Rest Days
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nerr7
Posts: 13 Member
Currently my goals are to build up some muscle before I decide whether I will compete in a fitness competition in Sept. I lift heavy usually 6 days per week- sometimes 7- with very minimal cardio.
I know it is important to take at least one rest day per week to allow your muscles to recover and grow.. I really just hate rest days and struggle with the mindset! I know that sounds silly!
Anyway- my question is how many rest days do you think I should aim for in order to maximise muscle gain. Also to those "lean bulking"- do you still aim to hit the same macros on rest days?
Thanks!
I know it is important to take at least one rest day per week to allow your muscles to recover and grow.. I really just hate rest days and struggle with the mindset! I know that sounds silly!
Anyway- my question is how many rest days do you think I should aim for in order to maximise muscle gain. Also to those "lean bulking"- do you still aim to hit the same macros on rest days?
Thanks!
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Replies
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It entirely depends on a number of factors. In no particular order...
A.) What does your routine look like? If you're resting enough between body parts, you may be fine as-is.
B.) How well do you recover? For some people, with whatever training routine they utilize, need a day or so. Others need upwards of a week.
C.) What does your diet look like? This will, of course, help with recovery as well as how much muscle and fat you put on.
edited for stupid formatting...0 -
It entirely depends on a number of factors. In no particular order...
A.) What does your routine look like? If you're resting enough between body parts, you may be fine as-is.
B.) How well do you recover? For some people, with whatever training routine they utilize, need a day or so. Others need upwards of a week.
C.) What does your diet look like? This will, of course, help with recovery as well as how much muscle and fat you put on.
edited for stupid formatting...
Yup^^
I personally aim for the same calories and macros everyday.
What does your training actually look like that you are going 6 days per week?
I agree with all of the above. Need to see actual programming to determine if/when rest is necessary.
Also, I do same cals/macros daily. I tried carb-cycling once, but the headache of figuring everything out was far greater than the returns.0 -
one of the things I have learnt is that rest is as important as training, while you can train as frequently and as hard as you like, if your not recovering it will be for nothing.0
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agree with everything that has been said..
OP - need more info on your training program. Is it a made up one that you designed or is it a structured program? I am thinking the later as most structured programs would not have you lifting six to seven days a week …
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I recently completed the 5x5 program and saw tremendous gains, to the point where my joints couldn't handle the weight versus my muscles. I was skeptical at first as I would finish my first workout in about 30 minutes, but that program was big on rest. I went out of my way to stick to the program and make sure I got 8 hours sleep each night. I now switched over to a more traditional program, but kept the sleep regiment in mind. If I didn't get a good nights sleep, I will take a nap prior to working out, or skip the workout to take a nap. Again, the gains keep coming, and I'm approaching 50 years old and am doing weight I didn't do when I was on the weight lifting team in high school. I can't imagine what the gains would be if I was younger and had discovered the importance of rest.0
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Currently my goals are to build up some muscle before I decide whether I will compete in a fitness competition in Sept. I lift heavy usually 6 days per week- sometimes 7- with very minimal cardio.
I know it is important to take at least one rest day per week to allow your muscles to recover and grow.. I really just hate rest days and struggle with the mindset! I know that sounds silly!
Anyway- my question is how many rest days do you think I should aim for in order to maximise muscle gain. Also to those "lean bulking"- do you still aim to hit the same macros on rest days?
Thanks!
Listen to your body you'll get nothing but peoples opinions your the one in your body your body will tell you when it needs time off!
the rest day for your muscles to rebuild... what is meant by this is if you work back on Monday you shouldn't work it again the following day, so you would then choose a different body part to work on Tuesday... You don't have to take a day off per say .... just realize your body adapts to what you do so change it up continuously IMO0 -
Tedebearduff wrote: »Currently my goals are to build up some muscle before I decide whether I will compete in a fitness competition in Sept. I lift heavy usually 6 days per week- sometimes 7- with very minimal cardio.
I know it is important to take at least one rest day per week to allow your muscles to recover and grow.. I really just hate rest days and struggle with the mindset! I know that sounds silly!
Anyway- my question is how many rest days do you think I should aim for in order to maximise muscle gain. Also to those "lean bulking"- do you still aim to hit the same macros on rest days?
Thanks!
Listen to your body you'll get nothing but peoples opinions your the one in your body your body will tell you when it needs time off!
the rest day for your muscles to rebuild... what is meant by this is if you work back on Monday you shouldn't work it again the following day, so you would then choose a different body part to work on Tuesday... You don't have to take a day off per say .... just realize your body adapts to what you do so change it up continuously IMO
actually there is science behind recovery and rest days…and this is not just "opinion"
so based on your theory if OP worked chest monday, back tuesday, shoulders wens, legs thursday, it would then be ok to reset it on Friday and go chest on Friday, back Saturday, and shoulders on sunday and do this repeatedly for a month and it would not inhibit gains????????0 -
I also have trouble resting. Mentally it is tough even though I'm smart enough to know that I can train as much as I want, but if I don't rest I'll never properly heal, recover, and grow. I try to make a game out of rest days. Eat as much as I can handle, or see if I can get to bed early that day. Mentally you almost need to keep busy to keep your mind off it.0
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Tedebearduff wrote: »Currently my goals are to build up some muscle before I decide whether I will compete in a fitness competition in Sept. I lift heavy usually 6 days per week- sometimes 7- with very minimal cardio.
I know it is important to take at least one rest day per week to allow your muscles to recover and grow.. I really just hate rest days and struggle with the mindset! I know that sounds silly!
Anyway- my question is how many rest days do you think I should aim for in order to maximise muscle gain. Also to those "lean bulking"- do you still aim to hit the same macros on rest days?
Thanks!
Listen to your body you'll get nothing but peoples opinions your the one in your body your body will tell you when it needs time off!
the rest day for your muscles to rebuild... what is meant by this is if you work back on Monday you shouldn't work it again the following day, so you would then choose a different body part to work on Tuesday... You don't have to take a day off per say .... just realize your body adapts to what you do so change it up continuously IMO
actually there is science behind recovery and rest days…and this is not just "opinion"
so based on your theory if OP worked chest monday, back tuesday, shoulders wens, legs thursday, it would then be ok to reset it on Friday and go chest on Friday, back Saturday, and shoulders on sunday and do this repeatedly for a month and it would not inhibit gains????????
In 4 bro splits
lol0 -
ok so a little more info about me then
my training split pretty much goes like so:
Mon- legs
Tues-chest/ shoulders
Wed-arms/abs
Thurs-rest
Fri-back/shoulders
Sat-legs
Sun-arms/some light chest
I lift heavy majority of the time and aim for about 4-5 exercises per muscle group per session- i hit most muscles twice a week
macros- 240carbs; 55fat; 150protein.. however these can also vary depending on how active i am during the day, i eat more carbs on leg days etc however I average on about 2100cals
also I am 5'5 and only 45kg.. I had a recent dexa scan which gave me a body fat percentage of 9.8% so gaining fat is obviously not a huge concern for me!
so this is pretty much my "lean bulking" routine- if any one has any comments/ suggestions i'm all ears!0 -
Currently my goals are to build up some muscle before I decide whether I will compete in a fitness competition in Sept. I lift heavy usually 6 days per week- sometimes 7- with very minimal cardio.
I know it is important to take at least one rest day per week to allow your muscles to recover and grow.. I really just hate rest days and struggle with the mindset! I know that sounds silly!
Anyway- my question is how many rest days do you think I should aim for in order to maximise muscle gain. Also to those "lean bulking"- do you still aim to hit the same macros on rest days?
Thanks!
Judging by the fact you are on a body part split routine, working out 6 days a week is fine. The only real indication of over training (which i believe to be an over taxing of the central nervous system) is a decrease in strength over subsequent weeks, if this is not occurring and progression is continuous, you're doing great. If not, you may need to re-evaluate your training regime to incorporate more rest days, up your calorie intake focus on optimising sleep etc.
Also, as someone who prefers the lean bulking approach myself, I take in the same calories and macros on rest days as i do on training days, i don't see much point in changing it up if your macros are optimal. Especially when weight gain is the goal.
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With that routine? You'll probably be fine.
The one thing that kinda jumps out at me is that you do legs, then chest/shoulders, then arms/abs. When you work your chest and shoulders, you're also working your arms. Maybe try switching chest/shoulders day with leg day, so that you have an extra day between days where you're working arms. That is, of course, unless you need the extra day between leg days and you're progressing/succeeding with your chest/shoulders/arms.
As has been mentioned by a couple of others, only you can truly tell if you need more rest. Just don't push it, if you think you might need the rest. It's better to rest if you don't need to, rather than push things too far and backslide or injure yourself.0 -
Personal experience over the past 3 months of bulking (started Oct 1, 2014) is: more rest is needed than you think. I used to have a split similar to yours where I would lift 6 days/week and 6 weeks ago switched to 4 lifting days and 3 rest days. 2 lift, 1 HIIT, 2 lift, 1 HIIT, 1 rest.
I started at 172 pounds and now weigh 192 with only 1% BF gain but saw the majority of my gains come in the past 6 weeks and I attribute that to the extra rest.
Everyone is different but remember in order to build mass you need to break down the muscle, let it repair itself, and then let the muscle overcompensate by building more for next time. This process doesn't happen overnight but more so over the course of a week.
Hope this helps.0 -
higher fat on rest/cardio days. higher carbs on lifting days.0
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allanakern wrote: »higher fat on rest/cardio days. higher carbs on lifting days.
Why not just keep macros constant??0 -
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dieselbyte wrote: »
LOL most disappointing movie EVER ...0
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