Taking a week off the gym good for gains? Looking for advice /perspective

[AverageMan]

I’m on a standard 5 on 2 off weekly workout plan. I NEVER miss a gym day and have been on this program for over a year.

Is taking a week off the gym good for you? Bad? Indifferent? I’m talking form the perspective that want to build as much muscle mass / lose body fat. Diet is spot on – gym or no gym.

Looking for perspective of the members here.

 

[Gainjin260]

Great question.

I try to take a week off every 4 months at least. If you're just going to to gym and maintaining maybe it's not needed, but I'm completely gassed after every session and put my body through some brutal workouts. I think it is good to completely recover every so often.

I always feel stronger after that week off and body parts which I had trouble getting sore get really nice and sore after my first workout back.

 

[organdoner]

may be a good idea so you can take a little time to evaluate what you are doing and prepare for the goals set with a clear head. then get back at it upping the intensity. if that makes sense.

 

[Onk]

I go 7x a week and take a week off when I need it, which is every ~10-12 months. I do take 1-2 days off here and there, that's more than enough. I am 27, so may be an age thing.

I also don't think many people know how to incorporation proper periodtization or de-loading to their training protocols.

 

[halfwit]

I train 7 days a week, but I have to deload every couple months or I would burn my CNS to the ground. Think of the brain as a battery with a very small charger connected to it. When you train with high intensity, you use (literally) electric current to force your muscles to move at a rate higher than the little charger can replace. If you allow this to continue for too long, the body shuts down as there's simply not enough current to operate outside the gym.

Deload weeks (or just taking a week off) keep the muscles stimulated, but as you reduce the load significantly, it gives your little charger time to bring your brain back up to full. This is why you often will notice that you come back much stronger, as you're running off a "full battery".

This is traditionally considered a powerlifting technique of periodization, but it most certainly applies to body building too.

My .02c

 

[AverageMan]

Thanks all for the insightful replies. I've been traveling for work and was recently stuck in a hotel with the worst gym ever. A treadmill, bench and dumbbells up to 50 lbs. So this week effectively became my deload week. I'm semi- obsessed with diet and training, so never gave thought to a deload week - I simply couldn't mentally accept it.

In the last few months I've started lifting heaver due to gains from spot on diet and trt program. As a result of lifting heavier with no breaks, I've started having issues with elbow joint pain and sharp pains in my right shoulder when benching. So yes, it's time to Incorporated more deload weeks.

How often do you deload? What would be a good cadence to incorporate a deload week?

 

[49ER]

Pussys i train 8 days a week it may sound impossible because there is only 7 but i get it done

 

[blakey]

Pussys i train 8 days a week it may sound impossible because there is only 7 but i get it done

60 percent of the time it works evrey time

 

[halfwit]

Thanks all for the insightful replies. I've been traveling for work and was recently stuck in a hotel with the worst gym ever. A treadmill, bench and dumbbells up to 50 lbs. So this week effectively became my deload week. I'm semi- obsessed with diet and training, so never gave thought to a deload week - I simply couldn't mentally accept it.

In the last few months I've started lifting heaver due to gains from spot on diet and trt program. As a result of lifting heavier with no breaks, I've started having issues with elbow joint pain and sharp pains in my right shoulder when benching. So yes, it's time to Incorporated more deload weeks.

How often do you deload? What would be a good cadence to incorporate a deload week?

I don't have a set time to do a deload, but when I start feeling extra tired in the morning, or the weight just starts feeling heavier - I know it's about time. It averages to be around every other month to every three months, and I know that I'm delaying it too long if I start to feel like I'm getting sick.

I won't lie; it sucks going to the gym without that drive to go balls to the wall, but the benefits are worth it. To help, I tend to listen to more happy and "dance type" music like trap or even the occasional Britney Spears.

Yes, I can only imagine the look on people's faces if they knew the big bald-headed guy that often throws the 45lb plates around was listening to Britney. Hah!


(it's usually Rob Zombie, Korn, Otep, Static-X, Godsmack, Nonpoint, Rammstein, etc. If that matters.)

 

[49ER]

I don't have a set time to do a deload, but when I start feeling extra tired in the morning, or the weight just starts feeling heavier - I know it's about time. It averages to be around every other month to every three months, and I know that I'm delaying it too long if I start to feel like I'm getting sick.

I won't lie; it sucks going to the gym without that drive to go balls to the wall, but the benefits are worth it. To help, I tend to listen to more happy and "dance type" music like trap or even the occasional Britney Spears.

Yes, I can only imagine the look on people's faces if they knew the big bald-headed guy that often throws the 45lb plates around was listening to Britney. Hah!


(it's usually Rob Zombie, Korn, Otep, Static-X, Godsmack, Nonpoint, Rammstein, etc. If that matters.)

I knew you were Dave Tate!

 

[Onk]

Thanks all for the insightful replies. I've been traveling for work and was recently stuck in a hotel with the worst gym ever. A treadmill, bench and dumbbells up to 50 lbs. So this week effectively became my deload week. I'm semi- obsessed with diet and training, so never gave thought to a deload week - I simply couldn't mentally accept it.

In the last few months I've started lifting heaver due to gains from spot on diet and trt program. As a result of lifting heavier with no breaks, I've started having issues with elbow joint pain and sharp pains in my right shoulder when benching. So yes, it's time to Incorporated more deload weeks.

How often do you deload? What would be a good cadence to incorporate a deload week?

mate, I went to a hotel gym 4 weeks ago and it had
2x treadmill
2x elliptical
1x rower
DBs up to 10kgs (22lbs) in 2kg increments (2/4/6/8/10)

So I went to a local gym and paid for it on my work amex. They put me in a crappy hotel, they deserve to foot the $15

 

[AverageMan]

I don't have a set time to do a deload, but when I start feeling extra tired in the morning, or the weight just starts feeling heavier - I know it's about time. It averages to be around every other month to every three months, and I know that I'm delaying it too long if I start to feel like I'm getting sick.

I won't lie; it sucks going to the gym without that drive to go balls to the wall, but the benefits are worth it. To help, I tend to listen to more happy and "dance type" music like trap or even the occasional Britney Spears.

Yes, I can only imagine the look on people's faces if they knew the big bald-headed guy that often throws the 45lb plates around was listening to Britney. Hah!


(it's usually Rob Zombie, Korn, Otep, Static-X, Godsmack, Nonpoint, Rammstein, etc. If that matters.)

This makes sense - I've had days where I felt like complete ass / extremely fatigued / ZERO energy. Just figured I needed more pre-workout

Honestly, I've been on a strict diet for about 13 months to get below 10% BF (now at about 8%) and assumed the caloric deficit coupled with a hard 2 hour workout was catching up to me. To boot, I'm no spring chicken either..

The once a quarter deload week (or as needed) sounds like a good cadence.

Onk - I usually choose hotels based on the gymquality. Needless to say I completely flubbed this last one up!

 

[organdoner]

i can get a decent workout reguardless of where i am. good gym or bad. traveling or not. last hotel i was at had no gym so i just sat in the hotel on a sunday and watched a triple header of nfl and did 25 pushups every comercial. body was hurtin the next day.

 

[luckypaul]

I tend to overtrain, so for me missing a week in the gym means I come back stronger. If one under trains, it's not going to help much.

 

[Onk]

This makes sense - I've had days where I felt like complete ass / extremely fatigued / ZERO energy. Just figured I needed more pre-workout

Honestly, I've been on a strict diet for about 13 months to get below 10% BF (now at about 8%) and assumed the caloric deficit coupled with a hard 2 hour workout was catching up to me. To boot, I'm no spring chicken either..

The once a quarter deload week (or as needed) sounds like a good cadence.

Onk - I usually choose hotels based on the gymquality. Needless to say I completely flubbed this last one up!

most of the time I do as well. Though some cities I am required to go to only have 1 or 2 options...both with crap or no gym!

I got mself an Anytime Fitness pass which gives me a magnet key for any gym within their franchise globally, and they're 24/7. That seems to work pretty well.

 

[jozifp103]

I find a week off here and there to be beneficial to my overall well being. If I go too hard for too long my body lets me know. I feel fatigued, and flue like symptoms. Usually I'll feel it coming and then a good hard leg day will be the icing on the cake and my CNS goes to shit. A week off, and when I return the weights feel lighter. I'd say taking a few weeks off a year is necessary.

 

[49ER]

I take 11 months a year off from training

 

[anzel]

When's the ideal time to take time off between these 3
?
1.Right after a bulk calories dropped to maintenence.
2.In the middle of a bulk while on blast.
3.1st week of a cut

 

[Onk]

When's the ideal time to take time off between these 3
?
1.Right after a bulk calories dropped to maintenence.
2.In the middle of a bulk while on blast.
3.1st week of a cut

There's never an ideal time, from half-wit and my perspectives it's done by feel so can come anytime. Of course, if you don't get to that stage, as you may not train as well as us, then you don't need time off. That's why scheduling a break isn't the best as you may take them when you don't need them, then you've had your break and won't take another, when you may need one.

 

[juced_porkchop]

I***8217;m on a standard 5 on 2 off weekly workout plan. I NEVER miss a gym day and have been on this program for over a year.

Is taking a week off the gym good for you? Bad? Indifferent? I***8217;m talking form the perspective that want to build as much muscle mass / lose body fat. Diet is spot on ***8211; gym or no gym.

Looking for perspective of the members here.

take a week off every couple months atleast IMO