Rest and Recovery periods

[Less than Dan]

As a general rule of thumb, I've heard that for every four weeks of intense lifting, one should take a week off for recovery. I'm currently on one of said weeks, and it sucks. I can't wait until thursday.

However, I've been experimenting with these rest periods, and I've seen nearly double gains of muscle mass over a week break period after around eight consecutive weeks of training in comparison to four consecutive weeks. However, although I know that the amount of time a muscle needs to fully recover is about a week anyways, I'm wondering if I should parallel weeks of training to rest periods (a week for every four week), or just keep it at a flat week altogether without lifting.

Keep in mind that, one, I train lats, arms, and chest on one day, and lower back and legs the next, with a break for the third day, so I usually don't give my muscles a full week of recovery until the week off break period anyways. I'm switching back to a more segregated and traditional "one muscle group a day" workout this thursday in order to mix things up, as I was doing this format for a good 12 weeks.

Thoughts, anyone?

[Yuri]

in spring 2008 I trained pretty hardcore, then I got a 60 hour a week job in may

the first week I gained 12 pounds

[andyzzle]

hey i posted your avatar in another thread a couple of days ago! :tongue:

[anfeyd]

The length of one week is a length of time dictated by social construction and in order to fully understand and appreciate your own body you must abandon the thought that the time frame of one week has some sort of physiological basis.

[Honken]

The only people I know that take rest weeks are elite and/or senior powerlifters after big competitions. I don't really think you need one unless you feel that you do.

[Less than Dan]

The only people I know that take rest weeks are elite and/or senior powerlifters after big competitions. I don't really think you need one unless you feel that you do.

Well, my most substantial gains and increases in strength and performance come after a rest period. I know it may not be necessary, per se, I do feel that the benefits are so immense that I swear by them.

If not for the recovery for my muscles, certainly for the recovery of my CNS.

[The Laughing Man]

I don't really see a need to ever take a week completely off, although you could if you wanted too. I prefer to get in the gym and do something light.

After a saturday competition, I won't train the sunday, and will come back to training on the tuesday for an extremely light session, skip wednesdays session, and then come back the next saturday starting to train 4x a week again with light weights.

[Aiden Bloodaxe]

If rest periods are necessary then it's definitely going to vary with the type of training one does. I've never felt the need for a recovery week/day(s) & the only thing they do for me is make me gorny for barbells, which I guess could be a valid reason to take a week off - to regain enthusiasm. I'm currently 90miles away from home & extremely busy & haven't trained in 6 days & I'm desperate for some lifting. I don't feel like my well restedness is beneficial enough for me to want to do this a lot, but I'll take note of how my performance feels when I'm next able to train.

[Caveman]

I'd recommend light weeks more often rather than weeks off, mostly for CNS/joint health, I also think a light week or week off can be beneficial after a very heavy training cycle, however if periodised properly you could avoid the need to take a week off entirely by focusing on one lift/muscle group for a few weeks heavy then switching to another, thereby negating the need for a week compltetly off as you simply don't train or minimal train the last thing you went heavy on.

[Ashtar]

I think Antoine is the king of recovery since he's so big.

[Phoenix Wright]

Every second week is a rest week for my lower back. For some reason I can't handle DLing weekly, as my lifts start to drop after 3 to 5 weeks and my back feels horrible. I'm seeing decent gains this way though. Should I alternate with hyper extensions rather than just doing nothing every second week?

[Phoenix Wright]

oops

[Ashtar]

Well hyperextensions can strain the back too, do you mean just doing unloaded ones for high reps? I do back extensions on my dex and my inversion table, traction feels very good. You can do 'edit' 'delete' for doubleposts btw.

[Phoenix Wright]

Well hyperextensions can strain the back too, do you mean just doing unloaded ones for high reps? I do back extensions on my dex and my inversion table, traction feels very good.

For some reason doing just 3 sets of 15 reps with no added weight gets my lower back more tired than anything else I've done before :eh: . Which feels a tad weird since my deadlift PR is 185 kg x2. I'd figure I just haven't got used to the movement yet(3rd week doing these)? I'm doing 'em on a Roman chair or what ever dong it's called, it's not very comfortable for the male genitalia that thingy. Though I really like the feeling of regaining some blood in that are after I get off the chair... ahh...

[Ashtar]

Well you tend to bend your back more in them I think (probably less strict form compared to deadlift) and maybe more constant tension that tires out? With a deadlift you often lockout to rest the back slightly or let go of the bar at the bottom.

[tpvlyrm]

planning shit is for faggots. Rest when you need to rest, and train when you need to train. Trying to fit yourself into some pre-determined schedule is mad fail - there's just SO many things in life that affect your recovery and progression. As soon as you become able to feel what state your body is in, you can train exactly when, and how, is the most productive at that particular time. And of course that might mean not training at all, for however long.
But set programs are what "sell", or keep people dependant on gurus and shitty websites, so it takes people years and years to break out of it (if they ever do).

[The Laughing Man]

fail

[Honken]

All hail tpvlyrm, the king of physiology and not-programming.

[Less than Dan]

I've had to take a break anyways, because it turns out that the liver enzymes in my blood are astronomically high, indicating liver damage! The doctors have no idea what's causing it! I haven't had a single drop of alcohol in my life and this is what happens! Must be my irish blood! Curse my ale chugging ancestors! I'll see you guys in hell! I hope I do not have hemochromotosis or liver cancer! Ten cents is less than twenty five cents!

[Leo]

Noooo Dan I need a tricking buddy at Towson! All the best to your enzymes!

[Ashtar]

Do you take any sort of drugs or meds? Liver does so much!

[Less than Dan]

Noooo Dan I need a tricking buddy at Towson! All the best to your enzymes!

You bet your sweet sweet ass tricks will be had daily at Towson. Liver damage cannot defeat me!

And Ashtar, aside from a multivitamin, fish oil, creatine, and mood stabilizers, I don't take any other drugs. My damage is consistent with what you'd see in alcohol abuse, acetaminophen overdose, or extremely high blood iron, in which I have none of the above. A sonogram ruled out any masses or neoplasms, so no cancer. My bilirubin is also very high, meaning that my body is destroying red blood cells at an elevated rate.

The mystery will be further inspected this monday, where hopefully, my doctor can point towards a potential answer.

[lostfoxeh]

Would this week off thing help with people who use high reps, like in the 10-20 range?

[Less than Dan]

Uh oh :(

Looks like I'm in serious dogshit now.

Through further testing, the doctors have found copper deposits in my liver, eyes, and brain. I just won the fucking genetic disorder lottery.

I got a confirmed diagnosis of Wilson's Disease last night. It looks like things are going to start changing in my life from here on out.

[twist]

dunno what to say man :(
how serious is it?

keep your spirits up, best of luck in dealing with it and overcoming it

[Syn]

wow, just read up on it a bit.... that sucks!

but atleast they found it before it fucked you up for good. but that still sucks, and the only people you can blame.. are your parents

[Ashtar]

http://www.gwthomas.org/house-wilson.jpg
I just read up on it too. Anyway you can't blame his parents, what you should blame is that we don't mandate genetic testing for recessive diseases as a requirement before legally allowing people to procreate.

[tpvlyrm]

Guess what, I read up on it, too, and everywhere says that if you eat a shitload of zinc you'll be fucking fine.
Dan, I presume your sole and focused hobby right now is learning everything you can about the disease, and how you're going to remedy it, right?

[Vegetable]

I just read up on it too. Anyway you can't blame his parents, what you should blame is that we don't mandate genetic testing for recessive diseases as a requirement before legally allowing people to procreate.

Oh, so your solution is that he never should have been born.

[Syn]

http://www.gwthomas.org/house-wilson.jpg
I just read up on it too. Anyway you can't blame his parents, what you should blame is that we don't mandate genetic testing for recessive diseases as a requirement before legally allowing people to procreate.

you're a fucktard like always... I'm not even gonna go into it, and you wouldn't understand

[Vegetable]

you're a fucktard like always...

Aha.

[Ashtar]

Oh, so your solution is that he never should have been born.Not really, I think if we prevented the duplication of recessive diseases, people who wanted to have biological children who had them (or recessive genes that could result in them) would be putting a lot of funding into finding a cure.

They'd be trying to figure out genetic therapies which could be applied to an embryo or fetus that would prevent problems from occuring before they reached full development (because I think gene therapy would be much harder to do once someone's fully grown). We'd probably have already fixed the problem.

The problem is that people like to remain in denial, don't want to test for potential problems, they live in the moment and roll the dice and hope for a good future. I wouldn't want to gamble like that with my children.

It's also nothing personal either, I still think my mom should have aborted me.

you're a fucktard like always... I'm not even gonna go into it, and you wouldn't understandAh, I probably would not understand, but it's not impossible I might by a fluke understand it.

[Less than Dan]

Guess what, I read up on it, too, and everywhere says that if you eat a shitload of zinc you'll be fucking fine.
Dan, I presume your sole and focused hobby right now is learning everything you can about the disease, and how you're going to remedy it, right?

Yeah, besides the initial shock of finding out, treatment and whatnot has been pretty tame.

There is only so much you can research on Wilson's, and since I figured out just about everything I need to know a few days after the diagnosis, life has been exactly the same as it always was, except for the diet and zinc.