Overtraining Versus Overreaching

 What exactly is overtraining? How is it different from overreaching? Learn how to tell the difference between the two and what you can do to prevent both.

As director of a leading real estate development company based in Johannesburg, Laurence Grigorov is involved in all aspects of the development process of these complex projects. 

In order to relax and unwind, Laurence Grigorov enjoys exercising and in particular training at the gym. This is important for a healthy work-life balance.

People casually toss around the term "overtraining." Some think they are constantly in an overtrained state, blaming their lack of progress on their self-diagnosed condition.  

Others miss no opportunity to tell everyone that "overtraining is a myth," and that if you train and recover "hard enough," you can bust through any plateau.  

Which position is accurate? Let's start by defining some key terms.  

Overtraining Vs. Overreaching

True "overtraining" is a severe medical condition, defined by multiple complex symptoms lasting for months or even years that can even end athletic careers. Symptoms of serious overtraining include increased resting heart rate and blood pressure, unexplained weight loss, altered fluid balance (dehydration, lack of perspiration), altered sleeping patterns, and psychological effects (mood swings, malaise, lack of psychological readiness for training and/or competition).

When people think they are overtraining, they often don't realize how bad overtraining actually is, and don't consider whether it is actually possible to overtrain from lifting.

"Overreaching," on the other hand, is very common. It is a temporary response to heavy or intense training, and it's even built into many training programs. This type of overreaching, known as functional overreaching, causes a short-term increase in fatigue and reduction in performance, followed by a brief taper that actually increases performance on testing, competition, or meet day.

This type of overreaching is a necessary part of being an athlete and optimizing performance. You can keep functional overreaching in your back pocket for when you need it to get that extra boost in performance for competition.

Nonfunctional overreaching is a more chronic, long-term condition that can last weeks or even months, although full recovery can be achieved with some rest. There might be some persistent physiologic and mood-related changes and accompanying performance reduction. This type of overreaching can interfere with long-term progress—spending weeks or months in a slump is an inefficient use of training time. If we catch it early and make adjustments, we can put the train back on the rails without much trouble before serious problems come up.  

If either of these types of overreaching are left unaddressed, they can morph into overtraining.

Can You Overtrain By Lifting?

While overreaching and overtraining have been abundantly studied in endurance athletes, it has yet to be seriously investigated in the context of strength training. True overtraining is highly unlikely (if even possible) for strength athletes and is characterized by significant persistent symptoms, made worse by outside life stressors.

So, if you are feeling run-down but you're not about to peak for a competition, you might be in a non-functional overreaching state. A deload period will help you get back on track.

If you feel like your progress has stalled, I suggest following the algorithm from "The Muscle & Strength Pyramid" by Eric Helms to determine if it's time to adjust your training. His chart addresses multiple variables that are most likely contributing to your decrease in performance, including sleep quality, nutrition habits, training intensity, and physical and psychological stressors.  

Let's say your progress has stalled but you're sleeping 8-plus hours, eating enough protein, estimating RPE effectively, and training consistently with solid technique.  

Following Helms's decision framework, you should then ask yourself honestly if you truly dread going to the gym, you are sleeping worse than normal, your performance is getting worse despite the same or higher effort, life stressors are more severe than normal, and aches and pains are worse than normal. 

Two or more "Yes" answers means it's time to take a step back from training and allow yourself some extra time to recover. Reduce your volume by cutting back on sets and backing off on intensity as needed by using a subjective RPE scale.  

For example, your working sets during deload change from 5 sets of 5 reps at 83 percent 1RM to 3 sets of 5 reps at RPE 8-9, giving you fewer sets and more flexibility with intensity depending on physical and psychological readiness that day.

While overtraining is a real condition, it's highly unlikely you'll get there through resistance training alone. If you are experiencing a decrease in performance, the more likely cause is non-functional overreaching. Take the necessary steps to reduce your intensity and volume, and allow your body more time to rest and recover.

Image and Text courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

 

7 Nutrition Tips For A Successful Transformation

Don't let your diet ruin your transformation goals. Follow these 7 tips from successful BodySpace athletes and build a rock-solid nutrition program!

As director of a leading Johannesburg based residential property development company, Laurence Grigorov enjoys various hobbies including going to the gym regularly to exercise as well as following a healthy but sustainable diet.

Laurence Grigorov firmly believes that a healthy work-life balance should include regular exercise which not only is good for your health but also for your mind and often follows top health and training sites to keep up to date with the latest news and tips.

An article written by Shannon Clark on Bodybuilding.com was of interest to Laurence Grigorov:

If you want to transform, you can't rely on your workouts alone to get the job done. Losing fat or building muscle takes a lot of hard work in the kitchen, too! Without a solid grasp of nutrition, you won't get the results you're training so hard for. If you want to make 2015 your best year yet, you need to go in with a failproof nutrition game plan.

Our BodySpace MuscleTech athletes are here to help! They know exactly what it takes to make the most of your nutrition so you can transform successfully. Implement their tips into your diet plan so you can efficiently burn fat and build muscle.

1. Adjust Calories On Non-Training Days

Many transformation hopefuls make the mistake of eating the same amount of calories on training days as they do on non-training days. "People don't fuel properly during their transformation process," says athlete and fitness model Tricia Ashley. "On training days, you need extra fuel to train and help your body repair."

On training days, you need extra fuel to train and help your body repair.

Ashley recommends lowering your calories on non-training days and increasing them on training days. Her personal calorie count is 2,000 calories on rest days and 2,500 calories on working days.

Adjust your calories according to your weight, gender, goals, and workout intensity, but rather than wildly varying your calorie intake by the thousands, use Ashley's 500-calorie swing as a guide. You can source many of these calories from protein and extra carbohydrates, which will help fuel peak performance on your training days.

2. Listen To Your Body

You might think that eating healthy is black and white: You stick to a list of diet-approved foods and never stray. However, it's important to personalize your nutrition plan. "Don't neglect to account for how your body responds to different foods," says fitness model Jimmy Everett.

A particular food might be healthy, but it may not make you feel very good. If your body doesn't react well to something, don't include it in your diet plan. If you do cut something out, replace it with a different healthy option.

Don't force yourself to eat foods you hate or react poorly to simply because your plan calls for them.

3. Don't Be Too Restrictive

There's no question that, to lose body fat, you need to make better choices in the kitchen. Not-so-healthy foods that may have filled your plate before will most likely be omitted in your new plan. Don't, however, eliminate everything you love to eat at the onset of your journey.

"Focus on eating healthy foods as much as possible, but don't view any food as 'off limits,'" says personal trainer Lindsay Cappotelli. If you restrict yourself to only eating a few foods over and over, you'll go crazy, and your plan won't be sustainable.

"Know that if you make healthy choices for most of your carbohydrate, protein, and fat servings, there's room for a treat here and there. Balance is key," Cappotelli adds.

4. Power Up With Protein

A 2005 study in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" found that when healthy adults increased their protein intake from 15 percent to 30 percent, feelings of satiety were significantly increased, while caloric intake and fat mass decreased.[1]

 

Consuming 20-30 grams of high quality protein at each meal can also help increase rates of protein synthesis and boost muscular growth.[2] In other words, protein is king! So, if you started your transformation and haven't increased your protein intake yet, now is the time.

Eating more protein doesn't necessarily mean you have to feast on meat every meal though. "Vegetarians can get their protein from lentils, beans, tempeh, and soy," says fitness competitor Danielle Beausoleil. "It's also important to keep in mind that the quality of your food impacts your body. The better the foods you put in, the better you'll feel."

5. Don't Fear Fat

Some people avoid dietary fat completely because they think it doesn't belong in a fat-burning diet. The truth is, however, that your body needs dietary fat to burn fat. "Studies have shown that eating nutrient-rich healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids can actually assist in fat-burning," says Beausoleil.

One such study suggested that six weeks of fish oil supplementation actually increased lean mass and decreased fat mass in healthy men and women.[3]

Studies have shown that eating nutrient-rich healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids can actually assist in fat-burning," says Beausoleil.

"Healthy fats also help to decrease the level of cortisol in the body, helping control stress levels," Beausoleil adds. Additionally, combining fish oil with exercise has been shown to not only reduce body fat, but also improve cardiovascular and metabolic health.[4]

Beausoleil recommends a diet rich in healthy fats from fish, fish oil, nuts, avocados, and olive oil, coupled with fibrous vegetables, low-glycemic fruits such as berries, and, of course, ample protein.

6. Decrease Calories Slowly

Going from 2,500 daily calories down to 1,500 in one fell swoop can leave you feeling hungry, deprived, and frustrated. It's much better to cut back slowly. "I suggest starting with a 200-calorie decrease [from what you're eating currently] and then slowly increasing activity and intensity levels," says fitness model James Pulido.

Decreasing your calories slowly will help ensure that you see ongoing results. If you drop your calorie intake too quickly at the start of your journey, you'll have nowhere to go from there.

Beginning with the minimum effective dose of dropping calories and adding cardio ensures that you'll be able to progress for the long haul.

7. Stay Hydrated

"Staying hydrated is crucial to the fat-loss process," says model Jimmy Everett, "so make sure you drink enough water."

Hydration can impact everything from your metabolic rate to your energy levels. Too many people walk around all day in a partially dehydrated state, causing them to feel fatigued when they shouldn't be and eat when they really just need a drink.

How do you know when you're properly hydrated? The simplest way is to look at the color of your pee. Your goal should be to get your pee the color of lemonade—if it's looking more like apple juice, then you need to increase your fluid intake.

If you take a multivitamin, you may notice that the color of your urine is a neon yellow (due to excess riboflavin), so keeping track of how often you make a trip to the bathroom (aim for a trip every couple of hours) might be a better option for you.[5]

Don't try to hydrate with energy drinks and coffee. If you don't like regular water, flavor it with some BCAAs or lemon slices.

Text and images courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

NEW BOOK FROM PHOTOGRAPHER WERNER AMANN CAPTURES THE "GOLDEN ERA" OF RAVE

 Kein Morgen contains over 15,000 pictures from Berlin, Frankfurt, Dortmund, New York, Paris, Riccione and Zurich

Laurence Grigorov is director at a leading residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specialises in high-end luxury residential developments.

As an avid electronic music fan, Laurence Grigorov listens to music regularly especially during exercise.

A new photobook has been published, which captures the energy and culture of raving in the early ‘90s through a series of portraits.

Taken at hundreds of club nights, raves and afterparties from Berlin, Frankfurt, Dortmund, New York, Paris, Riccione and Zurich – Kein Morgan documents the people of the parties through over 15,000 “close up and emotional” portraits, according to the book’s description.

The photographs were shot by Werner Amann with accompanying words written by Leif Randt, and the book is published by Spector Books.

Shots from legendary clubs and events feature, including Berlin’s Tresor, Love Parade, Mayday in Dortmund, Frankfurt’s Omen (founded by Sven Väth), E-Work, Limelight, Tunnel and Sound Factory.

Last year, to celebrate its 30th birthday Tresor released a photobook Tresor: True Stories. It featured photographs from throughout the history of the club alongside compiling stories from party-goers.

The book also tells the story of the club being discovered by Dimitri Hegemann, Achim Kohlberger and Johnnie Stieler, after coming across the abandoned vaults that now made up the club’s original space. After opening in 1991, the club operated there until 2005, when it was forced to close down but reopened in 2007 at its present location on Köpernicker Strasse.

The club’s record label arm also announced a reissue series to go alongside the celebrations, including reissuing much of electro legends Drexciya’s back catalogue. Last month (January 2023), it repressed a classic 2002 solo album from former member James Stinson, ‘The Cosmic Memoirs Of The Late Great Rupert J. Rosinthrope’, made under his Shifted Phases alias.

Text & images courtesy of www.mixmag.net

THE MEDIAN IN ROSEBANK

As director at a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Laurence Grigorov keeps abreast of development news and information. Current and upcoming commercial and residential projects offer Laurence Grigorov an insight into market trends both in South Africa and internationally.

Messaris Wapenaar Cole Architects was commissioned at the end of 2014 to design what was intended to be a 14-floor apartment building. With its prime position in the heart of the busy hub of Rosebank, The Median was envisaged by the client as a building which was to be the icon of nouveau apartment living in Rosebank. This was already a tall order, given that in most cases a building of this nature, complexity and size would only feasibly be completed about five years later. The design would thus have to be at least five years ahead of its time. What the brief required was a world-class response.

The site is on the corner of Tyrwhitt and Cradock Avenue, the gateway to the pedestrianised upper Tyrwhitt Avenue, where it intersects the north / south pedestrian artery from the Mall of Rosebank to the taxi rank at Jellicoe Avenue. The site, as with most urban sites, is compact and consequently the footprint of the building is small. Access and egress for both vehicles and pedestrians are on Tyrwhitt Avenue, occupying most of the south façade at street level. 

To accommodate the required level of parking as well as the services required, the building extends five levels below the street, making the total height of the final building 21 storeys. The excavation required to accommodate this was possibly the deepest hole in Rosebank at the time. This required careful planning and precision engineering to achieve without compromising surrounding structures and services.

The basements and the ground floor are occupied by services and parking with the exception of a small retail offering addressing the building’s contribution to the Rosebank retail precinct, vehicular access and a small entrance lobby for pedestrian access to and from the street.

Above the street, the 140 private apartments surround a 15-storey covered atrium away from the busy streets. The apartments are ultra-modern, mostly two-bedroom apartments, with a pocket of one-bedroom units catering for ‘semigrators’ who commute to and from Rosebank, and four luxurious penthouses on the 14th and 15th floors.

The finishings are elegantly pared back to allow the purchasers to decorate their apartments in any colour and style. The apartments face outward, with views directed diagonally from the building to secure a feeling of space in what will ultimately become a totally high rise environment. 

As The Median finds itself in the centre of the action in Rosebank, it was decided not to add communal facilities other than the pocket park in the atrium. The building surrounds abound with activities and nightlife.

A project realised over many years, with many iterations, The Median now stands as the forward looking, modern building the architects envisaged from the start in 2014.

Text & images courtesy of Architect & Builder Magazine

ONLY 0.4% OF MUSICIANS COULD POTENTIALLY MAKE A LIVING FROM STREAMING, STUDY REVEALS

 The vast majority of these artists are signed to major labels

As director at a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Laurence Grigorov has a keen interest in local architectural and development news and information. This keeps Laurence and his company up to date with the latest trends and designs in the development field.

Laurence Grigorov enjoys listening to music in his downtime in order to relax and unwind.

A study estimates only 0.4% of musicians would be potentially able to make a living solely from streaming.

New research estimates that only artists who achieve around a million UK streams per month over a long period are likely to be in a position to earn a living from music. Fewer than 0.4% of artists with music on streaming services achieve a million streams in a typical month and many of these streams are based on older tracks, reducing the figure further.

The study, titled "Music Creators' Earnings In The Digital Era" was released by the UK Intellectual Property Office this month. The researchers analysed data from streaming services between 2014-2020 and also used interviews and focus groups with musicians.

The study says that changes in how musicians have made money digitally has “been rapid” due to the influence of streaming services.

The most significant finding is that only musicians with one million or more monthly streams—roughly 1,723 or 0.4%—can rely solely on this income.

Of musicians whose income is entirely based on music, 43% reported earnings of £20,000 or less, and 64% reported £30,000 or less.

Cherie Hu, founder and publisher of Water and Music, writes that 65 to 75% of streams for the top 0.4% of artists come from their back catalogue, rather than new releases.

Hu also says "the vast majority of these artists in the top 0.4% are likely signed to major labels" and estimates that the number of streams required to earn money is much higher than it was five years ago.

This is backed by data found in this study as the median reported income for those currently signed to major record companies (£51,816 in 2019) is considerably higher than for all other groups of artists, with those previously signed to major record companies next (£25,500). The median reported income for those signed to independent record companies is £20,250 and for self-releasing artists it is £12,944.

Text & Image courtesy of www.mixmag.net

THE FIRST TRAILER FOR THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS HAS DROPPED

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The film will be the fourth from the iconic sci-fi franchise

Laurence Grigorov is a director of a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company specializes in modern, luxury apartments, cluster units and bespoke homes. Laurence Grigorov enjoys reading and watching movies in his downtime, allowing him to be fully focused during his work. 

The trailer for the new Matrix film, The Matrix: Resurrections is out now, with the film set to hit cinemas on December 22.

The trailer is full of a number of easter eggs referring back to the earlier films, with Priyanka Chopra’s character potentially being an older version of Sati from The Matrix: Revolutions, and Yahya Abdul Mateen II playing a younger or "new" version of Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus.

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss seemingly reprise their roles as Neo and Trinity in the new movie, which appears to take place in the modern-day and focuses on Neo’s inability to remember his time in the Matrix.

He’s regularly taking "blue pills" until he meets a Morpheus-like character in Abdul Mateen II - with similar events to the first film unfolding in the trailer.

With a number of double-bluffs in the trailer, it’s still early days in figuring out exactly what will unfold in the fourth instalment of the franchise. Jada Pinkett Smith and Lambert Wilson will return, with a number of new characters added to the lineup, including Jonathan Groff, Christina Ricci and Jessica Henwick.

https://youtu.be/9ix7TUGVYIo

Text & Image xourtesy of www.mixmag.net

 

The Real Reasons You Aren't Building Bigger Ab Muscles

Gunning for a six-pack? Building your abs can help make it happen sooner and last longer. But only if you train your core with smart techniques! Here are mistakes to avoid and how to fix them.

Laurence Grigorov is director of a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa that specialises in modern, luxury apartments, cluster units and bespoke homes.

Laurence Grigorov enjoys training at the gym in his spare time. This allows him to both destress and maintain a healthy physical condition. Laurence Grigorov firmly believes that a healthy body and well-rested mind are crucial in order to maintain a high level of work focus.

If you looked at this headline and asked, "Why would I want to grow my abs?" then we may have just discovered one reason that your stomach isn't quite as defined as you want.

For one, building the muscles of your abs helps them to be more visible at higher body-fat levels. Just ask those offseason bodybuilders with visible abs at 13-15 percent body fat! And when you do get down under 10 percent, those bricks you've built will really pop.

But like building the rest of your body, there's a lot that can go wrong between "dreaming about it" and "seeing it in the mirror." Here are some mistakes that might be holding back your midsection muscles and how to fix them.

Mistake 1: Only Focusing On One Ab Muscle

That forward-facing six-pack may be what you covet, but building truly defined abs demands a three-dimensional approach from all angles—and even from the inside.

Your abs are composed of three separate muscle groups: 

• Rectus abdominis (the "six pack" muscles): Trained by crunching-style motions
• Obliques (internal and external): Trained by rotation and bending to the side
• Transverse abdominus (TVA): Trained by isometric work (planks) and stomach vacuums

A Better Way: Train all three groups with the best muscle-building ab exercises! The TVA is the most often neglected, even though it can help you keep a tighter, flatter stomach at any body-fat level.

Mistake 2: Not Adding Resistance

The abs contain a greater percentage of what are known as slow-twitch muscle fibers than other skeletal muscle groups. However, fast-twitch fibers still make up almost half of your midsection musculature.

Not sure what that means? Here's what you need to know: Fast-twitch muscle fibers have a greater potential for muscle growth and they are built with heavier sets for low to moderate reps. In other words, training nothing but high-rep bodyweight movements isn't going to do much for them!

A Better Way: Perform some of your training with heavy sets of 8-12 reps on weighted movements to help build up the "bricks" constituting your six-pack.

Mistake 3: Always Doing The Same Routine

Falling into a comfort zone is your enemy when training abs—or any other body part.

If your ab routine consistently includes machine crunches for 3 sets of 20 reps, and you seem to be doing the same work every ab-training session, it's time to up the ante and intentionally make your training harder. This "progressive overload" can come in the form of weight, less rest, or higher volume, but always strive to improve on what you did before.

A Better Way: Continually increase the stress to continue making gains. That's the progressive part of progressive overload. This is where following a structured ab program like 30-Day Abs with Abel Albonetti can be a game-changer.

Mistake 4: Keeping Your Back Straight

Maintaining a flat back is an essential safety cue for bent-over rows, deadlifts, squats, and other compound lifts. But when training abs on moves like cable crunches, you need to unlearn this lesson!

Here's why: Arching your lower back makes you bend at the hips, not the waist. Only when you bend your lower back forward or "flex" it are you able to fully contract the rectus abdominis, causing it to shorten.

A Better Way: Think of your spine curling in a controlled manner on the concentric (raising) motion, and then uncurling on the eccentric (lowering). Both motions are important to building muscle.

Mistake 5: Resting Between Reps

This is a tempting form of rep-cheating can look one of two ways:  

• With cables or machines, allowing the plates to "touch down" between reps
• With bodyweight movements like decline sit-ups, allowing your shoulder blades to touch down between reps

In either case, it takes the tension right off the muscle you're trying to work.

A Better Way: Stay tight and don't let yourself rest until the set is over! The more you keep the muscle working, the greater the time under tension and the greater the muscle growth.

Eating to build muscle in your abs—or anywhere else? Protein is your friend. Aim for 1 gram per pound of body weight each day to support your tough workouts.

Mistake 6: Rushing Through Reps

Many people's ab workouts—timed circuits in particular—are fast and furious, aiming to perform as many reps as possible as quickly as possible. This approach encourages sloppiness and momentum, which often means that muscles other than the abs end up doing the work.

A Better Way: Switch your focus from quantity of reps to quality of reps. Hold the top (peak contraction) for a count on each rep. You may end up doing fewer reps in the end, but you'll make the muscle work harder, which is really what you want to be doing.

Mistake 7: Over-Relying On Hip Flexors

Many people think they're doing a lower-ab movement when they do leg raises, but they're actually doing much more work with the hip flexors.

How do you know the difference? Hang from a pull-up bar and keep your body straight. Now raise your legs about 60 degrees. Notice how your lower back is still flat—it hasn't started to round. That means your abs aren't yet engaged; it's all hip flexors to this point because they're responsible for raising your legs.

A Better Way: Raise your legs to the point where your lower back curls. If you can't do that, perform an easier variation like knee raises on parallel bars, or even reverse crunches on the ground.

Mistake 8: Pulling On Your Neck

This can also look different for weighted and unweighted moves. It could be pulling down toward the ground during a cable crunch or pulling up with your hands during bodyweight exercises. In either case, it does nothing to work your abs and serves only to place your neck in a vulnerable position.

A Better Way: Imagine there's a small orange between your chin and your sternum. Be careful not to squeeze that imaginary orange, and you'll find you are better able to work the abs without tweaking your neck.

Text & Image courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com