Due to an injury I have had to lay off of my 5x5 workout for about two weeks. I hope to get back Monday which will be about two weeks plus a day or so. How long does it take to loose gains in strength power and size.
Thanks
Powerlifters take that much time off before a meet then set PR’s.
You may have lost size cause you didn’t eat enough but you wont lose a lot from a 2 week lay off.
Enjoy getting back to the gym.
Its easy to get paranoid about strength loss when you are taking some time off. You won't lose much if not actually gain strength within those two weeks. I do find I may be a little stronger if I take a week off and may come back slightly weaker those times I take more time off as in two weeks.
However, this strength comes back very quickly and may allow you to get stronger. Had you been training intensely in the 5x5 scheme during the time off your body should recover and rebuild, that is when you will get stronger. As ben mentioned some powerlifters take time off before a meet or taper, i’m a powerlifter and usually take a week myself.
I have read this works as some muscle fibers can change to act more like fast twitch fibers, I tend to think my CNS is more fully recovered though. Every 4th week I take completely off and I have been getting stronger since doing it.
Should you in fact lose strength, after a week or two of training, you'll be back up to where you are. Maybe, during your time off focus on flexibility to make it easier to get into the hole for squats, or use training time to practice recovery methods, like contrast showers and what not. That way the time will be productive.
I think this is different for everyone. For me I need active recovery…a deload week. It never fails…if I get lazy on a planned deload week and it just turns into a straight up rest week and then I go into my next evolution…I’m always weaker than I am if I had done deload weights all week.
I always hear how people will take a straight week or two off and then be surprised when they come back and hit PR’s…that never happens for me.
the one week deload as in 531 (lower % 1rm + normal accessory work) is perfect for me. I tried doing 2 cycle in a row and now I am aborting at the second week of the second cycle. I regret trying to push the deload week away
I have had 4 weeks off about 2 months ago. My advise to ease back into things, start with a lighter rep max than your current(knock off 10% of your max as stated in 5/3/1 book), and build volume back gradually. This ensures you don’t get super sore or overload your body too quickly. Remember, tendons and ligaments heal slower than muscles, and take many weeks to adapt. This is why its better to be more conservative when progressing than putting the pedal to the metal!!!
I agree with the conservative approach. The last thing you want to do is re-injure yourself even worse, and be out of the gym for even longer. Don’t worry too much about strength and size losses during a layoff.
You’ll regain strength and size VERY quickly after a layoff. In my experience, after layoffs of several months, I have been able to get back to where I was within a few weeks. The most important thing for you right now is to recover from your injury.