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I usually take an unplanned week off every six weeks. I don't think it will do you any harm, but I only train for fun & fatloss.
This. 6-8 weeks for me. 1 full week off gym, not even cardio.That said, I often feel a bit antsy, and I DO miss the gym. De-training will begin to occur by ~4 weeks, so you can afford 1-2 weeks... just keep eating right to maintain.You might feel / look smaller, b/c of lack of pump, which can be disheartening.Cory
I never studies this or anything, but from my experience the antsy feeling means you are doing it right. It means you have a desire to train and your body AND mind are recovering. When I just trained for size, my first couple workouts after weeks off were incredible.
My two cents would be just take some time off. It's only ten days. If you get ancy to get back in the gym then just keep it light, especially if there have been some injury issues. The detox diet is good as a prep phase and since you'll be depleted for so long it won't hurt at all to take some time off.
Are you talking about the detox 2.0?Also, the major issue that's bothering me is my left elbow. I have had tendonitis for about 3 months now from heavy curls and can't shake it. It's started affecting my workouts and causes a lot of pain almost 24hrs a day. Have you had this 'tendonitis' evaluated by a doctor or other professional? Rule of thumb, if it lasts longer than two weeks - assuming you have done some type of care for it: rest/work around it, icing, etc. - it is more (or at least something other) than simple tendonitis. RB
As far as the deload vs. complete rest - elbow issue notwithstanding - it is very individual. I have taken programmed time off of a week and it led to CNS deconditioning. The result was that it took nearly four weeks of resumed training to get back to my prior working loads. As true de-training would take longer than just a week of downtime, this was really too short of a layoff to result in a muscular issue. Too keep the CNS up to the level it should be, I started either taking a mere 1-2 workouts off (depending on training frequency of either 3 or 4 sessons/wk.) or just dialing down intensity (% 1RM) and/or volume for a week, possibly two. The results were much better as I was able to ramp back up to prior levels within a week or so.Eric Cressey actually put out a good 'report' on this. http://www.ericcressey.com/artofthedeloadhtmlBest of luck!
Obviously I had it diagnosed. You can't move ahead and fix something if you don't know what the problem is in the first place. I don't want to do a compression sleeve because that isn't fixing the problem, just working around it. The doctor prescribed anti inflamitories. I don't like the whole anti inflammitory thing so I have only been taking them 1 day a week, which helps, but I was thinking a week off might get this resolved.I am asking for help because I have never deloaded so I have no experience with it and wanted informed opinion before I made my choice.RB
I usually take an unplanned week off every six weeks. I don't think it will do you any harm, but I only train for fun & fatloss.
This. 6-8 weeks for me. 1 full week off gym, not even cardio.That said, I often feel a bit antsy, and I DO miss the gym. De-training will begin to occur by ~4 weeks, so you can afford 1-2 weeks... just keep eating right to maintain.You might feel / look smaller, b/c of lack of pump, which can be disheartening.Cory
I never studies this or anything, but from my experience the antsy feeling means you are doing it right. It means you have a desire to train and your body AND mind are recovering. When I just trained for size, my first couple workouts after weeks off were incredible.
I would assume so, b/c over-training leads to lack of desire.Cory
Obviously I had it diagnosed. You can't move ahead and fix something if you don't know what the problem is in the first place. I don't want to do a compression sleeve because that isn't fixing the problem, just working around it. The doctor prescribed anti inflamitories. I don't like the whole anti inflammitory thing so I have only been taking them 1 day a week, which helps, but I was thinking a week off might get this resolved.I am asking for help because I have never deloaded so I have no experience with it and wanted informed opinion before I made my choice.RB
Sorry to have upset you. Many people throw the word tendonitis around without having had a professional consultation and imaging done to confirm. So I apologize as you certainly are ahead of the masses in that regard. I have been around the block with similar issues for some years now, and one thing I have come to understand from various medical professionals ranging from Sports Med orthopedists to Rheumatologists is that if you are battling a pain issue like this for some time with no relief, further investigation is usually warranted as simple tendonitis, again, has a 'shelf life' of around two weeks. What many continue to refer to as tendonitis has in fact progressed to tendinosis, which is a very different animal after all. I agree with you for shying away from the anti-inflammatories and all that they entail as well as the sleeve thing. Time off training for 14 days is usually the first thing prescribed by general practitioners and even some specialists, but might not be necessary...Which modalities have you used for treatment? Icing/ice massage is pretty much the gold standard for true tendonits, and if done 2-3 times a day should clear it up relatively quickly. Also, if you haven't tried it yet and there is a practioner in your area, ART (Active Release Technique) is very good in this regard and worked well on my elbow and wrist issues a few years back. Another good manual modality is Airrosti, which I used when I very painfully pulled a hamstring and was hobbling about on it for a couple of weeks. The Airrosti doc got me back to about 95% in one visit. In regard to the deloading issue, the Cressey report really does contain a wealth of information and many different options with pluses and minuses for each. I may be able to provide some additional information in the report if you wish, PM me.Once more, I do apologize for not recognizing that you had an obvious professional diagnosis and treatment plan in place. No disrespect intended, just getting too old, I guess. I was offering a sincere attempt to help and do truly wish you the best in getting back to 100%.
Obviously I had it diagnosed. You can't move ahead and fix something if you don't know what the problem is in the first place. I don't want to do a compression sleeve because that isn't fixing the problem, just working around it. The doctor prescribed anti inflamitories. I don't like the whole anti inflammitory thing so I have only been taking them 1 day a week, which helps, but I was thinking a week off might get this resolved.I am asking for help because I have never deloaded so I have no experience with it and wanted informed opinion before I made my choice.RB
Sorry to have upset you. Many people throw the word tendonitis around without having had a professional consultation and imaging done to confirm. So I apologize as you certainly are ahead of the masses in that regard. I have been around the block with similar issues for some years now, and one thing I have come to understand from various medical professionals ranging from Sports Med orthopedists to Rheumatologists is that if you are battling a pain issue like this for some time with no relief, further investigation is usually warranted as simple tendonitis, again, has a 'shelf life' of around two weeks. What many continue to refer to as tendonitis has in fact progressed to tendinosis, which is a very different animal after all. I agree with you for shying away from the anti-inflammatories and all that they entail as well as the sleeve thing. Time off training for 14 days is usually the first thing prescribed by general practitioners and even some specialists, but might not be necessary...Which modalities have you used for treatment? Icing/ice massage is pretty much the gold standard for true tendonits, and if done 2-3 times a day should clear it up relatively quickly. Also, if you haven't tried it yet and there is a practioner in your area, ART (Active Release Technique) is very good in this regard and worked well on my elbow and wrist issues a few years back. Another good manual modality is Airrosti, which I used when I very painfully pulled a hamstring and was hobbling about on it for a couple of weeks. The Airrosti doc got me back to about 95% in one visit. In regard to the deloading issue, the Cressey report really does contain a wealth of information and many different options with pluses and minuses for each. I may be able to provide some additional information in the report if you wish, PM me.Once more, I do apologize for not recognizing that you had an obvious professional diagnosis and treatment plan in place. No disrespect intended, just getting too old, I guess. I was offering a sincere attempt to help and do truly wish you the best in getting back to 100%.
Don't get too excited. No apologies necessary. My problem was that my elbow hurt so bad that even talking on the phone would cause great pain so it was very hard to rest it properly. I have used ice and ART and it is actually quite a lot better than it was but I think to finally kill it will take complete rest.RB
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