Taking a week off

alikat42

Good morning!

I have been exercising 6x a week (3x C25K & 3x weights/cardio cross training) without fail since Christmas. (I just started the C25K 6 week ago, I was doing other cardio before) I've developed some nagging hip pain and a head cold so I've decided I need to take a week off from all exercise.

My question is about C25K, I just finished week 6. When I pick back up next week, should I move on to week 7 as planned or repeat week 6? If I was in an earlier week I wouldn't worry about it at all, but week 7 is the week that drops all walking intervals.

What would you do?

Helloitsdan

Whats your goal?
Weight loss?
Fat loss?
Muscle gain?
To run a 5k?

alikat42

Whats your goal?
Weight loss?
Fat loss?
Muscle gain?
To run a 5k?

All of the above? Lol. In order of priority: reduce body fat %, run a 5k, increase muscle.

42kgirl

I find when I take time off for an injury or just life getting in the way, I come back stronger.

loztredders

I'd repeat week six personally, not just because of missing a week of exercising but it won't do your hip pain much good to push yourself further until it's eased fully.

chachadiva150

There's no right or wrong way to do it. Are you just afraid of the full running? I say give it a try. If you think it's too much, then repeat wk. 6 again.

Helloitsdan

Whats your goal?
Weight loss?
Fat loss?
Muscle gain?
To run a 5k?

All of the above? Lol. In order of priority: reduce body fat %, run a 5k, increase muscle.

I'm currently running a successful high calorie group.
We strive to eat well to lose fat.
Everything else just kinda falls into place after that.
Let me know if you need any support.
I have number monkeys that are ready to help you get started!

In a nutshell:
To lose just fat you need to have a slight caloric deficit from total energy usage in a day.
So if you burn 2500 calories in a day, taking 20% form that leaves you 2000 calories to eat every day regardless of workouts.
This is a fat burning diet.
Macronutrients should be Protein and Fat at 30% each.
You can bump protein even higher if you like and drop carbs to 30%.
As for muscle maintenance, if you run daily you will have a tough time maintaining or building muscle while on a deficit.
Keeping your cardio well under an hour will help or just run maybe 1 or 2 times a week instead of daily.
For building muscle youll need strength first.
So looking into programs like Stronglifts 5x5 where you lift with the big boys will benefit you.
If you have a low body fat%, for women thats 15-20%, you can start calorie/carb cycling.
This is where you eat upwards of +20% over TDEE on lifting days with a huge boost in carbs to promote lean tissue growth then eat -20% on rest days to promote fat loss. -20% days are high in essential fats and lower in carbs BTW.

Weight loss is a product of calorie restriction.
Its faster when you reduce calories to BMR level, youll lose muscle though so stay well out of that range.
Fat loss is where its at.
=D

alikat42

What group?

wolfchild59

Personally? I'd pick up right from where I left off. I lost almost three weeks of training in January due to illness and being in and out of the hospital for a leg infection in an old hematoma. When I was finally able to get back to working out, I stepped right back into my training as if I'd been doing it the whole time.

The only place I had to make a modification was on my first long run day back it was scheduled as a 7.5 but I did treadmill instead of trail and ended up cutting it off at 6.5 miles. But then the next week I hit my 8.5 miles on the trail without issue.

I just took five days off, for mental rest more than anything, after my first half marathon and about to head to the gym to pick up my normal Saturday cross train schedule again, no easing back into it.

But that's me. And we're all different. So if you want to repeat a week, repeat it. If you want to start back in with the next week, do that. It's all about how you feel, what you know you can do and where your mind sits on it.

Helloitsdan

My group is called Fuel the Machine.

JamesBurkes

I find when I take time off for an injury or just life getting in the way, I come back stronger.

Same here. A week off will probably do you the world of good.

But personally, I'd repeat week 6.