Texans strength and conditioning coach Dan Riley is back for ...

You can observe from the upper body workout listed above, our players only perform
four exercises (36 total reps) for the chest, four exercises (42 total reps) for the
upper back, and four exercises (42 total reps) for the shoulders.
We do not waste time and energy by performing non-productive sets. Our players
warm up on the first upper (or lower) body exercise by performing several
preparatory sets. Once the warm-up process is complete our players exert a
maximum or near-maximum effort on each set performed.
Some workouts require athletes to perform an endless number of non-productive
sets (sub-maximal efforts). The body must use some recovery energy on every
repetition performed regardless of how light the weight is. Hans Selye tells us that
we do not have an unlimited supply of adaptation energy. The ability to recover from
exercise is limited. Therefore after warming up our players, every set must have a
purpose. And that purpose is an attempt to increase strength on every set
performed each workout, until strength maintenance becomes the goal.
In my early years with the Redskins our players performed three total body
workouts per week. The volume of exercise was less than our current twice per week
workouts, but in looking back I firmly believe I was over-training our players.
I have learned to listen to our harder working players and have made volume
adjustments in our running program and our lifting program based upon their
feedback.
Dr. Hans Selye (in his book, “The Stress of Life”) teaches us that one half of the
successful fitness formula is stress (exercise) and the other, and equally important
half, is adaptation (rest).
Too much exercise and not enough rest produce an athlete incapable of
recovering from one workout (or practice) to the next. During my younger days I
was guilty of over-training players. It can only be described as bad coaching.
I am constantly searching for information that can help us better determine how
little exercise is needed to produce the best results.
Jason, your question about over-training is a good one. Some day I hope there
will be a simple, scientific, and non-invasive method to monitor over-training. Until
then we must rely upon keeping accurate records to compare progress from one
workout to the next. We must also seek the opinions of our most disciplined workers
and make adjustments when necessary.