Dr Jinger Gottschall is an expert in the development of sustainable and effective exercise regimes – and she says it's definitely okay to take a break from exercise. In fact, she recommends everyone have at least one day off a week, and that you enjoy a break from your regular exercise routine during vacations.
Taking a week off from lifting allows your muscles, nerves, bones, and connective tissue to regenerate after being broken down by your efforts at the gym. This period is particularly important because it minimizes fatigue and can help improve your overall performance when training.
It is totally fine, and actually beneficial, to take a week off from the gym. Most of your progress is made outside the gym in the form of recovery. When you lift heavy weights, your muscle fibers break down, and then when you aren't working out, they repair with stronger fibers.
Taking one week off from the gym is unlikely to result in significant muscle loss. While there may be some temporary changes, such as a decrease in strength and power, actual muscle mass loss is not expected to occur within such a short period of time (1)(2). Factors Affecting Muscle Loss:
No, missing a week at the gym likely won't hurt your progress significantly. It may even be a good thing! A short break allows your body to recover and come back stronger. You might feel a bit weaker initially, but muscle loss takes longer than a week to set in.
“There's no hard and fast rule for how long a 'break' from exercise should be,” Ting says. “It may be as short as a few days, but it's important to realize as well that it can also be up to one to two weeks without any significant detriment or loss in previous fitness gains.”
Even if we're super-fit to begin with, stopping training altogether will result in a pretty rapid degradation in fitness. Admittedly, the losses in the first week of total inactivity are small and in the first 2-4 days there may even be fitness gains as you recover fully from prior training.
Your Body Responds
As muscle cells get smaller, fat cells tend to get bigger. After all, the muscles aren't working hard enough to burn away calories. This can lead to weight gain as soon as 14 days (or earlier) once you stop exercising, according to Men's Journal.
Many seasoned exercisers and athletes regularly schedule a week off from working out every eight to 12 weeks. There's no hard-and-fast rule about how many rest days to take or when to take them. The key is to listen to your body for signs of overtraining, and to your mind for signs of boredom or exhaustion.
It's not necessary to lift weights every day, and if you do, you increase your risk for overuse injuries and overtraining syndrome. For most people, strength training two to three times a week is sufficient, but if you prefer to split training different muscle groups, then you can train up to five days a week.
However, skipping a workout here and there typically doesn't cause weight gain, and taking regular rest days is healthy for muscle recovery and preventing injury.
Taking a break from work is vital if you want to manage stress and avoid burnout. Signs that you might need to take a break include feeling cynical, exhausted, or withdrawn. By taking a break, whether its a vacation or just a short break during the day, you can come back to your work with a fresher, more rested mind.
In fact, she recommends everyone have at least one day off a week, and that you enjoy a break from your regular exercise routine during vacations. “Spending three or four non-consecutive weeks per year doing less training can be refreshing,” she says.
The benefits of rest days include: Better mental and physical health: Taking a break is as important for your mental health as it is for your body. Fewer injuries: Giving your body time to rest and recuperate helps you avoid injury.
Doing 100 push-ups a day can help build muscle mass, strength, and endurance, especially in your core and upper body. But it can also increase your risk of muscle imbalances, injury, and overtraining. It's important to focus on proper form when practicing push-ups.
But in some cases, extreme exercise can damage the heart. Research is showing that a small percentage of middle-aged and older athletes who compete in endurance events over many years may be at higher risk for developing atrial fibrillation – an irregular heartbeat – and other heart problems.
Fitness influencers suggest that deload weeks should be included in training schedules every four to eight weeks. This broadly aligns with the expert view of four to six weeks. But, you should schedule in your deload weeks as you need them.
Although adequate protein throughout the day is necessary, extra strength training is what leads to muscle growth — not extra protein intake. You can't build muscle without the exercise to go with it. The body can't store protein, so once its needs are met, any extra protein is used for energy or stored as fat.
In the first ten days to two weeks of inactivity/de-training, there is a measurable loss in cardiovascular fitness, but even this level of decrease is only about 2-3% drop in values such as VO2 Max, MAP (maximum aerobic power), or FTP (functional threshold power).
Generally, it takes anywhere from two to 12 weeks to regain cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength and feel like you're back at your previous level of fitness.