4. Margonis K, Fatouros IG, Jamurtas AZ, Nikolaidis MG, Douroudos I, Chatzinikolaou A, Mitrakou A, Mastorakos G, Papassotiriou I, Taxildaris K, Kouretas D. Oxidative stress biomarkers responses to physical overtraining: implications for diagnosis. Free Radic Biol Med. 2007 Sep 15;43(6):901-10. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2007.05.022. Epub 2007 May 23. Erratum in: Free Radic Biol Med. 2008 Jun 15;44(12):2058. PMID: 17697935.
5. Enes A, DE Souza EO, Souza-Junior TP. Effects of Different Weekly Set Progressions on Muscular Adaptations in Trained Males: Is There a Dose-Response Effect? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2024 Mar 1;56(3):553-563. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0000000000003317. Epub 2023 Oct 5. PMID: 37796222.
6. Enes A, Correa CL, Bernardo MF, Salles GN, Oneda G, Leonel DF, Fleck SJ, Phillips SM, De Souza EO, Souza-Junior TP. Does increasing the resistance-training volume lead to greater gains? The effects of weekly set progressions on muscular adaptations in females. J Sports Sci. 2025 Feb;43(4):381-392. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2025.2459003. Epub 2025 Jan 27. PMID: 39869076.
7. Bellinger P, Desbrow B, Derave W, Lievens E, Irwin C, Sabapathy S, Kennedy B, Craven J, Pennell E, Rice H, Minahan C. Muscle fiber typology is associated with the incidence of overreaching in response to overload training. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2020 Oct 1;129(4):823-836. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00314.2020. Epub 2020 Aug 20. PMID: 32816636.
8. Stellingwerff T, Heikura IA, Meeusen R, Bermon S, Seiler S, Mountjoy ML, Burke LM. Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S): Shared Pathways, Symptoms and Complexities. Sports Med. 2021 Nov;51(11):2251-2280. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01491-0. Epub 2021 Jun 28. PMID: 34181189.
9. Stults-Kolehmainen MA, Bartholomew JB, Sinha R. Chronic psychological stress impairs recovery of muscular function and somatic sensations over a 96-hour period. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Jul;28(7):2007-17. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000335. PMID: 24343323.
10. Stults-Kolehmainen MA, Bartholomew JB, Sinha R. Chronic psychological stress impairs recovery of muscular function and somatic sensations over a 96-hour period. J Strength Cond Res. 2014 Jul;28(7):2007-17. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000335. PMID: 24343323.

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