MAG Is it too much to train 6 times a week

[tflipz]

i train usually each day 4 hours and Saturdays about 4-5 hours. is that too much?

 

[gymnastbeth]

Depends on your level. Seems acceptable to me, on the high side, as far as hours go, but it's fine as long as you enjoy it.

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

As stated by gymnastbeth...depends on your level...Level 2 through 7..probably...higher levels, probably not...

 

[All Chalked Up]

What level are you? What kind of program? What are your goals? How old are you? Is it interfering A LOT with school, friend, family, etc?

You should probably think about those questions. If you're in like level one or something, it's a bit silly to train that much! If you're in the higher levels, it's probably realistic.

 

[kflipz]

hm, i think the real question is do you have the desire to be that committed to the sport?

 

[tflipz]

i have the desire, and i am level 10. but i feel when i practice 6 times a week i progressively tire out during the week.

 

[aerialriver]

Maybe try cutting the number of hours on one day in the middle of the week. Or do basic skills and conditioning only that day and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

pay now...or pay later. decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

[Aussie_coach]

At level 10 that is a pretty standard training regime.

 

[All Chalked Up]

Well, is it too much for YOU to train that much? Remember, quality not quanity- Shawn Johnson only trained 20-25 hours a week prepping for the Olympics. And look how sucessful she was!

 

[Valentin]

The only questions really here is how to improve your recovery?...
1- Look at your nutrition. The hours you are doing are not uncommon at all for your level, but so is poor nutrition. If you are not feeding the body what it needs to recovery before and after training you do good training wise to a point and then you will be running on negative. This leads to more issues.
2- Sleep. Are you getting good sleep after training's? You need approximately 8hrs a day
3- Does your conditioning plan cycles at all. Does it have light days, and heavy days or is it always the same intensity? Have you been doing this intensity for while or has it recently gone up or down? Yours coach should take that in to account when setting conditioning, however it gets hard to tailor conditioning to individuals when you have 10 kids per group etc..
4- are you not able to recovery between weekday practices or by Saturday you are really tired, and with Sunday you recovery and Monday you good to go again? If that is the case, then its only to be expected, and you should again re-examine points 1,2,3... and see if you can make any improvements there.

If simply you cannot handle those hours you may need to cut some training time down and progressively add it back up, as you adapt.

The end fact is that we only get stronger, better, faster while resting (that is when the magic happens) following hard, appropriate, training (because to much, to often leads to over training and then its a serious issue)

 

[Aussie_coach]

Valentin is right, the hours you are speaking of are not excessive and quite normal for a gymnast of your level. Do you ever wonder why some people cope with the hours better than others. It is often the things you do outside of training that affect how you survive training.

The number one key factor is generally hydration. Dehydration is the number 1 cause of fatigue, most people are not even aware that they are dehydrated until it is quite serious. You need to be drinking lots of water during training, generally a small amount of water should be drunk every 15 minutes of exercise as well as before and after training. But even more so it is important to keep hydrated when you are not training. Your body is 80%, if you drop by even 1 or 2 % you concentration and energy levels will drop significantly.

Speaking of hydration the biggest problem in most people diets today is in fact not what they eat but what they drink. These days it is common to consume lots of cola, soda's, fruit juice, energy drinks, alcohol, coffee and hot chocolate. These drinks were all designed to be consumed occasionally and many people consume them daily. Some people even consume them multiple times per day. If you are one of these, cut this out and you will find a huge difference to your energy levels.

Your diet is of course of primary importance. Poor diet will cause fatigue, lack of energy, less concentration, sluggishness and so on. Most people do not even realize that their diet is doing this to them because the wrong foods are consumed so often that the results are considered normal. An athlete like you must avoid junk food and take aways, too many processed foods and candy.

The other big issue is screen usage. At night time your body produces and chemical called melatonin, this chemical relaxes you body and allows you to sleep. Screen time reduces this chemical in your body this includes Television, computers, video games and ipods. When you have trouble producing this chemical you don't sleep as well and you become over tired. This will build up, someone who is even just a little over tired has the equivalent to a 0.05 blood alcohol level. I wouldn't want to be doing gymnastics like that.