"Where Training Science Meets Training Reality"
To all fellow weight lifters: I want to lend creedence to some of the insights on this site. I've lifted on and off for six years. On and off because I kept getting upset over my lack of progress - so I would quit. Last spring, I got so desperate to try anything new that I adopted an abbreviated routine, with a four day break between workouts. For the first time I had definite progress in my lifts - for two and half months straight. How many of you can say that? It took me five years to figure out that my three, four, or five days-a-week split routines were overtraining.
Once, when I wasn't getting to the gym, I was a pushup fanatic. Every other day, I did as many as I could - and the numbers plateaued and started to drop. I kept at it. Finally, I grew frustrated and gave up. Two weeks later I went back to the gym again. My bench press was up 25 pounds. It didn't occur to me until years later that I wasn't allowing myself enough recovery time. Everyone "knew" that one day off should have been all I needed for my chest to recover.
Ever take time off for a holiday and come back to the gym stronger? It happened to me all of the time. So I would resume my workouts with renewed enthusiasm, and then overtrain myself out of the small gains I had made.
To put it simply, don't be afraid to add in rest days and abbreviate your routine. It may feel wrong, but the numbers in your training log might just prove that it works.