Summer Off - Will It Affect Gains?

Do you actually guys get a summer break from gym, I mean like one month or something like that, or how you deal being away from gym, not being able to join a gym cause the city you’ve visited has actually two(!!) gyms that are closed for August?
Do you think a month off will get me back to my progress?
I’m planning having home workouts regularly, but with light weights or bodyweight, bands,ankle weights, kettle bell,bosu etc cause of no access to heavy, so how much that will affect gains?
Is there any chance that the time off will actually pay off like recovery or even getting bigger, or it’ll just blow everything away?
Thank you in advance :wink:

Will any answer change your course of action?

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As long as you’re pushing it with these workouts then yeah I’d say totally fine.
One month a bit long but actually beneficial to unload the body for a couple weeks once or twice a year.

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It won’t blow everything away but you’ll most likely come back weaker/less conditioned/softer.

Dan John used to say his strongest guys would take a 6 week chunk off each year. So it may help you in the long run, especially if you have some niggling issues.

Just have a plan so you come back in a smart way.

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These last two months I’ve been cutting, Ive caught myself taking well over a two week break at some points.

You’ll be fine. There’s quite a lot you can do without a barbell. If you can find movements that will allow you to train your neural system, and something that can put your muscles under enough tension for a couple of high sets once or twice every week and half or two you’ll be okay.

Id suggest keeping it a full body routine of sorts. Adjust your diet too.

I’ve gone from 205-207lbs to 180lbs, and all of my lifts are maybe 20lbs lighter. That’s it.

You’ll see your poundages go down more than anything else. Usually your neural adaptations take a bit to come back full circle. The muscle you’ve built tends to want to stay even in situations where you aren’t training as frequently.

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A month off will set you back. Nowhere near as much as an injury, but it’ll set you back. Your body composition shouldn’t suffer much (if at all) if you keep your nutrition bang on target, but you’ll need to account for less activity.

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I agree with the others, in that if you usually lift heavy, you’ll probably lose a little bit of strength.

BUT…

With body weight exercises and the equipment you listed, you can do A LOT of great workouts! With one kettlebell and bodyweight exercises, you can do full body routines that will work every muscle, improve your conditioning, and refresh your mind.

An example workout:

  • 5 kettlebell snatches each arm, changing arms each rep. Do 3 rounds as warm-up. Then 5 rounds of:
  • 15-20 goblet squats
  • 10 push-ups
  • 15-20 kettlebell swings
  • 10-15 one-arm rows

You have many possibilities! Do a search for Crossfit kettlebell or body weight workouts, and you’ll find lots of interesting ideas.

Also, don’t forget walking, sprinting, and jogging. A few rounds of 400 meters running with sets of push-ups, flutter kicks, squats, and pull-ups between the runs is a fantastic workout.

I’m excited for your barbell break :grin: If you need ideas, post here and we’ll help you think of some workouts.

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Thanks, that’s a relief to hear that…
Hope that works even to keep me in a decent level…

Yeah, I was pretty sure it will affect strenght, I see it if I go one week off, so imagine what will happen in a month…
I have this plan with light or medium weight but I feel that it is not that good I mean I won’t deal with heavy weight so I think I won’t have results…

Wow girl well done with the cutting :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I know, I ve already planned a routine (no barbell at all) focused on legs, now I’ll see what I can do on the upper body, thing is I don’t want to go run as everybody here suggesting. Nor do any cardio at all.
So I’m concerned if this whole thing with no weights or light will turn to cardio sessions and me losing muscles instead of actually mentaining, I don’t have fake expectations for me to build more😂

I’m currently 141 lbs, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to reach my numbers after one month or even two and a half weeks :confused: the scariest scenario is to lose weight &muscle.

Even if me training the way I described above?

Hahahaha thank you, I’m about to go crazy with the idea of not having access to a gym but you really lift me up with your way of thinking!

Except from jogging I think I’ll adopt what you’re suggesting, especially push ups and pull ups where I’m a complete 4/10 there :joy: not ashamed to admit it​:joy:

Oh I forgot to mention my foam roalong stuff, if that counts too;)

Do you have any ideas, leave out push ups cause I’m already doing it, to target chest?

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You’re welcome, I’m happy to help. Chest is most difficult for me to think of, but I do have two ideas.

  1. attach a band to a wall/fence/something at waist height. Stand with the band to your side, hold the end, and do one-arm band pushes for sets of 20 (depending on how much resistance your bands have.) Do the band pushes as pre-fatigue, then do push-ups.
  2. use a band for resistance when doing pushups. Hold one end in each hand with the band around your back so your pushing against it and holding the ends in place with your hands.
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Thanks!!!
Since I have neglected chest exercises I’ll try to do some in that time!!!
Maybe I’ll sent some other questions here too :slight_smile:

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Probably, yes. In the long term it won’t matter in the slightest, though. Doing something will help, certainly.

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Thank you so much for the honest answer!!

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I personally never train during vacations. As much as I enjoy training, I see no reason to try to squeeze it in when I’m relaxing. It’s not so much actually putting in the work, it’s more of working out the logistics of getting in the training in a new city, or using different equipment in a new gym. Alot of it is having to pack gear.

A few weeks ago I traveled to DC and set aside some time to train, but didn’t prioritize it enough for what I should be doing. I chalked it up to a ramp up to me going all out in the Bulgarian method.

I’ve spent 3-4 weeks off when I travel overseas to Bangladesh because I’d rather not use the gym there, and I feel my time is best spent with family there. Soon, I’ll go to Hawaii in October with my wife for her birthday. It’ll be during meet prep, but I’ll have my coach schedule a deload that week so I can just chill.

While I think any time off from training will impact your progress, it’s important to acknowledge balance between training/work/life, and enjoy yourself when you need to. That being said, I think home/bodyweight or light-banded workouts are great for this kind of time period.

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are you surprised that this is the one post she didn’t respond to?

The responses in this thread are just for mental satisfaction, the creation of an echo chamber. Because of course the answers were going to be ‘yes it’ll set you back a little, but after you get back in the gym you’ll totally be ok!! yay!!!’

Seems silly to ask questions you already know the answer to, and ones that, once given an answer, will not affect one’s actions. But people are silly sometimes.

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These days, with how often people never respond to my questions, I just assume someone wrote a web script to block me on this site.

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Anyone know whatever happened to that fake natty who went to the lengths of jaw surgery to create a punny jawline so he could hide his cheater status?

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