Weight Training Plateaus - Why You Need a Vacation from Your Training

P

oor muscle building results?

Learn how to pulverize weight training plateaus with your passport to powerful muscles.

Do You Need a Training Vacation?

How do you spend your holidays? Are you a thrill-seeking adrenaline junkie performing backflips behind a speedboat, or a hammock-dwelling beach bum sipping Martinis à la James Bond? Either way, and whatever your preference, you know what floats your boat when you need to unwind on vacation.

Now when did you last take a vacation from your training? Can't remember? If you struggle to recall time off from your workouts, then chances are your results have plateaued and you are guilty of overtraining.

Let me ask you a further question: have you ever been forced to take a layoff and returned to the gym bigger and stronger? If your answer to this question is "Yes," then you have experienced a training principle common to many...the same principle that can pulverize weight training plateaus and get you gaining in the gym again.

In short, it might be time you took a vacation from your training.


Photo courtesy of Sam Beddoes

Your Passport to Powerful Muscles

Here is what typically happens when you return to the gym following a sabbatical: you find yourself experiencing new levels of muscularity, see an increase in rapid growth, and discover a boost to your strength. How did these happy events occur? You have just witnessed a training principle many trainees stumble upon quite by accident.

So what is this principle and how does it work?

What you have observed is the result of deconditioning. And why did you suddenly get bigger and stronger? Because of the time off from training, the layoff has made your muscles more sensitive to the stimulus of lifting.

And here is where things get interesting. HST trainer Bryan Haycock explains how this principle can be utilized to help encourage growth. Haycock describes how periods of planned rest every eight-weeks or so can provide the required rest to cause a reversal to the adaptation to training. What does this mean to you? You get to wave goodbye to plateaus and see your muscles start growing again once you resume lifting.

More calls for planned rest as part of your training regimen is supported by Australian coach, Ian King. Indeed, taking a training vacation every few months could be your passport to more powerful muscles.

Weight Training Take-Off

How long does your training holiday need to be? Haycock recommends 7-12 days every eight-week cycle is adequate (the length of a typical holiday). This planned vacation from your workouts ensures you return to the gym rested, recovered, and ready to resume building muscle again.

And what if you are using shorter micro-training cycles?

King suggests a 7-day layoff from lifting weights every three to four weeks. The result? You get to leave plateaus grounded at the airport as your training takes off.

In Summary

Poor muscle building results?

Learn how to pulverize weight training plateaus with your passport to more powerful muscles.

Weight Training Plateau to Symptoms of Overtraining

Weight Training Plateau to Muscle Building