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Took a Week Off

mrdeadly99 Posts: 124 Joined: 2005/09/21	2005/11/28, 12:26 PM Ok, so last week I wasn't feeling great so I decided to take it off. Today will be my first visit to the gym in about 9 days, and my first time doing chest and tris in about 13 days or so. This is my first time taking a rest in about 4 months or so, and I heard taking a rest can help break through plateaus, so when I get back, Ill tell you how my workout went.
5p829zr7wg Posts: 88 Joined: 2005/08/10	2005/11/28, 06:11 PM it is good to take a break but i took about a week off because i had the flu and i lost about 7 pounds and had drop about 15 pounds of weight in squats bench press OH press ect and that was about a month ago and about a week ago i fully recuperated.
mrdeadly99 Posts: 124 Joined: 2005/09/21	2005/11/28, 08:57 PM hmm not too great. My bench went down about 10 lbs from what I could usually do(i can usually do 200lb 3 times for my last set, i was only able to do 190 3 times). Incline press however waqs pretty much where it has been, and so were incline flys. My only improved lift was close grip bench(tris). Is the week rest supposed to make you stronger during that week so you can lift more when you come back, or does it help the muscles rest, so you can improve more when tou come back into lifting? Im confused...and bummed that I lost strength
	2005/11/28, 09:59 PM Depends...if you're overtrained then time off may end up adding strength....or it may allow your body to get over a plateau....but not always....strength fluctuates with many factors so no worries..10lb is nothing...
sstump1 Posts: 1,227 Joined: 2005/03/20	2005/12/01, 02:02 PM You can't expect to take the time off and go back into the gym and immediately break through a plateau. What you might see if a renewed sense of energy at first and maybe a week or 2 down the line you will see your max's go up. I try to take a week break about every 6-8 weeks...not so much cause I'm overtraining, even though I do tend to see my max's level out about that time. With a family/job/responsibilities and such I just tend to get worn down and the extra 4-5 hours rest a week is usually pretty helpful to give me a renewed sense of energy when I get back in the gym and usually the second week I tend to see boosts in my performance in the gym as well.