taking a day or week off of working out? good or bad

[parabody]

ive been training pretty intense for about 16 weeks straight now, do you guys ever just take a week of or a couple days of to recoup and let everything heal? ive been debating doing it but at the same time feel like a fat shit when i miss a day and force myself to make up big time for it

[The_Grinder]

I personally don't like it. Makes me feel like shit and its tough to really get into it when i come back. I usually just take a day or two off if I feel too tired.

[FitnessBrat]

After 16 weeks of intense training, I'd say you'd be doing your body good by taking a week off. It isn't going to "kill" anything you've gained and you'll probably feel great getting back into it after a rest.

[Bouncer]

are you saying you train 7 days a week without an off day?

[parabody]

noooo i train 5days a week and cardio 7 days a week 30-45 a day at least but im debating like taking a friday and a monday off in adition to my sat sun from working out to give my body a break and rest and wondering if it would be benefitial to my body

[wnabeabeast]

noooo i train 5days a week and cardio 7 days a week 30-45 a day at least but im debating like taking a friday and a monday off in adition to my sat sun from working out to give my body a break and rest and wondering if it would be benefitial to my body

Of course it is benefitial to your body, remeber your body doesn't grow during the workout, while you are training all you doing is tearing the muscle, body grows and repairs itself during rest period, so taking a break is NOT a bad thing. I don't know what your goal is but I think you should even cut your cardio down too

[parabody]

goal is to lose another 15lbs by june 1st if possible if not by middle june

[Bouncer]

i think you are doing to much cardio. eating muscle with that schedule. cardio should be 5 days a week.

[wnabeabeast]

goal is to lose another 15lbs by june 1st if possible if not by middle june

How intense is your cardio? I've seen people do some crazy intense cardio in the name of fat loss which it actually defeats the purpose because their hearth rate is way above the fat burning zone. As long as you keep your hearth rate between 65 to 75% of your max bpm you'll be ok.

[parabody]

my heart rate stays around 139 70% of max i do a 4mph walk on 15% incline, but you guys really think i should cut it down to 5 days and if so do i do mon thru fri or maybe take off cardio like mon wed and do it on weekends when im not working out?

[3v1lj03]

I think you should take a week off. Your body will not even shift gears in that amount of time it will still be in panic mode from the intense training. There is a thing called repeat bout syndrome (or something like that) anyway if you keep hitting your body hard without variation you will stop progress and cause a decline. There is also the hypotrophy crowd who actually take enough time of every 4 to 6 weeks ( 10 to 14 days off) to allow atrophy of a muscle group to start and then hit that muscle group again which they claim causes rapid growth. ( I have used this method for my legs and it works) I follow an 8 week non adaptive cycle and take the 9th week of. IT makes me crazy not to touch the iron for those 7 days but, I always come back stronger and usually put on some LBM right after the time off. I have been on this type of cycle for 33 weeks and I started at 192 lbs 21% bf and as of today I am 220 lbs with 15% BF (BTW 16 % is considered lean for 40 yrs) Not quite to my goal of 9 to 10 % yet but, well on my way. So take the time off your muscle will thank you. Your brain will go nuts though.

[Nekrawulf]

good

[SonofBone]

I think it is a good idea.

I kind of got burnt out after 6-7 months of not missing any workouts. The last couple of weeks my workouts seemed to lack intensity and focus. I felt I could end up getting injured, so after I missed one day, I decided I should miss a week. While my strength didn't jump liked I hoped it would, I was refreshed when I got back yesterday.

[Bouncer]

I think it is a good idea.

I kind of got burnt out after 6-7 months of not missing any workouts. The last couple of weeks my workouts seemed to lack intensity and focus. I felt I could end up getting injured, so after I missed one day, I decided I should miss a week. While my strength didn't jump liked I hoped it would, I was refreshed when I got back yesterday.

yea, its just as much mental as it is physical. taking those days off clears the mind so you can go back and kill the weights.

[parabody]

well i wasnt going to take some time off but i pull or strained some muscles in my shoulder so i have to now thanks guys hopefully i come back refreshed