Okay I take a day or two off a week. mostly only a day and two days off before a oly. I have not taken a week off in around two years.been training regular for almost 4 years now The first year or so my training volume was not that high but now its getting up there. Does anyone take a week off on a regular rotational basis. Like say a week after every 5 weeks of training with one day off during those weeks ? seems I gain a two to 4 pounds every time I take a day off. hate to see what would happen if I took a week off.
Your weight gain is likely due to your body replenishing its glycogen stores which requires water and can be much of the weight gain you see there.
I am not sure if you asking if you should take a week off, meaning no training at all for a week or just an easy week with a much lower volume and little or no intensity…I would say a complete week off is good when life demands it (week after an Ironman for me, or a Xmas holiday perhaps, etc). I don’t think it is a bad thing to do planned weeks off on occasion, but I am more a fan of keeping the training rhthym going so I would rather cut volume/intensity but maintain the basic training activities.
I am taking a month off…
Well with exceptions.
I am taking a month off from running.
One week off from everything. After that, I will get on the bike. Then the pool for a few week.
You need time off. This is when your body recovers and you get faster. Time off is a good thing, without it your body will break down. That is what happened to me.
So take some time off, get some reast and come back stronger.
I am not sure I would do the week off every 5 weeks. But a day off per week is good. Or two days off in a row every two weeks. Maybe a week off every 5 months. Just depends on your situation, mileage, etc.
Right now I am about
-40-45 miles a week running
-150-225 a week biking
Swimming when I have too and about 3 hours core with a little upper body weightlifting.
I find after a day or two off my legs feel sluggish and heavy not to mention me feeling irratable. I have been doing the day off consistantly ( well almost last 4 weeks training volume has been up to 13 .5 hours a week.) . While my stamina is there to go long and steady I have not seen much speed improvement for about 7 months. Which leads me to think that time off would be beneficial and or changing up the routine a bit to see if I can trick my body into more gains so to speak. Also my weight has stayed steady around the 157-162 lb range now for about the same time and my training volume up. I know alot also has to do with diet. Thats also one of the hard parts especially with kids. Guess I am answering my own questions a bit but I also wanted to get a general consensus of St’ers workouts and habits so I can tailor my workouts a bit for more gains.
If you are doing that much distance on the bike and run I am going to make an assumption that you are doing a lot of distance stuff and not a lot of speed work.
Mix it up and replace a medium distance bike and run with some interval work (the only way to get faster).
i do about the same amount of riding as you per week. right now i’m not as concerned about being at peak fitness (speed), but i am doing one hard group ride per week and either one time trial race or TT workout per week. the other three or four rides are at an easier pace and include one ride with several miles of climbing w/avg. grade 6%.
I have been doing some two a day runs 5 - 6 mile’ s @ about a 7:30 minute pace and 10-15 mile to and back from work sprints. With one 9 -10 mile run a week. I will throw in the interval work on my bike with the long and and med distance rides. I kind of do now but not on a scheduled interval like 4 minutes on and one minute rest 5-6 sets. More like when I see a biker a mile ahead and play rabbit. Mostly been steady paced 19.5 mph - 22.5 mph riding. When I do the tt to work it is almost alway’s followed in the morning with a run for a brick then in aftrnoon a run then a tt bike back home. that is usually 4 times a week