The Surprising Benefits of Taking Time Off From the Gym
Sometimes life makes it hard to stick to the program… Here’s why that’s okay.
In this edition of Momentum you‘ll learn why random, or even planned, breaks from formal training are actually a good thing and you’ll learn the minimum dose of exercise to maintain your gains during prolonged breaks.
My wife and I are moving at the end of the week.
We’re both super busy and it’s been tough getting to the gym between packing, purging, cleaning working, looking at new places, packing, etc.
So, for these next few weeks I’m not stressing my workouts.
I’m not following a rigid plan.
I’m not really planning my training ahead of time.
If I get to the gym awesome, if I only have time for a 20 minute kettlebell circuit that is also awesome.
This will probably continue for about 2 weeks.
And I am not worried about it one bit.
Here’s why…
Breaks from Formal Training Are Good for You
A formal training program is a great idea.
The structure allows you to make real progress. A formal training plan designed by a pro allows for progressive overload to make gains in size, strength, and fitness.
Typically, I follow my own BREAKING GAINZ FOREVER program and the results are fantastic. I’ve been doing this since the first iteration of the program in 2021.
Following a structured training program for a long time is a lot like following a structured diet for a long time.
In my opinion, most good nutrition or diet coaches advocate for periodic diet breaks to allow for better long term adherence.
Not everyone can handle that rigid structure forever and sometimes want to let loose.
Periodic, short term breaks from a formal training program can make adherence to a long term program much much more feasible.
By taking a break from time to time, either on purpose or when life calls for it, helps to reset your willpower and focus.
I find that whenever I come back from one of these quick breaks I am more focused and excited to get back into a rigid training plan.
When I took about 3 months off from my weight lifting program to train for a half marathon I was DYING to get back to hard weight training.
Little breaks allow those little aches and pains that come from hard training to heal and leave you feeling great.
Anyone who has pushed themselves physically knows that aches and pains can arise. These aren’t true injuries that require medical attention. These are those little annoying things like your back getting a little stiff, your shoulder aching a little, or your hip pinching a bit in the squat.
You’re sore a lot, your callouses ache, and you’re tired.
It’s fine. It’s probably normal. And it will go away.
These little breaks from a rigid plan can allow your body to heal all these minor aches in as little as 1-2 weeks off.
I feel limber like a ballerina after a forced or planned week off and again, am ready to get back to the grind afterwards.
I’ll save you from my ballerina photoshop 2 weeks in a row…
Little breaks allow you to focus on other things in your life and/or fitness.
Training takes time and it takes both physical and mental effort and willpower. As much as I love training, and I will always train, sometimes I love to just screw around and do whatever I feel like doing.
If it’s nice out and I don’t want to spend time indoors I like to not lift and go rucking through the woods.
If it’s a beautiful day and I can squeeze in 30 minutes of tennis or go mountain biking instead of grinding away in the gym after work sometimes that’s a better choice for me.
Right now I’m focused on moving and working. I’m training when I can and doing whatever I feel like on those days when I have time to train.
I’m also not worried about this unstructured time off because…
It Takes Longer Than You Think To Lose Your Gains
Many people falsely think that if they take a week or two off they are going to lose all their progress.
How wrong they are!
In fact, you can do nothing for 1-2 weeks still maintain your gains.
For strength and muscle:
A 2017 study found no difference in strength or muscle after a 2 week break in weight training. The study participants, who had previously trained for at least 1 year, continued their normal daily activities but did no formal exercise.
So, for a 2 week period it seems like basic activities of daily living are enough to maintain your strength and muscle.
For cardiovascular fitness:
In the first 10-14 days of a training break you’ll start to see a decline in measures of cardiovascular fitness. The changes are small at first, maybe only 2-5% less, but they continue as you go longer and longer without training.
So, for a 2 week period it seems like basic activities of daily living are enough to maintain your cardiovascular fitness.
Once you get beyond the 2 week mark if you are not training at all you will start to see appreciable losses in fitness if you aren’t doing any formal exercise.
If you are taking 1 or 2 weeks off of the gym for a vacation or a busy time of your life, don’t stress it! Just the physical activity you get from getting out of bed and going to work and playing with your kids is enough to maintain your gains or just suffer minimal losses in progress.
To ensure you don’t lose anything, you can maintain your gains with surprisingly little training.
The Minimum Training Dose to Maintain Your Gains
In fact, you can maintain your gains in as little as one hard set per week.
Strength and muscle size can be maintained for up to 32 weeks with as little as 1 session of strength training per week and 1 set per exercise, as long as exercise intensity (relative load) is maintained
Endurance performance can be maintained for up to 15 weeks when training frequency is reduced to as little as 2 sessions per week or when exercise volume is reduced by 33-66% (as low as 13-26 minutes per session), as long as exercise intensity (exercising heart rate) is maintained.
The key here is the intensity of the training during this time period.
So, you don’t need to do a lot but you do need to push yourself close to failure when you do train.
Here is what I’m doing during my 2 week break from formal training.
Staying generally active during the day.
This is easy when you’re a sports chiropractor by day and professional mover by night. Unfortunately, working as an online trainer is very sedentary work.
Squeezing in body part specific workouts.
In my rehab room in my office I have dumbbells and kettlebells. Today during my lunch break I did 30 minutes of back work. Nothing fancy, just rows and bent flyes. Got a great pump! I’ll probably do between 10-30 minutes of this every day for different body parts.
On the one or two days I can get to a gym I’m going to do compound lifts at a high intensity for lower reps.
On the other days I’m getting in higher rep accessory work so I’ll just get in heavy work if I do make it to a gym.
If I can even get 1 solid session in a week of an hour or so I’ll maintain my cardio for two weeks.
If you need a break you can maintain your gains by staying active, training at a minimum of once a week and doing just one hard set per muscle group and a little cardio.
So, taking a break now and then seems like a good idea… so much so that…
Every Pro-Athlete Takes Dedicated Time Off
Think about how every single pro-athlete takes time off from their super-regimented program for extended periods of time following their season.
They let their mind heal from the rigid nature of high level sport and competition.
They let their body heal all the nagging injuries from the season.
And they come back a few weeks or months later to get back to it.
So, should you schedule or plan time off?
In general, I say no.
Don’t plan time off because your life will force it from time to time.
Vacations, busy times at work, getting sick, family emergencies, moving, whatever!
As I get older I have found that life is unrelenting…
If you do compete recreationally in races or lifting meets then scheduled time off after those events would definitely be warranted.
But for us normies (I’m a proud normie) taking time off when we are forced to is fine.
Wrapping Up
Don’t sweat it if life forces you to take a break from training. As long as you stay generally active you won’t experience any drop off in fitness in 1-2 weeks. If you are going to take a break from formal training for longer than 2 weeks I would recommend trying to train each muscle group with at least 1 set per week with a high degree of intensity and doing at least 1 session of cardiovascular training to maintain as much fitness as you can.