[quote]AllTalkNoLift wrote:
I have not taken a rest day in almost a year now. I don’t mean i have active rest days, I mean I lift weights every day. I have a question that goes out to anyone who has gone without a rest day for over 10 days: are they necessary? Are rest days something that you are only adapted to, or have you noticed they make a big difference for you?
Are rest days the same as training frequency, in that your body responds to the lack of rest by adapting, and not necessarily needing a rest day? Or am I really missing out on some gains?[/quote]
Is your goal primarily hypertrophy? This was posted in BSL so I’m not sure if you have athletic performance in mind.
Also, you said you’ve made no progress. So that should tell you your plan isn’t working. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think you’re sophisticated enough to fully take advantage of auto-regulation.
I’m sure there’s exceptions (aren’t there always?) but the most successful bb’ers take rest days.
Having said that, I agree some people just recover faster than others.
And some people have to train themselves to be physically capable at high levels on any given day. Elite soldiers and smoke jumpers come to mind.
My goal isn’t just bb’ing. So I’m active on a daily basis. But I have to be smart about it.
This topic reminds me of a ‘push ups every day’ thread a few weeks back in another subforum. My Coach (close to 40 years old at 190-195) does it and I’m seeing benefits from it. But he and I don’t have any injuries in equation and never come close to failure. In fact, the way it’s programmed, the sessions are brief and feel almost trivial. My shoulder health has improved and mmc in chest work has increased.
The knuckleheads who were against the idea in the thread are either broken down (from lousy programming), fat, or both. There was another guy who sounds like he tried to match or surpass PRs in the push ups every damn day, and you wonder why he messed himself up. So anyone can ruin a workable concept.
TLDR:
If your goal is bb’ing and your intensity is high, you need rest days.
If your goal is overall fitness, you don’t necessarily need to rest as often as some would say but you have to be smart in your approach. And I agree that you can train your body to recover faster; but this has a limit defined probably by genetics.
Sometimes it’s nice to just be a couch potato (as long as you’ve earned it).