How often do you take a break?

[3sixty3]

So I have been back in the gym for 15 months after 8 years off, longest break has been 3 days without lifting but I still did some moderate cardio for some of those days. As of recently my body is giving me some concerns. Been struggling with some shoulder pain that seems to be around the Collar Bone in my right arm. My left Elbow has been giving me some tennis elbow symptoms, and in both my arms I am having pain on the inner arm Radius head when doing pull-ups, biceps etc. My training Consists of the following.
Sunday- Cardio, usually 35min
Mon- Chest, Triceps and Cardio for 35 Min
Tues- Back/Biceps, Cardio 35min
Wed- Shoulders, Cardio 35 min
Thurs- Cardio 35 min, sometimes I take this day off completely.
Fri- Chest/Tri for second time, Cardio 35min
Sat- Legs/Biceps 2nd time, Cardio 35min

I started at 315lbs and I am currently 220. 6ft 1

I feel like my body wants me to take a break, but I am a very regimented person and feel like consistency is a must for me to stay on track. Last break turned into 8 years. For the last 6 months my weight workouts have been 12-15 reps and then superset with another lift right after. So if its chest and triceps I will hit a press and superset with a tricep or a fly etc. Then I take a times 60 sec rest. My weights are generally 60-80 min. I attached the HR info from my headphone monitor from one of my typical weight sessions.

I have been eating roughly 2800-3200 Calories a day, and consume around 250-350 grams of protein a day, and generally stay 200 grams of carbs or less a day. Most my carbs come within a few hours of the gym, and after the gym.

Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[mr_meanor]

I don't have a set way to take breaks but I believe it is very important to listen to your body. You can still train at 50% or less if you feel like you just have to be doing something, but if you hurt yourself you will be taking a much longer break. And your not gonna lose anything after a week sebatacle from the gym after going hard for months, it may actually get you a good chance to heal and add some strength gainz when you jump back in.

 

[Holidaypay]

Momma didn't raise no bitch either my bones or the bars gna break well see what gives first lol in all seriousness I fucked myself up a few times take it easy an go light on sore bodyparts

 

[LeoTC]

What do your actual training sessions look like week over week, how are you loading / overloading?

Assuming you're priority is dropping weight, I'd drop a the bro split. Hit weights every other day and rotate Bench/Squat/OHP/Deadlift.

If you don't want to put a lot of thought into it, you can still probably rock a linear progression for awhile. You'll have ample time to recover from session to session while maintaining volume.

Use your off days for less intense activity. Hit the trail and take a long ass walk, play basketball, etc.

Way more effective ways to get back in shape than rocking a bro split. Unless you're geared up or starting from an already solid base, they're actually really really inefficient.

But I'm making assumptions based on what's in front of me. So take it for what's its worth.

 

[3sixty3]

What do your actual training sessions look like week over week, how are you loading / overloading?

Assuming you're priority is dropping weight, I'd drop a the bro split. Hit weights every other day and rotate Bench/Squat/OHP/Deadlift.

If you don't want to put a lot of thought into it, you can still probably rock a linear progression for awhile. You'll have ample time to recover from session to session while maintaining volume.

Use your off days for less intense activity. Hit the trail and take a long ass walk, play basketball, etc.

Way more effective ways to get back in shape than rocking a bro split. Unless you're geared up or starting from an already solid base, they're actually really really inefficient.

But I'm making assumptions based on what's in front of me. So take it for what's its worth.

I would like to drop about 10, maybe 15lbs and then hit a cycle and build up from there. I had to slow down my weight loss because I was starting to get loose skin in places on my body that I wanted to give more time to adapt. Ideally I could care less about overall strength anymore, being in my upper 30s I just want to stay in shape and would like to get tan and jacked (in my Mark bell Voice) lol

 

[LeoTC]

Honestly?

Loose skin is probably going to be an issue whether you stop cutting fat now or later. Once it stretches for so long it only snaps back so much.

I cut from 300 to 200 in about six months years ago. Then to my lowest at 165 and I could've used shit to make a tent and camp. That was an extreme cut for a fight, normally walk around 210-ish. Maintained for years and it just kind of is what it is.

Good job with the cut though, its a bitch to actually make it happen.

 

[DeathDefier]

A week off every 10-12 weeks

 

[Mac11wildcat]

Entirely individual but I believe whole heartedly in schedules rest days. Any significant breaks in training for me are by feel. I don’t really believe in taking a period off if making progress and feeling good (unless you’re on a program for PL/strongman).

 

[MindlessWork]

I generally take a week off from training when I notice strength flagging, and when I return I feel recharged. During that time I may do cardio instead.

 

[LeoTC]

Even training PL/SM you can get by without taking breaks if you periodize and deload correctly. Depending on the program minimum, for me, is twelve weeks.

Prefer to keep it to a week off every six months though.

Know the longest I've gone without a break was just shy of two years. Then pneumonia shut me down for about three weeks while meds cleared my system.

Go stir crazy if I don't lift though. When I first started back years and years ago it was way worse. I did two and three a days for months at a time.

On my 'off' days I'd go do speed work with the big five. Then I started adding weight. Then I started adding more lifts. Then I just didn't have any 'off' days.

Don't really believe in over training, even after the fact, but definitely had my CNS hating me.

And I'm rambling...and forgot my point.

Fuck.

 

[cfreetenor]

I alternate training styles. When I feel I’ve grinded the last bit out, I’ll take a day off and focus on Oly lifting technique the next day, maybe some body weight exercises for the core or chins. Sometimes I’ll go on a long hike and not lift that day or the day after. I’ve learned that lifting on the same days as Muay Thai don’t mix well, but sometimes they do if I have it in me.

I’ve found that the more comprehensive your approach to fitness, the less you have to worry about “not doing things.” I have a very physically demanding job too in terms of sustained activity, so my legs often have DOMs even a week or two after my last squat session. Obviously unrelated.

I honestly have learned to enjoy the days where all my muscles are crying out, and I just know that every calorie I eat will go towards making me grow in all the ways I like while I’m laying in bed or sitting on the couch. Feels good.

I personally get unreasonably aggressive if I go 3 or more days without lifting or punching something - even the punching doesn’t get the aggression out like heavy presses or deadlifts.

 

[fershiz85]

+1 on it being unique to each person. I notice usually sometime in the 3-4 month range (no missed workouts in that period) my body starts chirping at me to slow my fuck'n roll.

Believe me, it's hard to take a week off with not lifting. But I use that time off to circle back around on diet and tweak that a bit, and other supplemental lifting activities. This past week off, I built a ghetto hyper/ghd to fit on my rack, etc...

 

[Fattest_animal]

-How's your sleep? Is it good or mediocre/lacking?
-How do you feel when you wake up? Ready to start the day or exhausted?
-How is your diet? How much do you eat? What do you eat?
-What do you do for the body parts that hurt? Ignore them? Try to fix them? Work through them?
-Have you been training 6-7 days per week for 15 months straight?


With no information, I would say that you should just take a week off. Sleep a lot, eat more than usual, get your body massaged and see how you feel after that. You might just be tired.

Also, when some of my joints hurt (elbows, knees, back, etc) I just wear braces or belts. I don't fight through it, never.

 

[3sixty3]

-How's your sleep? Is it good or mediocre/lacking?
-How do you feel when you wake up? Ready to start the day or exhausted?
-How is your diet? How much do you eat? What do you eat?
-What do you do for the body parts that hurt? Ignore them? Try to fix them? Work through them?
-Have you been training 6-7 days per week for 15 months straight?


With no information, I would say that you should just take a week off. Sleep a lot, eat more than usual, get your body massaged and see how you feel after that. You might just be tired.

Also, when some of my joints hurt (elbows, knees, back, etc) I just wear braces or belts. I don't fight through it, never.

My sleep is Sunday Night-Thursday about 5-6 hours a night. Friday night 7-8 hours and Usually Saturday night 8-10 hours

When my alarm goes off I am usually already awake before it goes off and ready to roll. I get up early a lot during the week, usually 3am for work. Lately if I can start work a little later I still get up at 3 am and go to the gym to hit cardio. Then back around 3-4pm to hit the weights on my training days.

Body parts that hurt I just try to train through the shit, if it mean lighter weights which it has lately I just do that. Right now my issues of pain are right shoulder and between bicep and forearm. I just picked up one of these https://hyperice.com/hypervolt so I hope it helps. I have been also going for massages once a month.

I have been eating roughly 2800-3200 Calories a day, and consume around 250-350 grams of protein a day, and generally stay 200 grams of carbs or less a day. Most my carbs come within a few hours of the gym, and after the gym. My headphones track my heartbeat and calories and between cardio and weights depending on how hard I push it I burn about 450-900 calories doing cardio, and 650-850 calories lifting. I lift and do cardio a minimum of 5 days a week. The sixth day I usually do light cardio like walk up hill for 35 min on the treadmill at 3mph or so.

For the most part I have been training 5-6 days a week for 15 months. A couple times when we went camping over the summer and stuff I had 3 days without lifting, but I would still get up and walk hills and shit to stay moving and not just eat a bunch of garbage.

Going from being in shape and then fat as fuck, and now back in shape I just try to stay on track. I have a routine and try to stick with it, but I think I need to stop lifting for a week and see what happens. Would you still do light cardio? Take a full week off from exercise all together?

thanks

 

[Endure]

You read a lot of articles of how your body comes back stronger after 3-4 days to a week off and actually somewhat recomps itself. Very hard for me to do personally as I love training. Even my so called rest days are active rest days per=se as I'll do yoga, bodyweight exercises, jog, walk etc. I just consider them less intense days and no weights.

 

[weighted chinup]

There's better tech than doing scheduled deloads.

I'm sub 2000 calories in a prep diet right now and train twice a day and work 8-10 hour days in a warehouse environment, cardio is also performed 2-3x a day (before work, after session 1, after session 2). Been doing two-a-days since October and haven't had to deload yet.

No aches or pains and no exaggeration but I am able to PR on a weekly basis 90% of the time on the main lifts. Sleep is similar to what you are getting as well, albeit a bit more on work days.

A lot of the accumulated wear and tear can be mitigated by intelligent programming and if done right, does not warrant an entire week off of training or anything below the minimum effective volume.

This sounds like it's more programming related than a matter of too much-accumulated fatigue - the aches and pains absent a regression in performance indicates this to be the case. If there was an involution in strength and performance then yeah, the concern is accumulated fatigue, but it sounds like an overhaul to training is needed.

Some people do better with different rest schedules, for instance, 3 days on 1 day off, or 6 days on 1 day off. This is largely individual and might be worth looking into further.

Your body is capable of a hell of a lot of work as long as it's not being abused or beaten in more ways than absolutely necessary. It might just be a matter of making the right adjustments.

 

[cfreetenor]

There's better tech than doing scheduled deloads.

I'm sub 2000 calories in a prep diet right now and train twice a day and work 8-10 hour days in a warehouse environment, cardio is also performed 2-3x a day (before work, after session 1, after session 2). Been doing two-a-days since October and haven't had to deload yet.

No aches or pains and no exaggeration but I am able to PR on a weekly basis 90% of the time on the main lifts. Sleep is similar to what you are getting as well, albeit a bit more on work days.

A lot of the accumulated wear and tear can be mitigated by intelligent programming and if done right, does not warrant an entire week off of training or anything below the minimum effective volume.

This sounds like it's more programming related than a matter of too much-accumulated fatigue - the aches and pains absent a regression in performance indicates this to be the case. If there was an involution in strength and performance then yeah, the concern is accumulated fatigue, but it sounds like an overhaul to training is needed.

Some people do better with different rest schedules, for instance, 3 days on 1 day off, or 6 days on 1 day off. This is largely individual and might be worth looking into further.

Your body is capable of a hell of a lot of work as long as it's not being abused or beaten in more ways than absolutely necessary. It might just be a matter of making the right adjustments.

I’m realizing lately that posture is extremely important.

 

[weighted chinup]

I’m realizing lately that posture is extremely important.

Probably responsible for more aches and pains and in the long-term, even injuries, than people realize.

I struggle with it too, especially after a hard day at work. Something to work on for sure.

 

[cfreetenor]

Probably responsible for more aches and pains and in the long-term, even injuries, than people realize.

I struggle with it too, especially after a hard day at work. Something to work on for sure.

I’ve upped my training frequency substantially and my calories have been the same, with some posture fixes it’s been night and day.

 

[Rockclimber]

Doing a normal 5-day split I can go all five days before resting on the 6th. Doing this CrossFit everyday Monday through Friday though I feel like I need a break almost daily. This shit beats you down. your basically doing deadlifts and shoulders every single day it's unreasonable.