All I know is in my late 20’s I was driving 10-15 deliveries a day in the 5 boroughs of NYC, Westchester County, Southern CT. and eastern NJ. I had to load my own truck with a couple thousand pounds of product and unload them again for delivery. I trained all the time and was also married with 6 kids including foster children.
I did get myself wiped out for a little while, but that was mainly through waaay too much volume and frequency as I didn’t know any better then. I redesigned my program and after a bit of trial and error continued progressing just fine. I was also running 3.5 miles 3 days a week. I never took a week off.
Everybody’s situation is different and people themselves are different, but the key as always is learning to listen to your body and adjusting accordingly. I can’t imagine any young otherwise healthy person not living in 3rd world squalor actually REQUIRING a regular week off.
I believe the concept of “off” or “deloading” weeks were popularized in the powerlifting community because these individuals regularly lift at >90% of their 1RM AND (very important) move enormous weights. This combination puts an incredibly stress on their CNS so they require additional recuperation time.
What most casual lifters seem to fail to understand is that lifting at >90% of one’s 1RM does not in itself warrant off or deload weeks unless they’re lifting MASSIVE weights.
While I completely understand if 185# on the bench press is almost your max that it feels HEAVY! But, it still doesn’t take it’s toll on your ligaments, joints, and CNS like a 500# (or greater) bench press.
This is precisely the reason why some coaches recommend for beginner to train their entire body 3 times per week. Beginners simply cannot recruit enough muscle to need a lot of time off.
[quote]Protoculture wrote:
I believe the concept of “off” or “deloading” weeks were popularized in the powerlifting community because these individuals regularly lift at >90% of their 1RM AND (very important) move enormous weights. This combination puts an incredibly stress on their CNS so they require additional recuperation time.
What most casual lifters seem to fail to understand is that lifting at >90% of one’s 1RM does not in itself warrant off or deload weeks unless they’re lifting MASSIVE weights.
While I completely understand if 185# on the bench press is almost your max that it feels HEAVY! But, it still doesn’t take it’s toll on your ligaments, joints, and CNS like a 500# (or greater) bench press.
This is precisely the reason why some coaches recommend for beginner to train their entire body 3 times per week. Beginners simply cannot recruit enough muscle to need a lot of time off.[/quote]
Good post. That entire line of bullshit about “relative strength” is possibly to blame for why so many newbies feel they are in the same league as people who can bench press over 405lbs.
That would explain why someone who weighs 180lbs at 6’2" would even have the balls to give advice in the first place rather than TAKE IT.
i took a week off after serious lifting for about 12 weeks…I was also starting some new products so I wanted to start on a monday and not a random weekday…Personally I think 1 week (watching your diet and stuff) is not bad and does the body good.Gives it time to rest without any sort of heavy strain on it…Im not a scientist but thats just what I think.It does suck but I think about the long run.Maybe I gave something time to heal that could have ripped or some something along those lines…
just my.2
[quote]lifting monkey wrote:
i took a week off after serious lifting for about 12 weeks…I was also starting some new products so I wanted to start on a monday and not a random weekday…Personally I think 1 week (watching your diet and stuff) is not bad and does the body good.Gives it time to rest without any sort of heavy strain on it…Im not a scientist but thats just what I think.It does suck but I think about the long run.Maybe I gave something time to heal that could have ripped or some something along those lines…
just my.2[/quote]
After the first 3 or 4 days off I feel sluggish. After 5 and 6 I get antsy and start to feel like I’m going to go crazy if I don’t walk into a gym or do a pushup or something, after 7 I’m back in the gym ready to destroy shit. Usually have to try and tone it down or else I’ll try to go for a marathon workout.
I take a week off maybe twice a year when the gym closes (I am a student). I do not usually progress, and sometimes backslide slightly. The only good that can be said of it is that I come back hungry.
I really hate to take time off. I get really bored, and I have too much energy.
Try lifting before work. It works for me during the school year when homework and sports practice keeps me from lifting. I try to work even on vacation. If there is not a gym nearby, I usually do pushups with my hands in oven mitts on a tile floor, and find a convenient tree limb for pullups. Screw time off
After I was forced to take time off for mono, all of my lifts suffered, and I was sore for a while after lifting. Not worth it at all
When i take a week off from training everything becomes more miserable.
In fact, i think every person who weight trains seriously for more than 2 years in a row will most certainly be addicted to every aspect of training.
When i take a week off, i feel less motivated, more slow, weaker etc.
I think the wisest thing to do so that you don’t get burned by training too hard too often is to vary your program.
For example, when you work on high volume, long workouts, many sets per muscle and so on, then if you start getting too tired, switch to a full body program with just the big lifts included.
Oh, and deloading is a better choice than taking the week completely off.
I won’t deny though that i’ve hit personal bests a week or two after taking a week off. Resting for that long makes you wanna train more and gives you extra motivation for giving all you have.
I never take a week off…
If I feel real crappy on a training day, I take that day off and do the missed workout on my next training day.
Seriously, I hate off days… And with DC that’s even harder for me than the diet… You have a day off between each workout (well, you do train half your body rather intensely each time you go to the gym), and weekends are off too.
We have our cruising periods of 1-2 weeks after every blast… When you stall on a lot of exercises at once, or when you know that an especially stressful period of time lies ahead…
But we still lift during those cruises, regular schedule for me just not particularly bothered with increasing the weights, not rest-pausing and also just trying out possible exercises for the next blast…
So we train all year long, generally, and as far as holidays go…
I do at least overhead pushups (or whatever they are called), Pullups and Such… Or organize myself a gym (because I can’t stay away from the weights anyway).
Like some other posters here, I find it hilarious that someone who hasn’t even added 50 pounds to his frame yet needs to take a whole week completely off…
You’re either not eating enough or doing some idiotic fad-program that is supposed to make you “big” through… well… “unconventional/revolutionary” means.
[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]
It probably isn’t I am not a big fan of the whole ectomorph endomorph mesomorph thing, but being 180-185 and 6ft puts you in the ectomorph range. One of two things is happening, our bodies are different then mesos/endos, or we train to hard because we are so skinny.
My weeks off are pretty scheduled, there are times in my life I get about 4 weeks of free time in a row, and ill bust my ass as hard as possible in the gym then fall apart after about 3 weeks, and take a week to recover and come back stronger.
[quote]HunterKiller wrote:
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?
It probably isn’t I am not a big fan of the whole ectomorph endomorph mesomorph thing, but being 180-185 and 6ft puts you in the ectomorph range. One of two things is happening, our bodies are different then mesos/endos, or we train to hard because we are so skinny.
My weeks off are pretty scheduled, there are times in my life I get about 4 weeks of free time in a row, and ill bust my ass as hard as possible in the gym then fall apart after about 3 weeks, and take a week to recover and come back stronger. [/quote]
I am pretty sure most would have considered me an “ectomorph” when I was a beginner also. I doubt anyone would call me that now. Some labels do nothing but hold back progress. Quit holding onto them.
I started this weighing about 150lbs at 5’10-5’11" so I call bullshit when someone claims that being 180lbs at 6 feet tall somehow changes their entire approach.
i think CT said it best when he said that him (and his athletes) only take de-loads WHEN THERE BODIES ARE GIVING THE CUE TO DO SO! i think a de-load is only necessary when:
you’re not progressing (size and strength wise)
like it was said above, you’re moving serious iron.
besides that, a de-load isn’t necessary.
and i find that if in 3 weeks from now, im gonna have ONE busy ass week with school and work, then i’ll purposefully overtrain myself for 2 weeks before hand, so that i can take that one week off and at least achieve a super compensation effect.
[quote]forbes wrote:
i think CT said it best when he said that him (and his athletes) only take de-loads WHEN THERE BODIES ARE GIVING THE CUE TO DO SO! i think a de-load is only necessary when:
you’re not progressing (size and strength wise)
like it was said above, you’re moving serious iron.
besides that, a de-load isn’t necessary.
and i find that if in 3 weeks from now, im gonna have ONE busy ass week with school and work, then i’ll purposefully overtrain myself for 2 weeks before hand, so that i can take that one week off and at least achieve a super compensation effect. [/quote]
When I first started working out, I followed the “book” advice to take a week off every 6-8 weeks of training.
I don’t do that any more. I’ve learned to listen to my body, and what I hear generally doesn’t tell me that I need time off from training at 5x week.
Every now and then I don’t get into the gym due to unusual circumstances, and that seems to address any risk of “overtraining” that I may have, without needing to formally plan time off.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
HunterKiller wrote:
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?
It probably isn’t I am not a big fan of the whole ectomorph endomorph mesomorph thing, but being 180-185 and 6ft puts you in the ectomorph range. One of two things is happening, our bodies are different then mesos/endos, or we train to hard because we are so skinny.
My weeks off are pretty scheduled, there are times in my life I get about 4 weeks of free time in a row, and ill bust my ass as hard as possible in the gym then fall apart after about 3 weeks, and take a week to recover and come back stronger.
I am pretty sure most would have considered me an “ectomorph” when I was a beginner also. I doubt anyone would call me that now. Some labels do nothing but hold back progress. Quit holding onto them.
I started this weighing about 150lbs at 5’10-5’11" so I call bullshit when someone claims that being 180lbs at 6 feet tall somehow changes their entire approach.[/quote]
A week off is just for lazy people or after a period of huge physical stress. The average trainee has no business “programming” a week off.
This could happen if someone identifies a decrease on physical performance that is not related with poor sleep, bad nutritional habits, or just a bad time.
If diet, sleep, and stress can be corrected, there’s no reason (or should I say excuse) to take some time off.
This topic is related with the line that divides excuse makers with progress makers.
[quote]MEYMZ wrote:
A week off is just for lazy people or after a period of huge physical stress. The average trainee has no business “programming” a week off.
This could happen if someone identifies a decrease on physical performance that is not related with poor sleep, bad nutritional habits, or just a bad time.
If diet, sleep, and stress can be corrected, there’s no reason (or should I say excuse) to take some time off.
This topic is related with the line that divides excuse makers with progress makers.[/quote]
You’re not the only one to lose sight of the point of this thread. It was not to seek approval for taking time off. The original question was what happens after a week off.
I have been working out for over 20 years, and I am not seeking the approval of a novice. I take a week off then I feel I my body needs some recovery time, or when work or travel gets in the way. Period.
The question was related to whether or not most folks, if they take time off, gain weight & strength, lose weight & strength or maintain after one week off.
[quote]eric_lacrosse wrote:
I have been working out for over 20 years, and I am not seeking the approval of a novice. I take a week off then I feel I my body needs some recovery time, or when work or travel gets in the way. Period.
The question was related to whether or not most folks, if they take time off, gain weight & strength, lose weight & strength or maintain after one week off.
[/quote]
If you have been working out for over 20 years, wouldn’t you know what happens by now?
[quote]malonetd wrote:
eric_lacrosse wrote:
I have been working out for over 20 years, and I am not seeking the approval of a novice. I take a week off then I feel I my body needs some recovery time, or when work or travel gets in the way. Period.
The question was related to whether or not most folks, if they take time off, gain weight & strength, lose weight & strength or maintain after one week off.
If you have been working out for over 20 years, wouldn’t you know what happens by now?[/quote]