Need advice on a good way to go about taking time off?

[seand95]

I have been trainging roughly 7 years now and havnent rested more than 10 days at a time. Im feeling burned out for a number of reasons (the main one being that i cant train at full intensity because of my shoulder and elbow)
Im planning on taking a full 4 weeks off. Has anyone seen this to help?
my hunch is, im getting something like tennis elbow. I feel the pain anytime my palm is facing down and im gripping something. the pain is bad enough when i curl as well. anyways, im sure its tendontis of the flexors, ive had tendontis in other areas before and it feels familiar.
the shoulder prob. doesnt involve the rotator cuff directly. I have a deep throb in my acutal socket and im sure its from it being loose from football and me lifting to extremes. I really hope its not the pain of me wearing the joint down.
i know this is getting long, but does anyone care to share how i should go about a rest/ active rest period over the next few weeks?

 

[Primo Max]

I can't give you much advice with the injury or how to go about fixing it, but I can tell you from personal experience that you won't lose much in the way of muscle by taking a month off. You'll get weaker, but just keep your diet good and you'll pretty much be the same size when you come back, and then you'll get the strength back quick. I've taken 2-4 weeks of several times for various reasons and it's amazing how the body will stay the same size, especially if you're an experienced trainer and have been holding that size for a while and your body is used to it. So don't feel like you'll shrink, because you probably won't lose much at all. Plus, I've never had an injury that time off won't fix, but I don't know how severe your's is.

 

[cinnabar8521]

After a while your body gets used to doing the same weight training, so the month off will decondition your muscle and in turn when you start working out again your muscles weaker and will get the pounding they so rightfully deserve for growth when you start up again