Hello all. I am a pretty new lifter, been training consistently for about 2 months but I’m for sure seeing changes. Mainly training for strength, but I know the “newbie gains” will take their place in hypertrophy(however I eventually want to compete in powerlifting) especially because I am only 16. I just finished my second session on 5/3/1(however I missed the 5/3/1+ for the second session because I went on vacation the day I was supposed to do it). I am on vacation until Saturday, and I have gained a little bit of weight on vacation because New York food is amazing. I will probably try to cut some weight when I get back home. My question is though, should I try to cut some weight, or continue on my bulk, and should I deload when I get back or count this week as my deload? I’ll be here for 9 days. I’ve gained about 3 pounds before I left, surely getting results. However, I don’t know if I should lower my weights when I get back. If someone could help that would be great, thanks!
Just carry on and stop overthinking a holiday.
A few days will literally make zero difference in the long run. Think in terms of months and years and not days and weeks. At your age and level I would absolutely never be trying to “cut” unless you’re obese. Lift, condition, and eat to recover and your body will be fine.
At 16, you should completely forget about things like “bulking” and “cutting,” and instead concentrate on eating whole, mostly home-cooked food with lots of lean meats and vegetables.
“Bulking” is a fancy way of justifying eating like an idiot, & “cutting” is a fancy way of saying eating like a bird. Yes, both may come into play in your lifting journey down the line when you get into weight-class sports or whatever, but that should not be your focus right now.
As for the lifting, just pick-up where you left off. This is also why having a correct training max is important (80-85%), because you can come back & pick-up right where you stopped.
Best of luck, and enjoy every vacation you can. And remember, lifting should enhance your life, not detract from it.
enjoy your holiday, and carry on afterwards as if it never happened. You are seriously overthinking this, as 16 year old children are prone to do.
There are 2 things you should do, regarding lifting in general. You should lift consistently, and with intensity when you do it. And you should eat enough to support muscular growth while not gaining an excessive amount of fat. You’ll figure out how much you need to eat to make this happen. Make minor tweaks along the way, but avoid dedicated bulks and cuts. Just eat to grow slowly.
Regarding the deload: if you are not going to be lifting weights while you are on holiday for 9 days, why in the world would you deload after that? I’d say ‘not lifting at all’ sufficiently counts as a deload, lol. The purpose of a deload is to allow for recovery. You are doing that by eating tons of food and not lifting.
The first thing you should do is thank your parents.
The second thing you should do is remember to “take in” all you can and appreciate the fine opportunity you have been afforded. Too many kids your age take such an excursion for granted and miss many of the special moments and sights and stories shared.
Oh, wait… you mean about lifting.
Yeah, well hopefully the gym won’t up and fly away while your gone, and you can pick right up where you left off.
I appreciate this comment a lot actually. I thank my parents for all they do every day, and yeah you’re right I wasn’t overthinking it lol. Hopefully it doesn’t fly away 
As everyone said doesnt matter either way.
Personally as its over 7 days I would do something active like ride the hire bikes along the waterfront or go run in central park and take it all in, maybe do some football gassers on the big southern field/softball part. Somekind of 20 min bodyweight routine off youtube wouldnt hurt either
I’m 39 years old - will someone PLEASE give ME a 9 day vacation!
16 years old on vacation…
Goals: talk to pretty girls, drink beer, hang out with your family.
Your muscles don’t fall off from 9 days without weights. Jeez.