Off days

[Christenson26]

How important are off days? I lift about everyday, my training days are split between chest,legs, and back. So I've got 2 days to recover from each major muscle group. I'm just wondering if you more experienced guys take an off day every once in a while? Am I running myself into the ground? I'm not a beginning lifter so lets get that out of the way, I do have a pretty decent understanding of what I'm doing and I need to be in the gym more than 3 days a week to make progress.

 

[GeekPoop]

you don't grow in the gym...

 

[Christenson26]

I guess that's true. But I'm wondering more if that two day split between training muscle groups is enough or if I should just take a day to do nothing.... What do you guys do?

 

[asooneyeonig]

How many days you need off, or how often y lo u need to deload depends on volume, intensity, frequency and your work capacity which are all affected by diet, sleep, and stress levels.

At this point your question is the equivalent of asking which is hotter the tall blonde or the short brunette without any other info.

 

[BLaQz]

Have you tried taking any days off for a decent amount of time to see how YOUR BODY reacts?

 

[T-Bone]

I would say days off are important. I find the older I get the slower I recover. Also I would say you need complete rest for your entire body and CNS, just taking a break from certain muscle groups doesn't qualify as a day off. Also you don't necessarily need to be in the gym more than 3 days a week to make progress. It depends on your particular exercise program that you are following. Going to the gym daily is eventually going to burn you out. Now when you burn out will depend on factors such as age, training experience, training intensity,etc.....It is a sure thing that you will get burned out and overtrained though.

 

[Christenson26]

I know it's kind of a hard topic to get answers too. Since everyone's different. This summer I was lifting about 4-5 times a week...once school started. I started bulking up I went from 195 to around 210 now. I've been lifting 6-7 days a week since school started. I'm doing a strength based program doing 5x5 on the big 3 lifts. I've made some decent progress on these lifts in this time period too....but am I on a crash course to overtraining? I've never really pushed it this hard before.

 

[Christenson26]

I've noticed that I started to take naps more often in the day time...idk if it's just the dorm food making me tired or what.

 

[GeekPoop]

slow down if you're doing the 5x5... 4 days a week would be the max I do on that program. You can push it as hard as you want, but your body will just **** the bed on you when it's had enough of it.

 

[PaulBlack]

I know it's kind of a hard topic to get answers too. Since everyone's different. This summer I was lifting about 4-5 times a week...once school started. I started bulking up I went from 195 to around 210 now. I've been lifting 6-7 days a week since school started. I'm doing a strength based program doing 5x5 on the big 3 lifts. I've made some decent progress on these lifts in this time period too....but am I on a crash course to overtraining? I've never really pushed it this hard before.

Well, you will not be able to gain on a linear basis as you get more & more advanced. That is when you have to learn ways to cycle intensities etc. Also, that your body will hit plateaus at probably certain bodyweights.
The only way I new how much I could tolerate, or how much was enough, was by pushing up against it (and sometimes over that limit), then knowing I needed a week off, or some back down time to regroup and start another cycle of progression.
An average is going to be how they set up the routines.
If you are using a standard 5x5 and doing the big 5-7 compounds throughout the week and first and foremost, then you will most likely not need much more than 2x 3x per week on the big stuff covering the entire body, if you are adding weight on a consistent basis and working and eating pretty hard.

 

[rob112]

Really depends on the intensity and type of exercises IMO. When I did more isolation I could be in the gym a lot(5-6 days a week). Now that I do compounds as secondary movements I really only need 3-4 days in the gym to feel beat up.

I think a million things come into play though OP(age, drug use, conditioning, training routine, sleep, diet, and so on).

 

[UCSMiami]

I can tell a day off is needed as good sleep becomes affected when overdue for a rest day. I workout six days out of seven but that also includes a long cardio session every fourth day. (I enjoy running) I had Saturday off after seven straight days and came back with a very strong Sunday workout.

I find I cannot keep away from the gym. I pass the building on the way home from work and it beckons me to come in. There is always something to do- cardio, pool, zumba,etc.

 

[Montego1]

you don't grow in the gym...

No truer words have ever been spoken.

 

[MANotaur]

you don't grow in the gym...

No truer words have ever been spoken.

wait wait wait...

so you dont grow in the gym?
Abs are made in the kitchen?

where does all this voodoo take place!?
It seems like you have to work hard and eat hard and rest hard? this sounds like the work of the muscle gawds...