Recovery

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi, Jordan and Austin,
I’m a 27 y/o male been lifting since Nov and I’m trying to do Judo along with lifting. I’m feeling as though I’m borderline overtraining and just wanted to see if you had any feedback for how I could recover better. I’m ~ 250 pounds, 6 ft, near 20% body fat.
Admittedly, I don’t track my food but I did for the last week and I am around these numbers: Protein - 150, Carbs - 220, Fat - 105. I get around 6.5 hours a night of sleep and usually get a 30 min nap 3-4 times a week.

I’m focused on getting my deadlift to a non-embarrassing number so My schedule now is:
M: Deadlift, Power clean
T: Competition class - Judo - 90 min
W: Squat, Press, Chins
Th: Normal class - Judo - 90 min (more teaching less actual judo)
F: Rack pulls, Front Squat, Clean and Jerk

Numbers at present are:
S: 410
D: 405
P: 185
PC: 190

The problem I’m running into is that Monday nights I am so tired I usually start falling asleep around 8. Tuesday’s I feel great, and then Wednesday’s when I get up I feel like the crypt keeper and cant even get myself functional till around 10-10:30. Two weeks ago, I did my squats but failed my press and chins. Last week I was so tired I moved my Squat day to Friday and just did Squats and Rack Pulls. This week again I’m exhausted come Wednesday. My lifts are able to go up 5# every week still (10 some weeks on the deadlift) and I’m obviously a lot stronger than before but I feel like I’m always totally drained.

Any advice for me to recover more efficiently?

2

How much volume and intensity are you doing on the actual lifts? Are you grinding really hard PRs out every week? If so, that’s not helping.

What is your BW and waist measurement doing at your current caloric intake?

When do you eat relative to training? I’d shift some of your fat macros into more protein, and make sure you aren’t training dehydrated or without having eaten for 4-5+ hours.

I’d recommend getting a sleep study done as well.

3

Intensity is pretty high but volume is manageable. Still going for weekly PR’s. So I guess that’s probably not the best thing.

BW is down from 264 in June and waist measurement is down about 3 inches (44-41).

I usually eat within two hours of a workout… morning workouts are closer to 30 min before, lunch workouts seem to be the best - I eat right before them and then after work I’m still within that 2 hr window.

Just for knowledge sake, what are your thoughts on the sleep study?

4

You have a 41 inch waist, 20% BF, and weigh 250 lbs. You are probably at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea, which would make your 6.5 hours of sleep fairly useless in terms of recovery.

5

Thanks for the feedback, Dr. Baraki. It was very helpful.