Topic: Week with no workouts

[Cypress]

I have been lifting weights for a year now and I haven't taken a week off. My back has been hurting for a couple days so I skipped todays workout. I still did some stuff to keep from getting stiff (50 squats and some chinups). I planned on only missing today but I hear that it is good (maybe even necessary) for muscular growth to take a week off every couple months. Will it make me weaker if I don't lift this week?

[Mooning Freddy]

In Reply To #1

No, but the week you get back weightlifting you could lose up to like 10 kg (22 pounds) in the weights you're lifting on the different trainers and 3-5 kg on the freeweights, dumbells and bars. You would be able recover your regular weight after 1-2 exercises.

I'm surprised you didn't know that. I've been working out for a year as well, and unfortunately, unlike you, haven't been very serious with my training. I've skipped lots of exercises from various reasons: starting from business, laziness sickness and tiredness, and on the simple reason of my Gym being closed on Holidays (and there's a shitload of them in my country). Because of that, I could not have reached the results I could have if I've been training responsibly.

But back to the subject: from what i know, the answer to your question is yes. It is crucial for muscle-growth to provide them with sufficient rest. Strangly enough, after I've taken almost two weeks of no-training during the holidays, I found out I gained around 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds) of weight. And no, it wasn't fat.

[Clara E. Leet]

Where's Proto Belmont when you need him? He's the workout/body building expert of the forums here.

[Cypress]

I've gained about 12lbs of muscle since I started getting serious and my major compound movements have increased by about 40lbs. I don't think it would hurt and the more I read up on different routines the more I see that after about 12 weeks there is a week where you shouldn't lift. A couple of people even suggested two weeks. If I do get a bit weaker it isn't a big deal I guess, I can only bench 210 anyway. I'll take off on the days my back hurts this week. If it isn't better next week then i'll just work through it. I think it is hurting because I had some shingles to carry up on the roof and since they were only on one shoulder I strained the opposite side of my back to keep my balance on the ladder.

[Mooning Freddy]

If I do get a bit weaker it isn't a big deal I guess, I can only bench 210 anyway.

"ONLY"? Ah! Sarcasm! that's almost 100 kg. Be happy with what you've reached. It's a great result for only a year of training. I hardly lift half of that, around 110 "lbs".

[Cypress]

In Reply To #5

I am happy with my results, but it is still just a little, comparatively of course. And that comment isn't meant to belittle anyone that may bench less just to clarify. I don't plan to bench 1000lbs or anything. I can still remember when I thought the bar was extremely heavy heheh.

[ProtoBelmont]

lol dunno if I'm an expert! but I try.

Cypress, nice to see you like to lift! I actually did a style fairly similar to yours, where I would lift every day. (minus sundays for homework.) Doing upper then lower, then upper, etc. It works wonders for losing weight, getting fair definition and establishing good fundamentals for weight training, but I personally think it's a biiig no no, if you want bulk/strength.

And Freddy is correct to, usually after 3 days of doing (absolutely) nothing you might notice a small drop. You would regain it fairly fast and if you trained even harder, you would be fine! He is also verry correct on how you need proper rest, it's a fundamental element in proper training and health...

...I'm not sure on how your workout is set up through the week, or the intensity you take it to, but I personally don't agree that you should go a whole month then take a week off! Moderation is key.

If you can try for a 3-4 day work out program and see how it might work for you. You can do core lifts lets say, MWF and (if you want) do any cardio on TTH. Then use the weekend to relax and rest your muscles for the next week... That setup allowed me to gain 50 pounds in over a year of serious lifting, while giving you a fair amount of relaxing time.

I'm most worried about how you say your back has been aching! Thats really not good, no matter the cause of it!  If there is any pressure or any awkward feeling in your back while doing any lift, stop and take time off like you where suggesting. (which is logical of course) Last week was my max out week of the month and tried doing 613 deadlift, from 603. I failed. I felt fine afterwards, but I ended up messing up a ligament on my right knee and now I'm taking off squat, powerclean, and deadlift for a little bit. The human body always breaks before the bars and plates to. : (

This is coming from a guy who takes this stuff to seriously, but I hope I can help somehow. Just find a good workout type for you, measure you progress and if it works... continue! Sorry for this mass of information, I dunno when to shut up sometimes with this junk. lol. (and I didn't even touch the topic of nutrition haha)

[Cypress]

Wow, a 615 deadlift. I don't even own that much weight haha. The part I hurt is called the Latissimus dorsi I believe (left side). I don't do fullbody workouts everyday like I used to. That just got me down to bones and no strength increase. Now I do mon,tues,thru,fri. Legs, chest, back, arms. It has been working well, I try to keep the gains at less than a lb a week since I hear from most people that you gain excess fat if it is more than that. Thanks for all the info, I don't normally get to talk to anyone that knows anything about this stuff. Nobody I hang out with lifts weights and I do all my lifting in my room. My back seems a bit better so I'll be lifting in a little bit. If it hurts i'll stop, but if not i'll continue like normal.

Update: No pain. Everything went perfect. I can even increase my bench press for next week. Im glad too, I don't think I could survive not working out for too long. It gets depressing.

[ProtoBelmont]

hehe. I guess it is kinda alot, I roared through it and my friends thought I lost my mind. lol! And that sounds good that your lat's doing fine!! It's actually quite a easy muscle to pull at times, (especially if you incline bench) so I have no worries about it either. Oh and I completely know how you feel with not lifting/exercising for some time. College sucks for me like that, I lost 5 hours a week of running thanks to it and that is indeed depressing on me. 

I also have the same situation with not having friends who want to lift as well. lol. I've tried converting a few of them to weightlift, but their laziness is just to great. Now if only you close to me in northern wisconsin, we could start a weightlifting team and beat everyone in the region. : ) haha

[PFG9000]

It was always my understanding that you should give a muscle group 2 days minimum to recover after each lift.  I usually give it 3 days, because I'm usually still sore on the 3rd day...and I'm lazy.  I also like to change up my routine every few weeks so that I'm always sore after a workout.  I can't imagine working the same muscle groups every other day, but it's obviously working well for Proto.  I hate it when people tell me my workout or exercise isn't good enough, as if they know better than I what's best for me...so the last thing I want to do is criticize someone else's workout methods.

Anyway, I don't think it would hurt you one bit to take a week off.  Obviously you'll "lose" the improvements you would be gaining otherwise.  But I think you'll spring right back to where you were, because your body is in decent shape from working out so faithfully.  Sometimes it's nice to reward yourself with some time off.  It can be a good goal to strive for, something like "I just need to keep working out consistently for the next two months and I'll earn that week off."

[Mooning Freddy]

In Reply To #8

Figures. Obviously, if you work out at home and are capable of doing all the important exercises you would reach a lot better results than in a gym, since you're not limited in time/ no one to interrupt your training and you can train whenever you want.
I wouldn't imagine working out every day, or even four times a week. I work out three times a week, and it was two when I started. I can't do more because I'm limited in time and money (my gym is far away from my home, an hour's ride). And also, I don't recover my strength quickly enough to seriously work out more that thrice.

[Cypress]

Haha. I am not strong enough to beat everyone in any region. I'd need at least 5 years or so (and a very weak region) Im in NC btw. I don't go too heavy on the incline (I do it right after the bench) so I haven't hurt myself on it. Im just taking it easy in my workouts this week to make sure my back is fully healed before I continue like normal next week.