Exercise vacation helpful?

workout_junkee

I have been a regular at working out for a few years now. I work out 5-6 days a week. My workout consist of running, HIIT, Insanity, Turbo Fire and strength trying. I average 12-15 miles (running) a week in the winter and 18-25 during race season.

I feel like I am pushing myself to the max year round. I wonder if a muscle vacation every helps when you are trying to push your body to the next level? I would love to gain in my speed (running) and muscle strength but my body feels maxed. Is there an advantage to a fitness vacation. Maybe taking 4-5days instead of the usual 1-2?

CarsonRuns

Yes, there is. Complete rest is helpful. I just read an article in Running Times that stated Meb Keflezighi takes 5 week off at the end of each race season. He typically gains around 8 pounds during this time. If it works for an elite like him, it will help us every day athletes too.

As an aside, if you want to get faster, you need to run more miles.

bcf7683

If it's truly been a few years that you've been working out religiously, you may benefit from a small break. You don't want to burn yourself out to the point that you don't want to work out at all. Every few months I'll have a week that I'll only workout 2-3 days instead of my normal 6. I stay on track with my eating, but I just take a small hiatus to regenerate my muscles and my mentality.

bokodasu

Definitely. You don't have to sit on the couch for a week (but you can if you want), but you should keep the exercise to a minimum - walk instead of running, mosey instead of walking, cut your lifts by 50% or something ridiculous like that.

You will be surprised at how strong you feel when you come back. Personally, I don't plan for these breaks, I just take them when I'm injured or on vacation or whatever, but I try to arrange for around 4-6x/year.

dreilingda

Yes, your routine could potentially lead to overtraining. One of the warning signs is feeling burnt out and not making any more progress despite increasing workload. I would take a 1 week break and decide what's important to you. If it's running, you're going to need to probably drop some of the other cardio and run more easy miles every week.

RunnerLisa1

I have a training coach & he has me on a schedule where I work REALLY hard for 2 weeks then take a recovery week. During the recovery week I still run but it's light & usually only 2 times during that week & he incorporates cross training, yoga, swimming, biking in there. It works really well, because when I come off a recovery week I kill my run times!

workout_junkee

Thanks. I kind of thought I needed it but then wondered if I was just being a slacker.

CarsonRuns-I know an increase in mileage will help but the last month I felt like getting the 10-12 a week in was tough. This seemed insane considering I was doing double that this summer in much warmer and humid conditions.

I actually took an unplanned day today because I do not feel well. Maybe it can be a start to my mini break.

Eta: I like the 2 hard week 1 lighter week idea. I think it is time for me to take a look at my current workout regimen. Maybe I need to tweak it in order to move forward. It is becoming bivouac my current plan is not working.