Am I going to overtrain this Winter Break?

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The Guy

I'm a swimmer and I really need to get faster because I have barely decreased my time the past year and a half. I'm 14 and my fastest time is 24.8 seconds, and that took about a year to bring down from a 25.38 (i dropped from 25.38 to 24.8 this summer, after a year of training) and I decided that I need to work out more than I do (I swim 4 times a week and weight train the other days, sometimes on days I swim also, depending when my practice is) and I was going to try a huge workout about 4 hours to 5 hours a day. Here is my plan:

Bike to swim practice (about 45 minutes away)
Swim until practice ends (1-1.5 hours)
Get out, go to the gym and work our for 1.5 hours
Get back in the pool and do a swim workout that I found Phelps did for Sydney (2 hours)
Bike home (45 mnutes)

This is what I'm going to do for eveeryday of the week except for Saturday, where I'll just wight train, and Sunday, where ill take a day off. My question is, Am I overtraining? I'm worried about Overtraining so I want to know if this will make me overtrain.
I said this winter break because I will do this for my school's winter break which is December 21 to the second week of January.

Answer
Contrary to two other replies, the possibility of over training is an absolute.

First, you should know that glycogen is a molecule comprised of chained glucose molecules and is the way your muscle cells and liver STORE glucose.

HIGH LEVEL swimmers will swim, for a week or two of "hell week", up to 30,000 yards a DAY plus lifting. They swim for 5.5 to 6 hours a day (total for two practices) and lift for an hour. Swimming that far (over 17 miles a day) can cause what is called "glycogen depletion" in your muscles and liver. If you become glycogen depleted you will lose your ability to exercise with any intensity and exercising for competition without intensity is a total waste of time. Plus, extremely severe glycogen depletion can be dangerous to your health ... even deadly. Such low glycogen levels are incredibly rare.

But, it IS possible to over train. I'd suggest you don't have to worry about it.


A comment on another reply (Bob) to your question:
The replier said that lifting weights stunts your growth. This is a total myth. Shaquille O'Neil started lifting when he was 12 y.o. Although that is only one example, I'm not basing my "myth" comment on that anecdotal (occasionally observed) event like Shaq. If you go to google and type in "myth of weight lifting and stunted growth" you'll be able to read the research on this issue. You ABSOLUTELY should lift. Just alternate muscle groups (or chest, back, arms and legs, hips) each day. With regard to injuring muscles ... You must LEARN proper form when lifting (just like you do when you swim). When you LIFT with proper form and with a weight you can control with a spotter, your chance of getting injured is tremendously reduced. But, again, you must LEARN how to lift. It is not a matter of just going up to a weight and lifting ... you must learn.

My mum won't speak to me- PLEASE READ THIS AND HELP ME- SO CONFUSED!?

cutsie

I should probally tell you how this started!
Mums story!
My mum was born in 1975 and had major future as a young gymnast. She moved to the qas(queensland acadamy of sport) at age 9, then at 13 she accepted a scholarship to the australian institute of sport( same age as me, same thing happened but I don't want to go but still have to). After being at the AIS for 7 years she met a man, my dad and then on the the night of her 20th birthday they made love-very romantic. But not in mums case because it was September 1995, and mum was due to compete at the atlanta olympics in georgia in less than one year- nine months to be presise. Instead of winning her gold medal she had me, on the same day, what a coincidence. But I still think that she would of wanted me later and the gold medal back then. But she doesn't have one and there's nothing that she can do about it-except make sure that I win the 2012 London olympics- shes already brought tickets- trouble is I HATE GYMNASTICS!
My story
Born during the Atlanta Olympics I was mum and dads gold medal baby and I still am because I stand at only 4 feet 1 and weight 57 pounds- the average size of a six year old(i'm thirteen). But my mum constantly watches what I eat and has a dietitian prepare a diet plan for me each week. At eighteen months my mum eroled me in a gymnastics class. But problem was, I was far too young. So we packed up and moved to sydney-from brisbane just so that I could become a world class gymnasts- hello I wasn't even two yet I could hardly talk- let alone know what I wanted- except for food of course. I trained there for 6 years but when I told mum that I had enought at 7 and a half, she said I needed a fresh start and new club. Now there were plenty of other clubs in Sydney- but no she had to move to Perth in Western Australia- to the club that Monette Russo came from. (She finished 3rd at worlds in 2005) Here at age 8 I began training 26 hours a week,then I had a fall during my double front and dislocated my shoulder and whilst having scans they noticed that my back bone had been dislocated ever scince I was born. I had reconstruction on my shoulder- the youngest patient to ever have that done in WA. I also surgery in my back. Now for any other parent this would have been enough to make sure I never walked into a gym again- but only 3 weeks later my mum made me train with my team an extra 4 hours a week at 30 hours. I was sick and tired of gymnastics and all wanted for my ninth birthday was a big party with lots of junk food, nine year olds these days want way more stuff than I did. But once again mum pushed me too hard- she brought me a treadmill and an exercise bike- so much for barbie dolls and she also brought me a ticket to watch the 2005 world championships- trouble is i had also asked to quit gymnastics- but she wouldn't let me. So here I was watching- what I soon would be, a robot- dancing around in a pretty leotard discusted me, and when mum went to buy me a few more to add to my huge collection(currently 56) I was discusted and refused to try them on. Mum literally put them on for me! While all this was happening and I parading around in the bright pink leotad- size 4 I think. Guess who stopped by- Peggy Lidick(monette russo's very famous coach- she used to coach mum). And instantly reconised my mum. She asked if I was her daughter and then after finding out all my results much my discust she offered me a place in the AIS as simple as that. Mum answered for me saying of course I will but maybe I was too young. Peggy agreed and they decided that when I turned 13 off the AIS i go- fun, no not really. After that I yelled and screamed at my mum telling her that I hated her and gymnastics and ran away. But she found me- I tried to run away many more times but they were unsuccseful. That was the year that I won my first national championships- international level8, I was competing against teenager and I was barely nine. Between the ages of 9 and 12 I gave up and just did what ever my mum wanted- and i hated it. By then my hours had increased to 40 hours each week, I constantly missed school. On my 13th birthday exactly on month ago mum gave me a laptop and an I phone telling me that I would need to contact her everyday from the AIS-but then dad suggested why can't he go with me. So I got to keep my i phone and laptop as well as recieve 1000 dollars to keep me going. Still no amount of money would make me want to give everything that I love so that I could be everything that my mother never was. Oh yeah by the way I will 15 when I compete at the Olympics and one of the youngest competitors. But I really don't want to go so last night I had a talk to my mum and dad about my dreams of becoming an actor or a personal trainer/doctor and it resulted in a lot of yelling mainly from me and mum and now she hates me and she told me that she would rather have the gold medal than me! Now she refuses to speak to me- but dad I are all packed and soon en

Answer
We all want to make our parent proud, but you can't live her dream...YOU MUST FIND YOUR OWN. Your mother may be upset for a moment but she will be just fine. She'll get over it and understand that you must bloom into the flower she would want you to be.

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