I’ve been fighting it for a few weeks, but I’m definitely overtraining again. I don’t do shit anymore, but I keep overtraining. One of my training partners asks me what I expect, because don’t sleep. That’s easy. I’m Chad Aichs, and I expect to train hard every day while still getting stronger. Too bad I can’t seem to make that happen. The simple fact is that my recovery is complete shit. I suppose the positive side of this is that, for a stubborn-ass German, I’m learning. The signs of overtraining change a bit for me, but I’m paying more attention to them and trying my best not to push myself over the edge again.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting more and more sore, to the point where just benching the empty bar hurts. My wrists and elbows are killing me, and all my old injuries seem to be aching more. The ankle problem I had a while back was even starting up again. My compartment syndrome was getting really bad, too. This usually happens when I try to do cardio, but this time it was much worse. Even my knees started aching, and my knees haven’t hurt in years.

I usually see signs of overtraining in my appetite and my sleep. My sleep has been a little better lately, and my appetite has been good for me. I usually don’t like eating at all, but I’ve been trying to eat more real food. Lately, I’m starving all the time, and I’m eating more than I have in a long time.

I’ve noticed the signs of overtraining most with my mental state. I was doing really well for a while, but this has been gradually changing over the past few weeks. I can feel myself getting more frustrated and pissed off at even little things. I’m having a harder time dealing with the physical pain. I can really feel myself withdrawing from people, and I have a really strong urge to be alone. The biggest thing is the feeling of not caring about myself. I get to the point where I really don’t care about either my health or the future – like life totally doesn’t matter either way. This is probably not the best time to challenge me to a game of Russian Roulette. After laying off for five days, though, I feel a lot of improvement. I did get to take my motorcycle out for a little ride by myself today. Damn, I love to ride. I think this helped me, too.

I’m not completely sure if this is true, but I think there’s a serious correlation between my CNS being overtrained and my mental state. It’s kind of funny to look back at everything I’ve put myself through – and how, if I would have been smart enough, I could probably have stopped it. I believe that everything that doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Maybe I needed to put myself through all that shit and I should just be happy I managed to learn something from it. It’s good to always keep learning and growing.

I’ve seen the psycho-ologist a few times now for my sleep issues, and it hasn’t gone like I thought it would. Honestly, I kind of saw this as a chance to have some fun and play some games. I admit it – I like playing head games sometimes just to amuse myself. It turned out the psycho-ologist was a pretty cool guy, so I didn’t want to mess with him. Even if he couldn’t help, he was still a decent guy.

During our first meeting, he pretty much just told me about himself, his beliefs, and his styles of treatment. Then we talked about me for a while, and he asked a lot of questions. He said some things that made sense to me, but there was one thing that really stuck in my mind that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of. He said he was really impressed with everything I’ve accomplished despite my problems, and that I must be very strong mentally to have done that. He said he thinks he can help me use that mental power to make myself sleep. If I can make myself lift the weights I have and teach myself photography while sleeping like shit, then why the hell can’t I just make myself sleep? What a simple and profound thought!

He also talked about how I’ve developed some very bad habits and ways I look at my sleep – how I have a very negative attitude toward my sleep, and how even just the thought of it can make me angry. This is all stuff I know is bad, but I guess I just let it gradually escalate and never thought about it. Basically, he seemed like a good guy, and what he said made some sense to me, so I decided I would keep seeing him for a while.

During this time, I was trying to change some of my sleep habits, and especially the way I look at my sleep. I went through a spell of about four really good nights. There were also nights where I would fall asleep really quickly, then wake up twenty minutes later. Then I would be awake for a while, fall asleep for a bit, then wake up again.

Sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning, I’d basically crash for two or three hours without waking up. That’s pretty much unheard of for me. It would make getting up in the morning harder, because I would be kind of groggy – and since I felt like I could sleep, I wouldn’t want to get up. This first time, this lasted for four days or so, and then it went back to normal for about a week. Then I managed to get back into that same sleep pattern for another four or five days. Right now it’s not too bad – better than my worst.

The psycho-ologist thought this was progress in the right direction, and I agree. My sleep has been so screwed up for so long that I’m sure it won’t get better overnight. Hell, I don’t even expect it to ever become normal. I think it can get way better, though. I just want it to keep progressing and gradually getting better.

We also talk about learning how to let go of everything and learning to relax. This is all great, and I probably need to learn that, but I’m an aggressive person and nobody is just going to give me what I want. It seems like all of my hobbies involve power, speed, or some kind of adrenaline. Even photography is intense for me. I strive for the perfect shot, or for the picture to look exactly like what I see in my mind. I guess just letting go of everything and relaxing is something I need to learn. At the same time, though, not being aggressive and not knowing I’m getting closer to what I want would be bad for me. I suppose it’s all about balance.

Talking to this guy is kind of like having a conversation with a friend or something. I can’t believe I have to pay him for this. Maybe he should have to pay me for my sparkling conversation.

Last time, we talked about having goals and things to look forward to – how it’s important to have things to be excited about, and to be excited for the future. I think this all makes sense, and it’s probably why I live my life the way I do. I always have something to look forward to, although when the depression is bad, you tend not to see those things. We also talked about having fun in life. Everyone – well, almost everyone – has to work and do things in their lives that they don’t want to do, but we need to have ways to have fun and stuff to look forward to. This makes me wonder.

I do have fun in my life. I do lots of things I enjoy and that make me happy – riding my quad and my street-bike, training, competing, shooting, hanging out with friends, and seeing my nieces and nephews. I think people basically see me as a happy person, but I don’t know if I truly see myself that way. I feel like there’s something missing in me, and that I push myself the way I do because I’m trying to find it. It’s like I know there’s something out there that would make me feel truly happy and content, but I’m not sure what it is. I’m not talking about being content where I wouldn’t keep pushing myself to get better, but content with my life overall. I suppose we all have ups and downs and you can’t be happy all the time, but I’m always looking for that something else. I just feel there’s something more – something deeper out there for me.

So that’s where I’m at right now. I’m really working on being more positive about the sleep, while also trying to be patient and remembering it’s not going to change overnight. I think we’re going in the right direction. Staying on top of the overtraining is important, too, and I think that’s really helping as well.

Q&A:

In one of your articles, you talked about squatting in your basement, and how if you could walk up the stairs after you were finished squatting, you’d go back and squat more. Can a beginner benefit from this style of training?

Yes, I used to squat until I physically couldn’t walk up the stairs, or I’d go squat more. I remember squishing myself under my squat rack more than a few times. I also remember laying on the floor of my little gym for hours because I was too exhausted to move. Just thinking about these memories still makes me smile. It was fun as hell!

Do I recommend that type of training for a beginner? That’s an interesting question. I feel like all that crazy training gave me a great base once I found powerlifting, and I think it really built up my tendon and ligament strength. I have no doubt that it helped my mental game and taught me to push myself to the extreme. I training like that because all the information I had was from bodybuilders, so when I look back, I feel like I could have been smarter about my training and gotten stronger.

I think it boils down to what your goal is. Do you want to be insanely strong, or really big and yoked? If you’re young and not very advanced, I think it’s actually good to train like this every now and then, but remember, you still have to recover from it. It’s good to push yourself mentally. Plus, when you’re young and new to lifting, you’ll grow from almost anything. It’s important to remember that as you get stronger, your training will always have to change. I find that this usually means heavier lifting with less workload because you get more efficient with the movements (technique), and you’re able to recruit more muscle fibers.  

One of my big motivators for leg training was Tom Platz, because his legs were freaking sick!!! I read he did a lot of knee extensions, so on my leg days it was lots of squats, knee extensions, and leg curls. Crazy knee extensions for lots of sets and reps with pauses, half reps, mid-range reps without relaxing, and always until they felt like they were going to pop. I think that kind of training is still why my thighs are so big.

Can you discuss competing in Highland Games competitions as an alternative to powerlifting?

Highland games are fun alternative. I had a complete blast throwing last summer. It’s a much different feeling to throw stuff as far as possible. It was really cool to do something so explosive again. I also really enjoyed working on and learning the throwing technique. It reminded me of when I first got into powerlifting and I was learning all the time, plus there are a lot of really great guys throwing.

I feel like it’s helped let me take a break from powerlifting, and it’s given my body a bit of a chance to heal up. My plan is to try to find a way to do both.

Highland games have different classes, and someone who has never competed can enter a novice class. That way, there is nothing to lose. You go in, and they will help explain the events and techniques. I say find one near you and just go do it. My bet is that you will have a great time and want to do another one.

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