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I've been back to the gym hard for four straight weeks. I've been killing it with the 5x5 routine. I first started 5x5 back in March and four the first three months I blew up 30 pounds in body weight. Then when June came I dieted for a couple months and starting the second week of August until the present I've been back eating massively and training heavy with 5x5. So now that you have my back ground history with 5x5 here is my question. Why and how often should you rest and take time off. I lift four days a week on a four day split. I do monday tuesday, rest wednesday, thursday friday, rest saturday and sunday. Is it necessary to rest every 4-6 weeks meaning a total absense of lifting for a week to really recover and rehab? Would it be better to just lift light for that one week, instead of avoiding the gym completely.
My current 5x5's are
incline bench 5x5 @ 210
deads 5x5 @ 335
squats 5x5 @ 225, I've been off squats for three months
barbell curls @ 110
weighted dips @ 45
shoulder press @ 115
Before I dieted this is where my strength and 5x5's were at
barbell bench 5x5 @ 245 w/ 295 1rm
deads no regular routine but 385 1rm
squats 5x5 @ 280 w/ 375 1rm
barell curls 5x5 @ 140 no 1rm but maybe 155??
weighted dips 5x5 @ 60 no 1rm
shoulder press 5x5 @ 150 no 1rm but maybe 185??
I posted my lift weights because I wanted to show that now that I'm starting back on the 5x5 I'm starting low again from what I could do before to try and build a better stronger base for getting heavier later, because I started hurting myself with some of the poundages that I was lifting before, i.e. barbell curls. My biggest reason for wondering about rest is because of the injuries. The barbell curls got to heavy to fast last time so I started with an even lower weight this time around. Anyway let me know what you think about rest, and thanks for reading all of this.
My current 5x5's are
incline bench 5x5 @ 210
deads 5x5 @ 335
squats 5x5 @ 225, I've been off squats for three months
barbell curls @ 110
weighted dips @ 45
shoulder press @ 115
Before I dieted this is where my strength and 5x5's were at
barbell bench 5x5 @ 245 w/ 295 1rm
deads no regular routine but 385 1rm
squats 5x5 @ 280 w/ 375 1rm
barell curls 5x5 @ 140 no 1rm but maybe 155??
weighted dips 5x5 @ 60 no 1rm
shoulder press 5x5 @ 150 no 1rm but maybe 185??
I posted my lift weights because I wanted to show that now that I'm starting back on the 5x5 I'm starting low again from what I could do before to try and build a better stronger base for getting heavier later, because I started hurting myself with some of the poundages that I was lifting before, i.e. barbell curls. My biggest reason for wondering about rest is because of the injuries. The barbell curls got to heavy to fast last time so I started with an even lower weight this time around. Anyway let me know what you think about rest, and thanks for reading all of this.
