text: overtraining- wondering what i should do to get better quicker!!? i took a break from the gym for a couple months and when i went back i obviously trained to hard for being out of practice. the next day i could not straighten out my arms without excessive pain (pretty sure from bicep overtraining mostly). it has been pretty bad now for a few days and i was just wondering if anyone had any ideas or similar experiences that can help with recovery time. thank you in advance. you will need about 5 days with no stress for your arms to fully recover - you could do a leg workout though  and when you go back learn from the lesson - make progress slowly!  after a hard training make sure you stretch - then use hot-cold showers for 10 minutes and if you have access to it a whirlpool or spa bath    you can also ice areas that have been worked very hard for 10-15 min every hour    a bath with epsom salts helps as does an ibuprofen  make sure you hydrate during and after training and have a protein shake and some fruit as soon as possible after training