Time off

[Biggerp73]

Two weeks ago my injection sites were sore and I didn't want to keep injecting so I decided I would just drop everything for a few weeks and take a break. Part was because my sites were all sore, part was because I'd been stagnate at about the same weight, give or take 5 lbs, for 6-7 months, part because I wanted to slim down just a bit and feel lighter.

At the same time, I've been helping my friend, sort of acting as his guru/coach, advising him on training, diet, and gear, and despite being on a good dose of AAS and GH, he has been stagnate for a few months. And I realized, what's the point of having him continue running the gear for another three months when in all likelihood he is just going to remain stagnate?

And while I am thinking this I realize my little 3-4 week break isn't going to cause me to lose any real muscle except just some water weight and glycogen retention, and that if I choose to go back on and bump the dose up to something decent, I'll most likely break past my recent platue.

So I tell my friend, take a few weeks off before starting back up. And I'm guessing he doesn't lose much of anything, but probably progresses past this platue when he does go back on..

 

[3BILLS]

Awesome , you should give this idea a name!

 

[pesty4077]

If you do long cycles, 3 to 4 weeks off is not long enough. Stop worrying about size when you are off and focus on health. It comes back on next cycle. IMO

 

[Biggerp73]

Awesome , you should give this idea a name!

"Time off"


Boom


Cash me out

 

[Durro]

Have you tried blast for 6 weeks then cruise for 4 weeks repeat. Anything similar to that?

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Question for you Bigger, what were you and your friend's goals when you started your blast? Were you trying to grow in an offseason, trying to get shredded??

I feel like there are far too many people just getting back on blast to get back on a blast. They just want to be on to be on.
Literally, most gym bros are 10% and on cycle and just chilling there. Why just chill at 10%? Either get bigger so that your 10% next year is 10lbs higher...or diet that 10% to 6.

The only reason i can think of to stay on just to chill is after a little bit of a long offseason, just to get your body to settle on a new high in BW. Going from your peak offseason BW, then hopping off is crazy. Let your body get accustomed to the mass for some weeks, then cruise or hop off and adjust your cals accordingly.

 

[BALDNAZI]

Thinking about 6 weeks on 6 weeks off when I get back to cycling again. Hit it hard for the 6 then give the body a break. Should help to give somewhat constant progress without killing your insides.

 

[pickapeck]

Dorian says no breaks. Go until one of your arms falls off. Then transform with yoga and iowaska.




j/k

PaP

 

[goback2013]

Dorian says no breaks. Go until one of your arms falls off. Then transform with yoga and iowaska.




j/k

PaP

Iowa ska?
Ha! I get you though

 

[Biggerp73]

I know the OP may sound kind of redundant or obvious to a lot of guys but the whole "the longer you stay on, the better you look" ideology is very popular even in this board (I'm pretty sure BigA's famous thread on the topic says the same thing), and so I though I'd post it up for discussion/reflection.

Have you tried blast for 6 weeks then cruise for 4 weeks repeat. Anything similar to that?

I really haven't.

I juiced for 3-4 years in my late teens early 20s then took about 8 years off completely from everything, even training/eating for the most part. I jumped back on around two years ago, and stayed on for about 9 months, then dropped it down to TRT for 4-5 months, then bumped it back up a little bit for the past few months.

Question for you Bigger, what were you and your friend's goals when you started your blast? Were you trying to grow in an offseason, trying to get shredded??

I feel like there are far too many people just getting back on blast to get back on a blast. They just want to be on to be on.
Literally, most gym bros are 10% and on cycle and just chilling there. Why just chill at 10%? Either get bigger so that your 10% next year is 10lbs higher...or diet that 10% to 6.

The only reason i can think of to stay on just to chill is after a little bit of a long offseason, just to get your body to settle on a new high in BW. Going from your peak offseason BW, then hopping off is crazy. Let your body get accustomed to the mass for some weeks, then cruise or hop off and adjust your cals accordingly.

I was just having this discussion with my friend I am helping. I asked him his long term goal and what he wanted to accomplish, whether he wanted to try to be massive, or lean and aesthetic, etc. It was in thinking about these kinds of considerations that I started to think about advising him to take a different approach. I had him take breaks before and do some mini cuts and stuff like that, but I realized he really just needs some time off at this point. His goal is to get bigger. So he needs time off, in my opinion.

Yeah as far as my goal, it was to put on some more size while staying around the same bodyfat.

 

[alfresco]

My experience.

I was was worried about losing any appreciable size or strength after a 2 - 3 week
break I would pick another hobby. I just took a week off after as I always do after
giving blood. Just walked every day for an hour or two and some stretching and
meditation. When I got back to the gym I lost zero strength and was even stronger
in some movements.

Am I over training?

Last year I was forced into taking 2 months off because of travel. I still took my
hrt doses but did zero exercise unless you call lugging 30+ lbs. of camera gear
everywhere I went exercise. Now . . . with that amount of time off I noticed just
a slight amount of muscular atrophy but I did gain some weight, i.e. fat . . .
thank you excess carbs but that came off fast with portion control and getting
back in the states and to my regular diet.

Having lifted weights using every routine imaginable, taken every supplement
imaginable during in the 45 years I have been training, I have a pretty good feel
for what works in diet and exercise for me.

Enough about me.

So Biggerp73, back to you. My unsolicited opinion is what you are recommending
is good, rational, and healthy.

But one month off does not mean it will take you a month to gain it all back. My
experience is that it comes back quicker . . . faster if 'enhanced', a bit slower if
natural, but in both case it will be fast if you don't over train which is a natural
impulse. I think undertraining, training less than before on the comeback will equal
the same gains in the same amount of time. Let your body do it's thing.

And always remember, the longer you have the muscle, the less you will lose when
you take time off. It's kinda like a set point in my opinion. And what you lose
during your time off can easily, a relative term, be gained back in a short amount of
time if you had the muscle for a long, again relative, time. How much time off = how
much you will lose but always factor in how long you had the muscle. But what you
do lose will come back damn quickly; noticeable from workout to workout. That
has been my experience.

 

[DarrenG29]

Kevin levrone

I think though you do need time of to reset things like myostatin

i do believe in longer blasts than 6 weeks but also heard after 6 weeks your gains are less and less however I do feel like at week 6 I begin to get more results in terms of strength improvement than just look so anywhere between 16-20 week 4 week break I find ideal 4 week because like most have said anymore time of I feel shrinking all mental but also 4 weeks feels enough of a reset to get back on not enough for blood work maybe but enough for myostatin to come down and somewhat more time on more time growing to a certain degree