How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long break

[the.gladiator1987]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

fuck, I wish I didnt have reasons to take breaks! I always seem to get hella sick, or get a new g/f, or have babies (well just 1 for now hahaha)

Mike, my lifts are

bench - 245x10
dead 405x5
squat 275x5

On cycle -
Bench 395x1, 315x9
dead 500x5
squat 455x1, 405x5


lmfao

 

[cuthroat]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

could be worse...they'll get back up there man.

 

[the.gladiator1987]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

could be worse...they'll get back up there man.

thanks homie

I guess it could be worse. Gonna go this week and get an estimate of my 5 rep maxes and start the 5x5 the following week. Gonna add 5lbs to bench/military every week and 10lbs to my squat/dead every week. Cant wait, I always get good results from the 5x5. Its just boring but now that I have a baby it will fit in just fine with my schedule.

 

[Tblock1]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

Yeah I hate losing strength when I take time off lifting. I've never taken three months off mainly for me it'll just be missing a week then only doing 1-2 workouts one week. It all adds up

 

[stevesmi]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

in my experience in both lifting and running is the more often you workout the better you will be.

i once trained with an ironman and he told me flat out.. if you want to get good at any particular sport.. whether it be running, swimming, bicycling, lifting, pullups, pushups.. etc etc. you need to workout atleast 5X per week. cannot do 3X per week and expect to improve.. mantaining YES, but not improving.

also there is an old saying in the athletic community among vets that says "however much time you take off, it will take twice as long to get back to where you were at"

i think that is about right, of course if you juice the dynamics will change and vice versa.

since we are not robots and not made of steel it is probably a good idea to take time off though to let the body re-cuperate. (did i spell that right? lol) stuff comes up.. problems with your girl, babies, death, family crap, injuries, work crap. so I wouldn't purposely ever take time off.. but when something does happen then by all means take some time off. I've got a hernia myself so I know I will need to take a few weeks off to get that taken care of with surgery so my time is coming

 

[ExtraMile]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

you need to workout atleast 5X per week. cannot do 3X per week and expect to improve.. mantaining YES, but not improving.

I bet to differ. Countless people including myself do great from training 3x per week.

also there is an old saying in the athletic community among vets that says "however much time you take off, it will take twice as long to get back to where you were at"

i think that is about right,

yah and there is also a saying in the lifting community amount vets that says "muscle is built outside of the gym when your recovering, not during the training sessions"

hence the importance placed on recovery time especially amoung powerlifters.

 

[stevesmi]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

yah and there is also a saying in the lifting community amount vets that says "muscle is built outside of the gym when your recovering, not during the training sessions"

hence the importance placed on recovery time especially amoung powerlifters.

I don't understand what you are saying here. glad took months off when he had his baby and then he has lost almost 100 pounds on his bench.

when i was a powerlifter my strength was shot for a couple days after a meet. it doesn't mean I should take a month off... a couple days rest and then I was good to go again and train.


one of my buddies goes to the gym just on MON and THUR.. he only works out his chest.. and yes he has progressed well.. he can bench 450 pounds.. however his legs and arms get neglected bigtime. he's got no legs!

my splits hit every muscle group

i do

1. pushing
2. pulling
3. legs

the same muscle group gets hit every 4 days if i workout ED, and every 5 days if i go 6X per week. thats 4-5 days of recovery time per muscle group!!

 

[ExtraMile]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

I don't understand what you are saying here.

I was saying while it may be somewhat applicable to athletics, (particularly those involving fine motor skills) the idea that to keep progress coming you just have to practice or train more and more often isnt very applicable to powerlifting or bodybuilding or strength sports for that matter (I am talking about when training "naturally")

I was saying just adding more gym time in doesnt necessarily equal more growth or more strength gains

 

[moya]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

i would agree with EM on this...

 

[Tblock1]

Re: How long does it take until you start seeing strength gains after taking a long b

also I would reverse that. Id say however much time you take off it will take 1/2 as long to recover it. Muscle memory is an amazing thing. If glad took 3 months off he should be getting back to his max number within a month or month and a half.