What Happens After a Week Off?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
41

[quote]Professor X wrote:
HunterKiller wrote:
I love my week off, I take one every 7 weeks or so. Depending on what I am doing. I tend to workout to hard and have a hectic life when it comes to school and work, so I take my week off when I start feeling run down all the time. It helps gets me feeling like a million bucks, then I go back to working out.

My week off doesn’t mean a week off of eating clean though.

Is it a coincidence that many of the people who seem to LOVE their weeks off are under 180-185lbs yet over 6 feet tall?[/quote]

No. And it’s probably not a coincidence either that many of the people that could actually benefit from a week off are the last ones to take it.

42

[quote]Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
a week off wont make much difference. You should take a week off every 3 or 4 months to get a good recovery period.

Why?[/quote]

Training week in week out takes alot out of the body, backing off for a week or even only training a half week for example, allows alot more time for the body to get fully rested.

I would only do this every 3 - 4 months though.

43

I gotta side with the Prof on this here. Sure training puts a lot of stress on your body, but assuming adequate nutrition, and sufficient sleep,… I really can’t imagine many of the younger guys really needing time off barring some sort of injury. The whole process of building muscle is your body adapting to stress, and becoming more resilient. I know this will sound totally meathead, but there was an old Vivarin ad that had Don Long in it. The catch phrase was… “too wiped out to train? your competition never seems to be”.

S

44

Everyone who says that they are “too tired to train” or “need a break” are fucking kidding themselves.

There are people in the world with no legs who would love to be able to do squats with sore knees. Arnold used to get up extra early in the military before roll call to train. Matt Kroczaleski, when in the marines, used to get up at night, break into the gym and train in the dark, because he had no other chance to train.

Stop making fucking excuses. I would bet 90% of the people here who say they are “almost overtraining”, “pretty achy” or “physically drained” are pussies and don’t have what it takes to be anything above ‘ordinary’.

45

[quote]irishpowerhouse wrote:
Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
a week off wont make much difference. You should take a week off every 3 or 4 months to get a good recovery period.

Why?

Training week in week out takes alot out of the body, backing off for a week or even only training a half week for example, allows alot more time for the body to get fully rested.

I would only do this every 3 - 4 months though. [/quote]

I’m sorry, but are you saying that instead of following how my body is responding and making my training decisions from this, I should base it on some generic idea that all humans need a week off every 3-4 months?

46

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I gotta side with the Prof on this here. Sure training puts a lot of stress on your body, but assuming adequate nutrition, and sufficient sleep,… I really can’t imagine many of the younger guys really needing time off barring some sort of injury. The whole process of building muscle is your body adapting to stress, and becoming more resilient. I know this will sound totally meathead, but there was an old Vivarin ad that had Don Long in it. The catch phrase was… “too wiped out to train? your competition never seems to be”.

S
[/quote]

That’s what they seem to be missing. There are guys in this thread with barely a year of experience with lifting claiming they are already taking weeks off at a time. If you need a fucking entire week off that early in your training, you may want to check and correct what you are doing wrong.

Also, if you are taller than 6 feet tall but weigh less than 180 pounds, perhaps keep your tales of experience to yourself and listen a little more.

47

[quote]Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
a week off wont make much difference. You should take a week off every 3 or 4 months to get a good recovery period.

Why?

Training week in week out takes alot out of the body, backing off for a week or even only training a half week for example, allows alot more time for the body to get fully rested.

I would only do this every 3 - 4 months though.

I’m sorry, but are you saying that instead of following how my body is responding and making my training decisions from this, I should base it on some generic idea that all humans need a week off every 3-4 months?

[/quote]

I dont know where I said all humans need a week off every 3-4 months. I know that if most people are following a tough program week in week out and progressing, then an extended break which could be 3,4,5,6,7 days usually is a good thing.

Obviously you are much stronger and more intelligent than me so i dont expect you to ever need a week off to recover mind and body.

48

[quote]irishpowerhouse wrote:

I dont know where I said all humans need a week off every 3-4 months. I know that if most people are following a tough program week in week out and progressing, then an extended break which could be 3,4,5,6,7 days usually is a good thing.
[/quote]

The problem is, “most people” barely train hard enough to break a sweat, and yes, that includes most on this site as well. That is WHY there are 180lbs people who are 6’2" claiming they are already taking weeks off even though they have trained for less than a year.

One thing I know without doubt is that it is foolish to follow the actions of those seeing the least progress.

How many people on this site do you think are actually “training hard” and seeing results better than most of the population? How many would even qualify as “built” if you saw them walking down the street? Yet these are the people who need weeks off?

49

[quote]
I happen to like Jason, but there are too many variables that make hard and fast rules like this too mechanical to me. Don’t forget were talking about beginners here. Even DoggCrapp has it’s cruises, but that is not for beginners. Ferrugia also advocates very brutal work too.

There’s a difference between being forced to take some time off for emergencies etc, which won’t hurt anybody and taking a week off just because it’s time.

If I’m in the middle of making some progress that is NEVER time for a week off and if I’m not making progress a whole group of things need to be examined which may or may not include time off. [/quote]

Oh, I totally agree. I’ve never taken a week off so far without needing to… unless it was due to sickness or an injury or my workouts had gotten so bad that my lifting partner (and guidance counselor) told me to take a week off.

To be completely honest, I’ve never really followed anything by Jason Ferrugia. I bought Muscle Gaining Secrets back in December and it served as nothing more but the base of my training knowledge. Maximum Mass seems like a great program, but my gym has basically none of the cables, GHRs, etc that seem required to do it 100% the way it’s written.

50

[quote]Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
a week off wont make much difference. You should take a week off every 3 or 4 months to get a good recovery period.

Why?[/quote]

It helps, that is why. I take several vacations or trips with the family a year. I take these opportunities to spend time with just the family…many times doing active things but I am not training per say. Since I know I am going to do it I train like a madman the week before I leave, twice a day if I can. I make sure I eat plenty well during the week “off”. I have always hit PRs the week after I get back.

Now that said I don’t think it is necessary. If I took a week off and did not “train-up” for it I doubt it would do much good.

51

I cant be expected to know how hard everyone trains but I will say this. I train pretty hard every week, I dont plan a week off to go eat candy and watch tv, but when the time comes to lay off a few days and get some R and R I do it, I have had sickness from being over trained too much in the past, its better to take a break and come back better than to keep going and get sick and lose all the muscle you gained in the weeks before.

52

[quote]mmllcc wrote:
Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
a week off wont make much difference. You should take a week off every 3 or 4 months to get a good recovery period.

Why?

It helps, that is why.[/quote]

Are you saying you see no instances where taking time off could hurt performance or the actual attainment of goals?

This is worse than that “8 glasses of water a day” rule. No one knows WHY everyone is supposed to drink exactly 8 glasses of water, but everyone apparently knows it is “good for you”.

[quote]

I take several vacations or trips with the family a year. I take these opportunities to spend time with just the family…many times doing active things but I am not training per say. Since I know I am going to do it I train like a madman the week before I leave, twice a day if I can. I make sure I eat plenty well during the week “off”. I have always hit PRs the week after I get back.

Now that said I don’t think it is necessary. If I took a week off and did not “train-up” for it I doubt it would do much good.[/quote]

Taking vacations with family is great. Finding a hotel near a gym is even better.

While rest is important, no one has yet told me why everyone needs regular WEEKS off. Maybe that will be in the next post.

53

[quote]irishpowerhouse wrote:
I cant be expected to know how hard everyone trains but I will say this. I train pretty hard every week, I dont plan a week off to go eat candy and watch tv, but when the time comes to lay off a few days and get some R and R I do it, I have had sickness from being over trained too much in the past, its better to take a break and come back better than to keep going and get sick and lose all the muscle you gained in the weeks before. [/quote]

You trained so hard you made yourself sick?

My advice is that you find out why you got to a point that led to sickness in the first place. That is ABnormal and not the goal for those who plan to stick with this long term.

54

[quote]Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:

I dont know where I said all humans need a week off every 3-4 months. I know that if most people are following a tough program week in week out and progressing, then an extended break which could be 3,4,5,6,7 days usually is a good thing.

The problem is, “most people” barely train hard enough to break a sweat, and yes, that includes most on this site as well. That is WHY there are 180lbs people who are 6’2" claiming they are already taking weeks off even though they have trained for less than a year.

One thing I know without doubt is that it is foolish to follow the actions of those seeing the least progress.

How many people on this site do you think are actually “training hard” and seeing results better than most of the population? How many would even qualify as “built” if you saw them walking down the street? Yet these are the people who need weeks off?[/quote]

I don’t know this guy - but I agree that perhaps he may be new at the game. But as you criticize him as being not as built as some - well what is your Dead Lift? 3 x BW? Your 100 meter, 40 meter?

The same criticism can be made of you if asking questions regarding athletic ability.

55

[quote]Professor X wrote:

While rest is important, no one has yet told me why everyone needs regular WEEKS off. Maybe that will be in the next post.[/quote]

They don’t. I think we agree on that.

56

[quote]mmllcc wrote:
Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:

I dont know where I said all humans need a week off every 3-4 months. I know that if most people are following a tough program week in week out and progressing, then an extended break which could be 3,4,5,6,7 days usually is a good thing.

The problem is, “most people” barely train hard enough to break a sweat, and yes, that includes most on this site as well. That is WHY there are 180lbs people who are 6’2" claiming they are already taking weeks off even though they have trained for less than a year.

One thing I know without doubt is that it is foolish to follow the actions of those seeing the least progress.

How many people on this site do you think are actually “training hard” and seeing results better than most of the population? How many would even qualify as “built” if you saw them walking down the street? Yet these are the people who need weeks off?

I don’t know this guy - but I agree that perhaps he may be new at the game. But as you criticize him as being not as built as some - well what is your Dead Lift? 3 x BW? Your 100 meter, 40 meter?

The same criticism can be made of you if asking questions regarding athletic ability.[/quote]

Gee, this is a bodybuilding forum, not a “general athletic ability” forum. I also played sports previously and was into powerlifting for a while so please don’t assume you are speaking to someone who simply can not perform in the ways you just listed.

With that said, why would someone log into a BODYBUILDING forum and question me about my 40 time? Would that make ANY sense whatsoever?

57

[quote]mmllcc wrote:
I don’t know this guy - but I agree that perhaps he may be new at the game. But as you criticize him as being not as built as some - well what is your Dead Lift? 3 x BW? Your 100 meter, 40 meter?

The same criticism can be made of you if asking questions regarding athletic ability.[/quote]

This is the bodybuilding forum, where the topic of conversation is (or should be) building the most muscle. A max lift or high sprint time does not correlate with the topic at hand.

Back on topic:

I can’t stand whole weeks off because it takes me almost another week to get back up to speed in the gym. Doing less volume and getting out of the gym quickly for a week has been more beneficial.

58

[quote]Professor X wrote:
mmllcc wrote:
Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:

I dont know where I said all humans need a week off every 3-4 months. I know that if most people are following a tough program week in week out and progressing, then an extended break which could be 3,4,5,6,7 days usually is a good thing.

The problem is, “most people” barely train hard enough to break a sweat, and yes, that includes most on this site as well. That is WHY there are 180lbs people who are 6’2" claiming they are already taking weeks off even though they have trained for less than a year.

One thing I know without doubt is that it is foolish to follow the actions of those seeing the least progress.

How many people on this site do you think are actually “training hard” and seeing results better than most of the population? How many would even qualify as “built” if you saw them walking down the street? Yet these are the people who need weeks off?

I don’t know this guy - but I agree that perhaps he may be new at the game. But as you criticize him as being not as built as some - well what is your Dead Lift? 3 x BW? Your 100 meter, 40 meter?

The same criticism can be made of you if asking questions regarding athletic ability.

Gee, this is a bodybuilding forum, not a “general athletic ability” forum. I also played sports previously and was into powerlifting for a while so please don’t assume you are speaking to someone who simply can not perform in the ways you just listed.

With that said, why would someone log into a BODYBUILDING forum and question me about my 40 time? Would that make ANY sense whatsoever?[/quote]

Scrolls up to check to see if Prof X knows what he is talking about

Thinks, “Damn He is right.”

Alright – good point. I’ll not do that anymore.

59

[quote]Professor X wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
I cant be expected to know how hard everyone trains but I will say this. I train pretty hard every week, I dont plan a week off to go eat candy and watch tv, but when the time comes to lay off a few days and get some R and R I do it, I have had sickness from being over trained too much in the past, its better to take a break and come back better than to keep going and get sick and lose all the muscle you gained in the weeks before.

You trained so hard you made yourself sick?

My advice is that you find out why you got to a point that led to sickness in the first place. That is ABnormal and not the goal for those who plan to stick with this long term.[/quote]

Yep, burning the candle at both ends, it happens. I have been through some brutal days in the gym and came back in the next day when I should have rested, Its part of being addicted to iron I guess.

Anyways, I think the thread is pointless anyway, if you dont take a lay off from the gym every now and again thats fine, more praise to you.

To answer the original question… what happens after a week off?

You come back with a burning desire to hit the iron, and you probably feel less burned out. Get over it

60

exact opposite with me. I find that even after a week i begin to tell myself i need more time off!!..lol.
So to keep my lazy assed brain in check i now, just switch to pylometric stuff when i go on vacation (push-ups, BW squats, pull-ups etc)
Keeps me focused and happy. I believe the reduction in intensity helps a bit more than complete rest (i don’t i could handle that)