I am taking a week off from training and dieting and I was wondering if any of you guys feel guilty when you take time off from the gym? Maybe its just my personality but I just feel small and lazy this week. Is this normal?
Certainly. This is my second week off now because of what was a minor wrist injury few months back is now a major pain in the ass because I couldn’t be arsed to take the time off that it needed back then.
I keep feeling like I am losing what little muscle and strength I have by the minute. Glad we have creatine.
I find it difficult to take time off because I want to continue making progress.
On that topic…
I’m planning on doing Push/Pull routine next (possibly early-mid June) and I was wondering if I really need to take a full week off.
I know that experienced lifters recommend taking a week off between routines, but how necessary or helpful is this? Is it a ‘must-do-unless-you’re-stupid’ thing or is it just to let your body get some rest before you start training hardcore again?
I took a week off a little while back, and when I came back my bench increased nearly 15lbs.
I, too feel guilty about a week off. Rsg, what did you do on the week-off?
Stretch? Small exercises like situps? Did you do cardio of any sort/ How was your diet compared to training weeks (ie the same, or less calories etc)? Some insight would be appreciated mate. cheers
[quote]rsg wrote:
I took a week off a little while back, and when I came back my bench increased nearly 15lbs.[/quote]
I’ve noticed I can come back stronger also thats why I feel guilty when I DON’T take a week off. Its hard for me to stay out of the gym because I love to lift. Problem is I get overtrained. Also I know Skip Lacour one of favorite bodybuilders takes a week off every 2 months.
I took a week off fairly recently and when I came back my bench decreased by nearly 45lbs.
I felt guilty the first time I did. Basically never had a break for more then 3 days the first two years of training. Took a holiday, and despite eating loads of food and hardly doing anything I lost fat and gained muscle in the week I was there. My lifts went a bit up as well. So now I don’t feel guilty taking a week off. But still only do it once maybe every 3-6 monthes.
[quote]dannyrat wrote:
I, too feel guilty about a week off. Rsg, what did you do on the week-off?
Stretch? Small exercises like situps? Did you do cardio of any sort/ How was your diet compared to training weeks (ie the same, or less calories etc)? Some insight would be appreciated mate. cheers[/quote]
I lift 4-6 times a week, about 1-1.5 hours per session @ 22 years old. The week before the break I did barbell benching everyday (my back was feeling overly stiff so I gave it a rest). Could be why my bench went up so much after the break too.
I did absolutely nothing with regards to other training during the off week, apart from some very light stretching. Diet stayed the same, in other words relatively high calories the first couple days after the last workout, and I ate less thereafter.
I’m sick with a cold today but going to try out-train the fucker tonight.
I take a week off every 6 or 8 weeks, at the same time I change programs.
Taking time off really drives me nuts as I miss being at the gym. I’ll usually go 2 or 3 times and do light cardio and stretching, but that’s about it.
When I go back, I’m on a different workout plan and am doing mostly different exercises with different set/rep ranges. As such it’s hard for me to compare before and after strength levels. I get the feeling that I may be lifting about 5 lbs less than before, but I seem to have more stamina and energy.
By the end of my programs I am usually pretty worn out and the week off does help as far as overall energy and feeling refreshed.