OK, a rest week isn't a bad thing!

rms62003
rms62003 Posts: 157 Member
in Fitness and Exercise

Last week, I finally took a rest week. Now, I'm not an athlete - 50+ y/o obese female. I've been working out 4-6 days a week, fairly intensly for a year. 2 weeks ago, I felt bad - had a ton of cramps in my legs. And, my legs had ached daily for a few weeks.

I was afraid to take a rest week, because I was worried I'd lose on my cardio fitness and strength. But, after reading up on it, decided to take last week off.

I actually found it hard NOT to go to the gym, I've gotten so used to it. But, this week, after giving my body a break, I did well at the gym. Did the highest ever on chest press and leg press. Also did 3 miles under 45 minutes (I'm NOT a runner).

So, now I'm convinced that a rest week is OK. I might even start to incorporate it every couple of months or so.

Replies

  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 2,110 Member

    Nice.

    It's going to take a couple of weeks even for measuring devices to spot any decline.

    A deload week also doesn't necessarily mean a full week off. It can be different things, e.g this is what Mitchell Hooper (World's Strongest Man) recommends:

    First half week, decrease sets 50% and decrease load 30%

    Second half week, decrease sets 75% and decrease load 20%

    I don't plan for one as such, but I usually find after about 7-9 weeks with progressive overload that my fatigue is rising and motivation is decreasing, so I take it then, and do similar to the above, plus an extra full rest day or two at the start of the deload week.

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,870 Member

    Rest weeks are an absolutely vital part of my annual routine. Some people prefer to keep working, just at a lighter intensity. I personally prefer taking the week completely off from the gym, doing nothing more strenuous than walking to the kitchen.

    I schedule a week completely off every 3 months, or 4 times per year. This means once sometime during Jan-Feb-Mar, another sometime during Apr-May-Jun, etc. It can be the first week, the last week, or anytime during. If my body feels the need for a break (cramps, fatigue, low motivation, pain, etc) then I will take it right away. If I get to the end of the 3 months and haven't felt the need yet, I will force myself to take the week off that last week of the quarter as a preventive measure.

    The only one I really schedule is the 4th quarter break will always be the week either before or after Christmas, whenever family is scheduled to be in town visiting, to maximize relaxation during that festive time of year.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,425 Community Helper

    The impact on cardio is similar to the impact on strength. With a short break like one week when it's really needed, we can often come roaring back with renewed energy and performance.

    Even longer breaks - which I've had to take when recovering from illness, surgery, or injury - IMO aren't as devastating as many people expect, assuming we're not talking many, many weeks immobilized in bed or something. There can be some decline in technical terms in cardiovascular capability (such as VO2max or blood volume) with a complete break of as little as 2-4 weeks, but any lost capability tends to rebuild faster than it took to build it the first time. A common rule of thumb is maybe half the time to rebuild vs. how long it took to get there in the first place.

    There are a lot of variables that affect how fast detraining happens and how fast recovery xan occur. Those include starting fitness level, training history, genetics, age, what the nature of the break was (like whether total bed rest vs. just stopping more intense activity but still doing mild/everyday activities), and more. That makes it hard to give precise examples.

    For most people, the occasional week break is probably a positive, on the cardiovascular side.

    I'm somewhat familar with formal periodized training plans for my sport (on-water rowing). Those are training approaches used by elite athletes and some serious recreational athletes. They generally prescribe quite precisely how much of various intensities of cardiovascular exercise to get over a period of time, in order to have peak performance at important competitions.

    In general, long versions of those plans - like a full year - tend to include individual rest days pretty routinely, and longer multi-day rest periods at some point in the cycle. Among athletes of that ilk, this can be as much as a 2-4 week period once a year, but they do normally continue some nild low-intensity exercise, often cross-training type exercise, during those periods, vs. doing nothing.

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