plateau again

[oso0690]

well i stalled out on pretty much everything on the friday, and my body just feels like it's going to fall apart from overfatigue or something so i'm going to rest for 2 weeks. I want to do some high rep upper body work? since i need to lay off squats because of a mild patellar tendonitis that happens here and there maybe? And deadlifts are too taxing, so that leaves me with upper body pretty much lol. the reason i wanted to do high rep stuff was for tendons so I don't get injured in the future from them.

So I wanted to ask what to do? Should I completely take 2 weeks off at the gym because i haven't done that for a year or so, or should I try doing some high rep stuff for the tendons?

 

[crazycarwes]

If you are going to do the high reps why not do them for upper and lower body?

 

[timtim]

take the two weeks off. its been a year? you deserve it. continue to diet hard and hit the cardio but leave the weights alone. you'll come back that much better and much more motivated.

 

[fortunatesun]

Two ways to work tendons:

Overload: Load up a bar. Static hold at lockout for 20 sec. You can also do this by rack work and partials. All these should be at 130%-140% of your 1 rep max. A hold will take more energy than actaully moving the bar. You tax the connective tissues needed to hold the weight without stressing the rest of your system. Obviously not high-rep work, though,

Plyometric: Ballistic force forces the rapidly contract and then expand with force. This in turn stresses your tendons which respond by becoming denser.
Use a light weight, let the weight fall until reflex action takes over and fire the weight back up. If you were doing rows start at the top of the row and let the weight descend. Almost any exercise can be done this way except those that put lots of stress on the joints like BTN presses. You just want to relax and keep reps between 10 - 20.

Good timing. I posted something on this on another thread. Instead of a total vacation you should consider some sort of active recovery or restoration which is always done by high rep. This article is written from a powerlifter's POV but gives you a good idea about what to do:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=34204

 

[timtim]

Overload: Load up a bar. Static hold at lockout for 20 sec. You can also do this by rack work and partials. All these should be at 130%-140% of your 1 rep max. A hold will take more energy than actaully moving the bar. You tax the connective tissues needed to hold the weight without stressing the rest of your system. Obviously not high-rep work, though,

i love rack lockouts.

 

[ZGzaZ]

Take a week or two weeks off, will give your body time to rest and heal. Also, you need these longer breaks from time to time, especially if you haven't taken one in a year, you may come back stronger than before. Also, after lifting for a year, when taking a break, you'll start getting anxious to get back in there towards the end of it, and you'll start getting excited again and hit the gym with a new mentality. Gl bro!

 

[carlsuen]

lol.. i take one week off every 3 montsh or so man.. u're no super man..

 

[oso0690]

lol okay thanks everyone, i guess the break is very good. I went to the gym today to get some active recovery work in, high reps with maybe 30% of max for 15 reps or so on a push and pull. I am thinking about getting back into boxing for cardio especially for these 2 weeks so i don't explode with fat gain.

fortunatesun, about the overloading thing, how does it not tax the CNS? I don't get the reason behind it. I get what you do, but wouldn't it tax the CNS just to hold 1.4x the max?

 

[fortunatesun]

fortunatesun, about the overloading thing, how does it not tax the CNS? I don't get the reason behind it. I get what you do, but wouldn't it tax the CNS just to hold 1.4x the max?

sure thing it does. but if you're not moving the weight anywhere you're not stressing the the cross connections that force the muscle to contract. The stimulation will build more connective tissue instead of tearing it down.

 

[Cynical Simian]

I don't know the physi/neurological details, but ROM is also going to be a factor in how much (or little) it taxes your CNS. Think about the weight guys handle for, say, shrugs, without burying themselves.