Could *Not* Going to the Gym Be a Key to Growth?
Way back in the day, we didn’t have scientific evidence for most of the things we did in the gym. We just had ‘gym wisdom.’ For instance, it was commonly believed that taking a complete week off from the gym would allow your body to recover better and “give the nervous system” a much-needed rest period. So that’s what we did.
This was obviously all anecdotally based. But as time has gone on, and we are gathering more and more information, this may be another one of those things that the old-school guys had right!
Recently, my friend Brad Schoenfeld, graduate director of the Human Performance and Fitness program at Lehman College, posted the following on Instagram:
“Could there be a benefit from short, periodic breaks from resistance training to ‘resensitize’ the anabolic effects on muscle? This new study1 suggests this might be the case.”
The study is pretty technical, but the upshot is that science may be providing support for that anecdotal ‘gym wisdom’ we used to follow. That is, there is some evidence that, as Brad put it, “taking a week off every few months might help to provide an ‘anabolic boost’ and overcome plateaus.” My mind immediately went to how we might apply this idea to IronQuest training programs.
Our training cycles usually consist of six or seven week progressive overloading followed by several days of deloading. Then, we repeat the cycle while attempting to increase the weights by 2-3%. Any breaks that occur are in-cycle, typically two spaced-out rest days per week.
Based on this new study, however, I wanted to know: Would longer rest periods be beneficial? And, if so, how often should we work them in?
Like a true scientist, Brad was cautious. “It would depend on the program design and the individual,” he said. “But conceivably a combo of deloads and breaks across a training [plan] may optimize recovery/resensitization to optimize gains.”
Sounds like a plan! Going forward, we are going to experiment with complete rest breaks once again. Here’s a general idea of how that will look:
Run a complete mesocycle (6-7 weeks of progressive overloading)
Deload
Run another complete mesocycle
Complete rest instead of deloading
During the complete rest period, we will probably add some easy, steady-state cardio to burn calories. However, the overall goal will be to recover and grow.
Work hard, train smarter!
Related Article
Jacko, D.; Schaaf, K.; Masur, L.; Windoffer, H.; Aussieker, T.; Schiffer, T.; Zacher, J.; Bloch, W.; Gehlert, S. Repeated and Interrupted Resistance Exercise Induces the Desensitization and Re-Sensitization of mTOR-Related Signaling in Human Skeletal Muscle Fibers. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23, 5431. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23105431