My Week Off

I took last week off exercising and it was Glorious. I did this for a couple reasons and I want to share some of them with you as you may be able to notice the same things in yourself and nip some potential issues before they manifest.  Here is a list of things i experienced leading up to my first week off since 2011…

1. Lack of motivation – There is usually a bit of timidness when getting into a workout, especially when its a hard one.  This was different, Once i got started on a workout i was not motivated during it and i actually quit two workouts the week prior to taking a week off.

2. Stress was high- Outside life stress/work was high and as a result i wasn’t sleeping well and therefore not recovering because afterall the most anabolic thing you can do is sleep.

3. Nagging injuries were flaring up badly – As a weightlifter i battle overuse issues in my knees, shoulders and back and the longer you train the more wear and tear is put on the body.  This finally got to the point were squatting with no weight (Sitting on the toilet) was painful.

4. Training was changing – I was transitioning away from a strength/volume program to a high intensity max effort style program and it was taking its toll.  My lifts were down 5-10 kg on a regular basis and feeling really heavy.

As a result of the above situations i decided to call my coach and beg for an easy week.  She decided that i needed a week all the way off and it has been glorious!  Generally i would recommend people staying away from the gym on an off week, do some stretching, walking and relaxing but i guess i don’t have that option right now.  So, i did alot of bike riding with the dogs sleeping.

What i didn’t do was alot of stretching, corrective exercises and rolling.  It may seem strange that i didn’t prioritize these thing since i am always pushing you to do it but here is my reasoning.  If done properly those things create some degree of damage in the muscle and joint tissues and on a recovery week i wanted as little inflammation as possible.

So, do you need a week off?  Lets talk about it.

(Source: Black Box Ft. Worth)