The Importance of Rest Part 2:

Weeks, months and the entire training year

Ok, so it's been two weeks since Part 1 of this article (available in the archive), did you do what I suggested, try taking more days off from training? If so, what did you notice? Less aches and pains, more excitement when you did train, less of a feeling of "You mean I have to train again." I bet you did.

So in part 2 I want to continue in that vein: I want you to ask yourself when the last extended break from training you took was. By extended I mean more than a day or two off from training, more like a 5-14 day span where you stayed out of the gym, where you either did nothing or did something completely different than your normal training program. If you can't think of one, try to think about the last time that you got sick or injured and were forced to take an extended period of time off from your training. What did you notice when you came back?

Unless it was a very extended time off (more than 2 weeks), I bet you were far more enthusiastic about your training, some of those little twinges or aches had gone away. Perhaps you busted through your previous plateaus after a short break in period.

And then, if you're like everyone else out there, you went right back to training the way you had done before. Hammering for weeks, months, even years on end without a break. Or until you got sick or injured again. Repeat the cycle until you wise up. If you ever do.

Odds are, if you're like most out there, the mere idea of taking 5 days (or more) off from training fills you with fear. All your strength, muscle and fitness will just disappear. And, oh my god, you'll just get fat.

Except that the detraining studies show something different. You lose very little fitness in a 5-14 day span, depending on what you're looking at. Given how overtrained many people are, many come back stronger or fitter than before. Even in terms of fat loss, I've seen people who were training at insane levels and watching their diet get leaner when they took a break from all that training and ate more (this magic trick usually lasts about a week maximum).

Almost all athletes take easy periods in their training (some call this unloading or deloading) although this depends significantly on how they are training. And the ones that don't should. The average scheme is to train intensely for 3 weeks and then take an easy week where volume, intensity, frequency or all three are reduced. Others will go 5-6 weeks and then take an easy week. My generic bulking routine, alternates 2 weeks of easy training with 4-6 weeks pushing the weights up I'd probably suggest, on average, taking a full week off from training after every 3 cycles (18-24 weeks) of continuous training.

Longer cycles of 16-18 weeks are often followed by periods of 5-10 days completely off from training. Charlie Francis, sprint coach extraordinaire, often gave his athletes 5 days completely off from training between every 12-16 week block. So they'd work up to a new peak over 12 weeks (on a 3 week hard/1 week easy schedule) including their final taper, take 5 days off to recharge and then do it again. Yet most people training recreationally think they can go all out year round (bodybuilders are notorious for this).

Additionally, at the end of every training season, most athletes will take anywhere from 2-4 weeks away from their sport during what is called the transition phase (where you transition from the previous season of training to the next). This used to be called the off-season, athletes would sit around for a month or two but, with periods that extended, they would detrain and lose a lot of fitness. Now it's closer to 2-4 weeks but with some amount of activity to prevent too much fitness loss.

Which is what stimulated me to write these articles. As this newsletter goes out, I'm just back after my two week transition period. In the first week, I had a single formal workout on Wednesday (bike ride in the AM, weights PM) and the rest was either treadmill walking or nothing. The second week, I was in Los Angeles for vacation. I did some inlining, rode single speed mountain bikes with a buddy, ate tons of food. And now I'm back in SLC, just starting back to summer training. I feel mentally fresh (not that I was ever particularly burnt out in the first place) and am itching to get back to training.

So, I want you to look at your last year's training, when's the last time you took an extended break from training, or took a week or two to do something completely different. Stay out of the weight room, go do bodyweight circuits in the park. Hike in the hills for some leg training, just go do something different. And don't be afraid to take 5 days of easy training every 3-4 months to give your body and mind a break, you won't lose anything and you may find that you gain a lot when you come back to the gym.

Questions and Answers

Q: i'm having a bitch of a time reducing my fat in my lower abdominal region!!! i've tried everything short of bodybuilding drugs (currently doing eca stack). i've tried extra vit c, rhodiola rosea (which poliquin boasts about) and have even looked into that "relacore" they sell at walmart!!! i really don't know what else to do. i'm currently doing your ud 2.0, and will probably get your crash diet later today before time runs out.any suggestions would really help me....

A: Learn patience.

In order of easiest to hardest fat to lose it goes

Visceral fat

Deep absdominal fat

Upper superficial abdominal fat

Lower superficial abdominal fat

Hip and thigh fat

Since most men don't carry hip and thigh fat, the lower superfificial abdominal fat ends up being the stubbornest

Yohimbe/caffeine + morning cardio can be helpful. beyond that it's just a function of patience and time. When it starts to move it'll move quickly, but it can take a while

Q: I want to eat a high protein diet to support my muscle gains but I have heard and read that too much protein is bad for my kidneys? Is this true.

A: This is one of those old myths that simply refuses to die. It's true that people with pre-existing kidney problems have to restrict their protein intake but that doesn't mean that a high protein intake will give you kidney problems. And while the kinds of massive protein intakes that bodybuilders often consume hasn't been studied, there is essentially no evidence that a protein intake in the realm of 1-1.5 g/lb bodyweight will be damaging to the kidneys. I am currently finishing work on a book about protein for athletes with Jamie Hale of maxcondition.com that will adress this and many other topics to help athletes cut through the myths and misconceptions regarding protein intake. We hope to have it finished by the first of May.

Q: What are the keys to maintaining muscle mass during a diet?

Number one, get sufficient protein. While this usually isn't a problem for bodybuilders, I find that a lot of diets aimed at the general public contain insufficient protein. We've known for 30 years that protein requirements go up on a diet yet many mainstream diets only recommend the RDA for protein. An intake of 1 g/lb or higher (depending on activity) may be reqruied while dieting.

Number two is to continue performing at least some heavy weight training. Too many people try to mimick pro bodybuilders, who often use high reps to 'cut up' (and who have anabolic steroids to prevent muscle loss) but this is the worst thing that a natural do. The volume and frequenty of heavy work can be reduced significantly but the intensity (weight on the bar) should be maintained. If a lifter wants to do high rep metabolic work, they can do it after their heavy work (a program like Alwyn Cosgrove's Afterburn for example) or do it on separate days as in my Ultimate Diet 2.0.

Finally, don't go nuts with aerobics, especially if you're cutting calories significantly. I feel that a lot of muscle loss on a diet comes from people coming straight out of a bulk (where they are eating a lot and doing no cardiovascular training) and going straight into 1-2 hours of aerobics per day along with a major calorie reduction. You either need to start building up your aerobic training earlier (or do some during your bulk as discussed in a previous Q&A) or move into it more gradually. Reduce calories by 10-20% from where they are now and start with 20-30' of moderate intensity aerobics. You can build it up from there.