WO break

[anthrax]

I've not taken a break for months and I start to need one

Would working out only twice a week for 2 or 3 weeks (instead of 4 + 1 cardio) be enough rest ?

 

[eat big]

Well see in my case I take the whole week off as in 7 days and dont do anything.

Try that instead of 2 weeks with 2 workouts.

 

[Madcow2]

Every good program has periods of reduced and enhanced volume/periodization. It's simpy a requirement for an experienced lifter. You can't push hard all the time because the kind of program that yields a good training response will wear you down if done for longer periods. That said, reducing volume and frequency is the way to go. In very very few circumstances is zero training going to be optimal.

 

[anthrax]

Thanks guys,
That's actually what I was hoping to read

Staying completely away from the gym for a week or two would have been pretty difficult psychologically (I'm seriously addicted )

BTW, what is the scientific reasoning behind a lower frequency/volume rather than a complete vacancy ?

 

[Madcow2]

So there's always the psychological need for vacation and just general mental health and a well rounded life. But from a purely performance related standpoint a major detraining effect goes into action over longer periods of complete rest. You wind up having to reacclimate which takes even more time so you recuperate but you waste a lot of valuable time in your break and before you are ready to lift at full capacity again. Not only that but the time can be better utilized to work on weak areas, prehab, or beneficial exercises that tend to not get included in major focused training blocks. Both serve to deload the body but a complete break causes a major interruption. Outside of a specific planned vacation period you won't see much in the way open weeks in an elite program. In fact the most open times are generally right before major competitions as the athlete is peaking (major deloading) and allowing complete recovery to show up a the meet at 100%. Even then you see low volume, high intensity, and low frequency.

 

[blut wump]

I've spent two years basically bouncing from full recovery to impending overtraining and then taking a week off following by a week of reacclimatizing and repeat. I found it fine for a while and you can continue to make progress coming out of rehab but you'll plateau and that'll pretty much be it.

I've not taken any time off since Christmas after following madcow's 5x5 routine which builds in a deloading week as a transition from volume to intensity and I'm currently in another deload after the intensity phase. The body needs a break after any period of hard work but that break needn't be a complete rest. It can just be an easing up as you oscillate between phases of your program. It can be a time to think about some rounding off exercises or GPP or speed work and be a mental break while keeping the body working.

 

[JKurz1]

So madC - lets say one was semi-overtrained........feeling weak, lethargic, etc...lifting 5-6 days a week, high volume 20+ sets...........no need for a complete break? Just low the volume and decrease the weights for a week?

 

[Madcow2]

So there are varying degrees of overtraining. Most people simply aren't overtrained. They are just in stale workouts where there is no underlying structure other than a split, exercise selection, and they go in and work hard in a given rep range. A well structured program will bring an athlete right to the point of overtraining (this point is called over-reaching). Training beyond that point is suboptimal (like in the 5x5 if it's properly setup most people can't make true record lifts beyond 2 weeks - it's actually closer to 10 days but there are some freaks who can handle 3). If pushed hard beyond this point (and we are talking record lifts here with the weights set exactly right which tends not to happen without experience or coaching) their lifts begin to drop the following week and it takes a more aggressive or lengthy deloading period to compensate. Ideally, like a race car driver you either want to be hard on the gas or hard on the brakes at all times. Overtraining oneself is like making a shitty turn and having to nurse it through - just suboptimal. Now a single week isn't so bad (you still don't see this even before competition though so consider that) but a 2-3 week period as we originally spoke about just doesn't have a good place other than a mental vacation - maybe after a major contest and before beginning a new macrocycle in preparing for the next year's championships.

So when are longer periods appropriate. Well, massive overtraining which most people on this board probably have never experienced (you have to be fairly dumb to ignore the warning signs and the warning signs that this is coming). I did this once as an expiriment and although I don't have a lot of familiarity with optimally recovering from a purposely created horridly overtrained state I did elect to take 2 weeks off and then 2 weeks of reacclimation work (basically more deloading and light lifting) before I was ready to push hard again. Basically, CNS burnout. I got nothing from the 8 weeks of loading (yeah - it was on purpose) and came back even a bit weaker than when I began simply due to the detraining.

Basically, there is an ideal window of over-reaching and deloading that keeps you moving at optimum velocity. In peaking for a major compeitition, the goal is to be 100% on the day so forward velocity is not the issue but merely being at one's best on a single day after which training will recommence from the ground up. So is 1 complete week off bad - not really. Is it suboptimal - chances are yes but not by a massive margin. Is 2-3 weeks off bad - yes unless you are massively overtrained or simply in need of a vacation. Is it suboptimal to a current ongoing program - yes, by a very large margin.

Do hopefully you guys get the feeling that what we are talking about is balancing load and recovery here to meet a specific goal. It's a bit of an art as well as a science. This is why it's very hard to perscribe much specificity and I always stress learning one's tolerances. This knowledge enables you to optimize your loading cycles so that you don't over or under load (gas) that way a standard deloading period (brake) is all that is required to get you ready to push hard again (gas). Long and rambling but that's the jist.