Training hard for 3 to 4 weeks and then resting or backing off on the volume has been around forever. Legendary bodybuilding trainer Vince Gironda supported it. As did the Eastern Bloc trainers. It simply allows you to attack your goals fresh.
Resting will release the accumulated fatigue throughout your whole body. Hard training is a cumulative stress on your whole body.
Not only the muscles, but also the joints, ligaments, bones and probably most importantly organs and glands get fatigued. Once they are rested your progress will be better.
Relax Mentally and Physically
Having to train on a set schedule and not miss workouts drains your will. Sometimes you need to reset your brain too and give yourself the well deserved recovery time. In this way your focus will be stronger once you restart training.
This is a good way to alternate between different goals. Your first goal should always be to lean out so that you look good naked. Once you achieve that, you can use the break to switch to a different goal. For example beginner strength training or increasing your vertical for your pickup basketball games.
Begin Easy and Crank it up Gradually
One of the best ways to train is to start off with easy workouts and gradually increase the difficulty until it gets very hard to progress. At this point you can rest or train really light and then begin the cycle again.
Switch it up. You can use the break or light training week to introduce a different training method while still pursuing the same goal. In other words, if your goal is to lean out, you can diet hard or fast and at the same time alternate between fat loss and strength training workouts every 3 to 4 weeks.
The reason this works well is because fat loss workouts are mentally more challenging so it’s a good idea to give yourself a break from them while still watching your food and continuing to stimulate your muscles.
Babe by Vincent
Sometimes even the beautiful need beauty sleep. From the looks of it she’s been sleeping pretty well.
Rocco,
Well said, man, well said! By the way, love how you speak your mind over at your website.
Guys, if you are up for some in-your-face, politically incorrect, get-the-job-done fitness truth, check out Rocco’s blog!
Yavor
Great tips Yavor. Too many people fail to realize the importance of recovery, when recovery is where you grow. I love it when I get to take a few days off it seems like my body just swells up, and you do go back at it hard and refocused.
Paul, yup, recovery is super important. In fact, recovering enough between workouts so that you sustain your progress is probably the biggest muscle building secret.
Now that Christmas eve is over with though lets get back to business and start training hard and eating right, shall we 🙂
Yavor