I'm keen to see reponses to this as I feel this week as though I need a break from training and not sure whether to listen to my body and take a rest now or schedule in breaks at regular intervals.

I see what you mean about not wanting to rest from exercise at the same time as going up to TDEE though, it would definitely seem to make more sense to use those times eating more to fuel some good workouts

I dont see why you couldnt do it that way. Personally I took like 11 days off from both. But I did squeeze 2 - 30 minute jogs in there. Nothing too intense and it seems to have worked like a dream for me.

Do what you want and see how you feel, see the results and then just keep tweaking your methods from there. Everybody is different. As long as you dont give up , you will succeed

I am ready for a break, but I have 6 more weeks of Chalean Extreme. I just have zero energy and I know my intensity isn't where it should be when exercising. I am going to try and get that energy back and complete CLX and then I am taking atleast a 1 week break from exercise and the following week take my calories to TDEE while bringing the exercise back in. I think that is what I am going to do!

Heck, it could be TOM talking right now....arrived a week early. :sad:

Im kinda confused about the whole "break" thing. Im in reset now and I was thinking Id take a break from exercise on the last week before I went into cut but still eat TDEE. Is this right or shoudl I go right into cut and wait 4-6 weeks for a break?

Taking an exercise break and eating at tdee right before going to cut is an excellent way to do it. It's like giving your body and mind a full rest before stressing it again. I absolutely recommend it.

I think in regards to 'breaks' there are three ways of doing it:

1. Diet break: eat at tdee, but continue to exercise
2. Exercise break: continue at cut, but reduce exercise to light or none
3. Diet and Exercise break: this is like a vacation for your body and mind...no intentional exercise and eat at tdee.

When or which you chose to do at any given time is a personal preference but usually an exercise break is every 4 - 6 weeks, and a diet break is at least every 8 - 12 I believe. A full "vacation" (#3) can be done whenever you feel you need it, or when you actually go on vacation! :happy:
/quote]

Ok thatnks so much. Ill do an exercise break the last week of reset and do a diet break 8 weeks after cut.

Here is where I get confused.....when you take an exercise break do you eat at your exersice TDEE level even though not exercising?

Also if you combine exercise and diet break....what TDEE level are you eating at?

Here is where I get confused.....when you take an exercise break do you eat at your exersice TDEE level even though not exercising?

Also if you combine exercise and diet break....what TDEE level are you eating at?

Because the 'break' of any type is only intended for a week or two at most, you don't have to change ANY numbers. TDEE stays the same as it would if you weren't taking a break. It's only when we change up our exercise level for an extended period of time ((like a month or longer) that we need to recalculate.

Im kinda confused about the whole "break" thing. Im in reset now and I was thinking Id take a break from exercise on the last week before I went into cut but still eat TDEE. Is this right or shoudl I go right into cut and wait 4-6 weeks for a break?

Taking an exercise break and eating at tdee right before going to cut is an excellent way to do it. It's like giving your body and mind a full rest before stressing it again. I absolutely recommend it.

I think in regards to 'breaks' there are three ways of doing it:

1. Diet break: eat at tdee, but continue to exercise
2. Exercise break: continue at cut, but reduce exercise to light or none
3. Diet and Exercise break: this is like a vacation for your body and mind...no intentional exercise and eat at tdee.

When or which you chose to do at any given time is a personal preference but usually an exercise break is every 4 - 6 weeks, and a diet break is at least every 8 - 12 I believe. A full "vacation" (#3) can be done whenever you feel you need it, or when you actually go on vacation! :happy:

Sorry, again, just have to chime in here... unless you're eating at unhealthy low levels, I don't see why a break from eating below TDEE is needed. This feels more like a psychological break than a required physical break. For exercise, yes, breaks are needed for recovery, without a doubt. But like I said, if you increase your diet and decrease your exercise, well, you do the math. I doubt you'll be happy with the outcome.

Im kinda confused about the whole "break" thing. Im in reset now and I was thinking Id take a break from exercise on the last week before I went into cut but still eat TDEE. Is this right or shoudl I go right into cut and wait 4-6 weeks for a break?

Taking an exercise break and eating at tdee right before going to cut is an excellent way to do it. It's like giving your body and mind a full rest before stressing it again. I absolutely recommend it.

I think in regards to 'breaks' there are three ways of doing it:

1. Diet break: eat at tdee, but continue to exercise
2. Exercise break: continue at cut, but reduce exercise to light or none
3. Diet and Exercise break: this is like a vacation for your body and mind...no intentional exercise and eat at tdee.

When or which you chose to do at any given time is a personal preference but usually an exercise break is every 4 - 6 weeks, and a diet break is at least every 8 - 12 I believe. A full "vacation" (#3) can be done whenever you feel you need it, or when you actually go on vacation! :happy:

Sorry, again, just have to chime in here... unless you're eating at unhealthy low levels, I don't see why a break from eating below TDEE is needed. This feels more like a psychological break than a required physical break. For exercise, yes, breaks are needed for recovery, without a doubt. But like I said, if you increase your diet and decrease your exercise, well, you do the math. I doubt you'll be happy with the outcome.

The diet break (eating at tdee) is both psychological as well as physical. It helps keep your weight loss progress from plateauing (which then forces you to do a diet break anyways because if you lower cals further you run the risk of resetting your tdee to your previous cut value and thus starting the evil spiral down into VLCD land) and it gives you an emotional/psychological rest too. A diet break is like a proactive approach to keeping your metabolism running smoothly.

(oh, and remember it does not need to be done as often as an exercise break...every 10 -12 weeks is good - so about every 3 months - this of course can be a smaller time frame if you only have about 5 - 10 lbs to lose...that's where the every 6 weeks or so comes in.)

Sorry, still skeptical on the diet break. As long as you're exercising, you won't hit any metabolic plateaus related to your diet, or reset anything at all. If you really want to trick your metabolism, eat at a healthy level for 6 days a week, and throw in a 24-hour fast on the 7th day (doesn't have to be Sunday - this is not a religious thing). Now *that* will keep your metabolism on its toes!

Because the 'break' of any type is only intended for a week or two at most, you don't have to change ANY numbers. TDEE stays the same as it would if you weren't taking a break. It's only when we change up our exercise level for an extended period of time ((like a month or longer) that we need to recalculate.

So that would imply if I started including an extra 2-3 hrs of exercise a week, perhaps training for something, I shouldn't need to increase the TDEE estimate and new deficit unless I plan on doing it for longer than a month?

Because the 'break' of any type is only intended for a week or two at most, you don't have to change ANY numbers. TDEE stays the same as it would if you weren't taking a break. It's only when we change up our exercise level for an extended period of time ((like a month or longer) that we need to recalculate.

So that would imply if I started including an extra 2-3 hrs of exercise a week, perhaps training for something, I shouldn't need to increase the TDEE estimate and new deficit unless I plan on doing it for longer than a month?

Considering that at ALL TIMES you need to ensure that your NET cals don't drop below your BMR, if you increase exercise and it drops you below your BMR on ANY GIVEN DAY, you need to eat enough back to bring your NET back over your BMR. If it's temporary....you can just follow the BMR rule (no need to adjust tdee), but if it was extended you'd need to adjust your TDEE (again if it's going to last longer than a few weeks or if you were adding in so much exercise that it seriously disrupted your numbers every day. for weeks at a time)

Because the 'break' of any type is only intended for a week or two at most, you don't have to change ANY numbers. TDEE stays the same as it would if you weren't taking a break. It's only when we change up our exercise level for an extended period of time ((like a month or longer) that we need to recalculate.

So that would imply if I started including an extra 2-3 hrs of exercise a week, perhaps training for something, I shouldn't need to increase the TDEE estimate and new deficit unless I plan on doing it for longer than a month?

You're kidding, right?

No, I'm thinking if the logic somehow applies one direction, it should apply the other direction too. I don't believe that logic though, either direction.

I think if you take a break from exercise, eat at your now non-exercise TDEE for that week, you have the same range between BMR and eating level, your body sees the same difference and same benefit, just getting a rest from exercise is mighty beneficial. But surplus calories is still surplus, and will be stored as such.

If you are not using up glucose stores for anything beyond daily activity, it won't take much to refill them, and now the excess carbs is going to be stored as - fat.
If there is no muscle repair going on because you are not tearing them up, the extra protein isn't going to be used for any rebuilding and is surplus, it'll be converted to glucose and stored as - fat.
If your daily activity is less and less calorie burn, than extra fatty acids floating around looking to be used somewhere will be seen as surplus and stored as - fat.

Sure, maybe your exercise only created a daily deficit of 250 on avg, but 2 week break is a lb of fat. Why, if body is getting energy and nutrients it needs.

If you are having trouble believing in the BMR rule, then I'd say that all of this is a moot point to you and irrelevant to your food and exercise practices.

However, for those that do practice BMR and TDEE, the usual break time is 1 week although some may need a little longer for various reasons. Second, an exercise break only has you eating at TDEE Cut, not tdee, but even if you are taking a diet AND exercise break (so eating at tdee), repair and building of muscle happens during REST. Considering that one week of eating at tdee and no exercise can actually assist the body in repairing and BUILDING muscle and repairing any other damage done from exercising by providing extra nutrients and allowing the body to be in a short time surplus if it isn't actually using up the cals to REPAIR (thus relieving it of the stress of a deficit), I'd say it's a good idea to maintain normal tdee values during an exercise break and the same for a diet & exercise break.

Often people have noticed a drop in weight after an exercise break (and even some during an exercise and diet break although I believe the norm is to maintain). Of course, if a person chose to take a diet and exercise break and eat at the tdee intended for said exercise for an extended time, then they would certainly gain weight.

Of course, you can choose to do as you wish...we all have to decide for ourselves what we believe.

However, for those that do practice BMR and TDEE, the usual break time is 1 week although some may need a little longer for various reasons. Second, an exercise break only has you eating at TDEE Cut, not tdee, but even if you are taking a diet AND exercise break (so eating at tdee), repair and building of muscle happens during REST. Considering that one week of eating at tdee and no exercise can actually assist the body in repairing and BUILDING muscle and repairing any other damage done from exercising by providing extra nutrients and allowing the body to be in a short time surplus if it isn't actually using up the cals to REPAIR (thus relieving it of the stress of a deficit), I'd say it's a good idea to maintain normal tdee values during an exercise break and the same for a diet & exercise break.

Often people have noticed a drop in weight after an exercise break (and even some during an exercise and diet break although I believe the norm is to maintain). Of course, if a person chose to take a diet and exercise break and eat at the tdee intended for said exercise for an extended time, then they would certainly gain weight.

You think that a week after you have done some weight lifting, your body is still making repairs to muscle?
Such that eating extra a week later will have some benefit?

The rest better be immediately, not a week later. Only during the time you are sore because of micro-tears is actual repair going on, that's the reason for the water retention, which drops after 2 or 3 days, whether it repaired or not, body is done.

Are you aware you can short circuit that whole repair process in ONE day, by doing something too intense to the same muscle the next day, because the body is making the repairs immediately - not a week later.

That would be one interesting study, workout a week, eat more the next week and don't workout that week. A quick search turned up nothing along those lines.

I'll agree you can see a drop in weight with an exercise break. I saw my biggest weight losses during the every 6th week break while eating correctly for new activity level. Metabolism was still somewhat pegged up a bit.

But if muscle was actually making repair and getting bigger, you would have exactly the opposite of weight loss, weight gain. Considering the pro's may get a lb a month of gain eating at surplus and lifting heavy the whole time - there is no muscle gain during that time.

But I'm not fooling myself on that weight loss either, just as there is a proper method to carbo load for endurance cardio events, you stop doing a few days of cardio and the body doesn't see any need to store away extra glucose with attached water. That is most of that weight loss.
As soon as routine is picked up again - usually stronger after the rest, the endurance part is weaker even if the power part is stronger. Takes a bit to pack away the extra glucose.