When starting weight training, one is advised to have a program specifying how many workouts per week, what exercises in each, how much rest, what days to work which muscle groups, etc. “Complete Dummies” and similar type books outline the basic principles such as working different muscle groups on designated days. As an aspirational beginner at memory training, I wonder whether anything similar might be available for this. What’s the best way for a newbie to go about building the skills? Is "overtraining " a risk? If so, how does one put together a prudently balanced program addressing the main competitive categories? I’ve been working with Memory Palace for some language study and I’ve dabbled in the Memory League training apps for images, etc. but without a strict program it’s a bit like going to a gym and trying various machines haphazardly. How does oneto put together an effective disciplined program with metrics to track progress?. Thanks for any counsel!
I’ll try to give you an answer, but my experience is only in competitive memory sports, and not using the techniques in daily life. Also, keep in mind that I’m a completely new memory athlete, so if anyone else reading knows better than me, please correct me. Your questions are completely legitimate, so I don’t quite see where Erik is coming from. Here are some advice:
- Training programme: I like to separate the disciplines into similar chunks, like “numbers”, “images” and cards". Like this: a) Speed numbers, hour numbers, binary, and dates, b) Words and images, c) Speed cards and hour cards, and d) (Names and faces and spoken numbers). What I do is that I have designated days I do each of the chunks (not all of them every day though). I think this is better than variety, because your brain doesn’t need to adjust too much between each run. Also, I would rather do 2 runs of speed cards than 1 speed cards and 1 numbers, because often the second run of the same discipline will be better, and you may improve faster.
- Overtraining: don’t be worried about overtraining if you are not spending 2+ hours a day on this. You won’t get overtrained by training 3-5 5 minute rounds a day, or more on Memory League. Something else: training when tired is not necessarily a problem, at least not as much as one would think. BUT your palaces can absolutely get overused. Preferably don’t use the same palace twice a day. Ghost images. Also, before a championship rest the palaces 1-2 weeks before.
- Metrics: track them in a document. How much time you used, how many numbers etc., and what problems you encountered. Before each new training round, read through your mistakes and change your strategy.
- Something else: I was also playing around with Memory League for a while, but I would say you learn more from using Standard Memory or the IAM training website. Or even a manual timer. Like, if you never manage to memorize a deck of cards in 1 minute, or even 5 minutes, you can always try to memorize the whole deck and take your time, just to have that experience (but in a championship you only have 5 min of course).
But keep in mind that if you want to compete in championships, there is more to think about than the memorization part. Which is also strategy (like for instance, if you must review the numbers an extra time, how many minutes you will need for that). And that’s why it’s better to not use Memory League, I made that mistake. But I wasn’t quite sure if you were competing or using it for “language study?” 
the answer to all of these questions is “it depends what your goals are.” if you want to memorize a deck of cards really fast, your training will be a lot different than if you want to remember all your credit cards and phone numbers and grandkids’ names. some of the same basic principles, but there isn’t a general “get better at everything memory” workout-type routine (aside from well-supported advice like “get good sleep” and “look into supplements” and other advice like “do dual-n-back all the time”.) These are all specific skills that need to be specifically trained.
Why it"better not to use memory league?"
Thanks. I’m newer to this than y and your comments help. Thanks again.
You ask,“Am I correctly guessing that you don’t have a system for playing cards or for numbers yet?,”
Correct. As I said at the outset, I’m just beginning, have used a Memory Palace for language review but have begun to get interested in cards and numbers. In fact I am not yet far enough up the learning curve to have developed a system.
You complained that you are losing patience with this thread. , Why then punish yourself by continuing it? I infer that you should desist.
But if anyone others should share a lucid explanation of developing such “a system” I would appreciate the opportunity to learn. Beginner Mind!
You complained that I haven’t answered your “questions.” Most seemed simply rhetorical.
With all due respect, the tone of some of those “questions” have stimulated my interest in etymology, to confirm the derivation of a word from the Dutch: Boor - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
You complained about Penelope. I can’t speak for her but I appreciate her consideration. Thanks again, Penelope.
To answer part of your question, in my experience overtraining can be a risk. I have used the memory palace technique extensively for school (we have to learn hundreds of powerpoint slides per week, and each exam essentially requires you to have memorized the equivalent of a book) and in the beginning I would get headaches and even slight vertigo after forming mental images for about 3 hours. I was doing this every day without rest days until I had an exam, then would take a couple days off, my symptoms would diminish, then I would go back at it and the symptoms would return. Over time my stamina improved and now I can do 3-4 hours without any negative effects. A huge increase in my ability came after a much needed two week break, where I felt my brain had time to heal. The point is that I started with a much too heavy load in the beginning and it was not a comfortable experience. So yes, approach this like a physical workout and add load progressively with adequate rest between sessions.
Thanks. I appreciate your time.
Using the exercise idea something to think about is that the question of what you are trying to achieve is important.
There are different rules for different exercise regimes.
There are even different ways to lift weights which have different results.
You can even exercise every day.
A big thing to keep in mind is that most people in the exercise world do not know what they are talking about or how to get real results.
From what little we know about how memory creation works a little and often seems to be the way to go. Check out the index card repatriation systems which do seem to have some science backing them. Also all of the habit science seems to indicate that you are creating or forming a grove to run in.