I have just scheduled another week off from lifting. Each time I do it I tend to have a weird thing happen. I get sick. It is like my body goes into shock from not hitting the weights and I get sick either during the layoff, or within the first couple of workouts when I start back up. I can’t figure it out, either it is a coincedence that each time I am exposed to a bug or the unloading seems to affect my immune system.
Any Ideas?
Why are you taking regular weeks off from training? Any time I have taken that long of a break, it is simply because I had no access to a gym.
A friend gets this to… he kinda travels a lot so his time off isnt actually scheduled. Hes been taking Vitamin C (2 grams a day i think, 1 after training) and hasnt got sick since.
The only thing I can think of is that perhaps your diet isn’t as solid on your “off” week as it could be. If you change foods drastically you might not feel well. I find it harder to eat clean when I’m not training hard.
Prof X,
Many people with structured programs take “rest weeks” every so often to allow for recovery and to avoid overtraining. This is often a must for natural trainees. I find this is less necessary (or needed less frequently) in those using anabolics as they have superior recovery abilities. Personally I take a week off (just shoot hoops, etc) every 8-10 weeks to allow my joints to recover a bit.
In my case, I generally get irritable and find it hard to get motivated when I take a week off. Not something I enjoy, but it is necessary at times…
I seriously have to question how you are structuring your training program if you need to take an entire week of every two months. I am well aware that some people do this OCCASSIONALLY, however, every two months is not a rare occurance. If you are truly on the brink of overtraining that often, I have to wonder why you think this is normal. I understand that I recover quickly from training. I always have. That is why I am not trying to get anyone to avoid EVER taking a week off. That is why I asked the original poster how often he is doing this…something you decided to dismiss and respond to for him.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I seriously have to question how you are structuring your training program if you need to take an entire week of every two months. I am well aware that some people do this OCCASSIONALLY, however, every two months is not a rare occurance. [/quote]
I don’t take extended breaks like this very often. But with a baby, & 3yr old + wife job, lack of sleep all that stuff I need to take some time off here and there. Usually it is just skipping a couple workout days on purpose every few months. I am a hard gainer in the typical sense of the word. I just can’t get in the recovery time as well lately.
I keep my diet in order, I back down on the calories a little because I am not expending as much. I am still taking vitamins, and eating a very balanced diet. I typically work out only 3 days a week. I was working out hard for a few weeks leading up to it, and had only purposly skipped (1) workout and one rest day, by the time I started to feel a little under the weather.
With all that you listed you have to deal with daily, it sounds more like the effects of overall stress. I am not a parent, but I assume that it takes a great deal of energy. Some studies have shown that working out can help the body defend itself against minor illnesses. there is a possibility that your breaks are just enough to allow everything to overwhelm you. You may want to take a look at how you are dealing with the same problems daily when you train regularly. The stress has to be building up at one point. Lifting is often the stress reliever for many trainers. For most, it is almost therapeutic. Maybe you don’t “need” these days off as much as you think you do and you need to look at your overall schedule instead.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
I seriously have to question how you are structuring your training program if you need to take an entire week of every two months. I am well aware that some people do this OCCASSIONALLY, however, every two months is not a rare occurance. If you are truly on the brink of overtraining that often, I have to wonder why you think this is normal. I understand that I recover quickly from training. I always have. That is why I am not trying to get anyone to avoid EVER taking a week off. That is why I asked the original poster how often he is doing this…something you decided to dismiss and respond to for him.[/quote]
Professor X,
I got the idea of taking regular rest weeks from Ian King. I hadn’t done this before and never really felt as though I needed to. Even now I don’t just take a week off when I feel like it. I schedule it usually after my 10th (sometimes 12th) week of steady training and use that time off to design my next program. Whether this has offerred any physiological benefit I’m not sure, but when I get back to the gym I am psychologically pumped to get lifting again.
Thanks everyone for the ideas. Lots of good ideas, I am just not sure if any of them are the root of the problem. I have started lifting again this week and I feel great. I feel very recovered and ready to pound the wieghts again. I have no idea what the cause is, I will have to see if it happens the next time I take some time off.
Thanks - Dan
There’s a great book called “The Trouble With Testosterone” by Sapolsky. I think what I’m about to say comes from there but it might come from one of his other books.
Basically, if you’re in a high stress environment, your body goes on full alert. While you’re in this alerted state, your body is keeping you going so that you’re able to get out of whatever stressful situation is putting you into the alerted state.
When you get out of the alert state, like when you go on a vacation or relax, your body relaxes and all the damage that was done in the alerted state catches up with you, your immune system kinda shuts down after working double duty for so long, and you get sick. It’s very, very common for people to get sick on vacations. Especially people who are working in stressful environments. Lifting weights contributes to the stress.
(BTW, if you don’t come out of that alerted state, you’ll eventually break down while you’re in the state and you’ll probably get that much sicker.)
So… you might want to do something between vacations to relieve stress. You might want to have a greater variety of intensity in your workouts as well.
HTH.
[quote]The Pencil Neck wrote:
There’s a great book called “The Trouble With Testosterone” by Sapolsky. I think what I’m about to say comes from there but it might come from one of his other books.
Basically, if you’re in a high stress environment, your body goes on full alert. While you’re in this alerted state, your body is keeping you going so that you’re able to get out of whatever stressful situation is putting you into the alerted state.
When you get out of the alert state, like when you go on a vacation or relax, your body relaxes and all the damage that was done in the alerted state catches up with you, your immune system kinda shuts down after working double duty for so long, and you get sick. It’s very, very common for people to get sick on vacations. Especially people who are working in stressful environments. Lifting weights contributes to the stress.
(BTW, if you don’t come out of that alerted state, you’ll eventually break down while you’re in the state and you’ll probably get that much sicker.)
So… you might want to do something between vacations to relieve stress. You might want to have a greater variety of intensity in your workouts as well.
HTH.[/quote]
Now this is an interesting concept, it could be true, maybe just the knowledge of a week off comming up starts to put my body in this mode, so I end up sick by the time I am resting. This has been the most possible reason given. Thanks