Ok so my usual week is Monday - ab work and cardio, Tuesday - Chest, Wedesday - ab work and cardio, Thursday - Pull ups, Push ups, dips, Friday - Leg work, Saturday - Arms and Sunday - Back, Shoulders and Triceps. Weight sessions = 1 hour
Over the Christmas holidays (around 3 weeks) however I was only doing around three of these because of other commitments and I found the results were better.
So I was just wondering if this could be due to the fact my body had more time to rest and if people think that givng a day rest in between weight days is the best thing to increase muscle?
Through my -personal- experiences, I’ve found a day of TOTAL rest (no cardio, no lifting,) has been greatly beneficial to my body and progress. I’ve gone 5-6-7 days of lifting and/or general activity per week, with okay success. It essentially forced me to take a back-off week every ~3-4 months though. I can recognize my recovery abilities aren’t as good as others, so using a fairly high volume 4 day split, with 2 days having cardio and one day totally off has worked wonders and I can see myself sticking with this for some time now. Some do well with high-frequency, low-volume, others don’t.
Sounds like a case of hyperadaptation. (This is the idea underlying the Big Beyond Belief training program.) Your body had become accustomed to experiencing (and recovering from) a certain level of stress. When you suddenly reduced your level of training stress, you had ‘excess’ recovery ability that allowed you to make gains. In the words of the BBB program, you are in a ‘Super-growth Phase.’ Enjoy it while it lasts.
Cheers for the replies - very interesting. So how would you utilise this in the training programme that I do? Should I do for example 4 weeks on and then 1 week off?
[quote]tg7 wrote:
Cheers for the replies - very interesting. So how would you utilise this in the training programme that I do? Should I do for example 4 weeks on and then 1 week off? [/quote]
[quote]tg7 wrote:
Cheers for the replies - very interesting. So how would you utilise this in the training programme that I do? Should I do for example 4 weeks on and then 1 week off? [/quote]
Good luck getting result with a plan like that… [/quote]
[quote]tg7 wrote:
Cheers for the replies - very interesting. So how would you utilise this in the training programme that I do? Should I do for example 4 weeks on and then 1 week off? [/quote]
Good luck getting result with a plan like that… [/quote]
[quote]tg7 wrote:
Cheers for the replies - very interesting. So how would you utilise this in the training programme that I do? Should I do for example 4 weeks on and then 1 week off? [/quote]
Given what you’ve said transpired in your training of late, I don’t see how that would be beneficial.
If I’m correct about you having stumbled into a Supergrowth phase, it won’t last forever. I suggest continuing on your current (reduced) schedule for as long as you feel you’re making good gains on it. Once progress slows, consider ramping back up to your previous higher-frequency level of training (to re-establish hyperadaptation). You could then try another reduction (similar to the one you were forced into by the holidays this time) to see if you can incur another Supergrowth phase. Consider reading the Big Beyond Belief book for further guidance in this regard. (BTW, I have no financial stake in the BBB program, website or book, so I’m not flogging it for personal gain.) Good luck.
[quote]tg7 wrote:
Cheers for the replies - very interesting. So how would you utilise this in the training programme that I do? Should I do for example 4 weeks on and then 1 week off? [/quote]
Given what you’ve said transpired in your training of late, I don’t see how that would be beneficial.
If I’m correct about you having stumbled into a Supergrowth phase, it won’t last forever. I suggest continuing on your current (reduced) schedule for as long as you feel you’re making good gains on it. Once progress slows, consider ramping back up to your previous higher-frequency level of training (to re-establish hyperadaptation). You could then try another reduction (similar to the one you were forced into by the holidays this time) to see if you can incur another Supergrowth phase. Consider reading the Big Beyond Belief book for further guidance in this regard. (BTW, I have no financial stake in the BBB program, website or book, so I’m not flogging it for personal gain.) Good luck.[/quote]
Cheers for the advice mate, I’ll have to take a look at the BBB book.