i know it's good for me, but it's the hardest thing to do.

[bartman314]

take a true day off...

today, i decided not to do anything... no lifting, no cardio. this is the first full day off for me in as long as i can remember (maybe the day and 2 days after i had my hip replaced in january...).

my typical split is 4 days with an occasional 5th day as cardio only:

day 1: shoulders/traps
day 2: back
day 3: chest/tris
day 4: legs

i've been doing my version of hit and am now on cycle and seeing really good results. all the wise men here say days off are important. intellectually i believe it, it's just hard for me gut to get around it. working out hard every day just feels right.

all that being said, i'm now 52 and injuries are a constant risk and i'm always nursing something. i'm going to (seriously) try giving the day off/cycle a shot and seeing how it goes. maybe i too can acquire some wisdom.

happy day off to fellow wise men!

[kelkel]

Rest is critical, especially when it comes to longevity as we age. I'm older than you and years ago I switched to an EOD training regimen. Best thing I ever did, imho.

[600@50]

This ^^^^^^ X2. Couldn't agree with Kel more. I have to take it a little further in that occasionally I'll take a couple of weeks off and heal up. I know some will disagree but it works and sometimes you just need a break. I'll be 55 next March and I'm starting back after about 9 weeks off. But I can tell you nothing hurts now and my motivation is through the roof. Can't wait til Monday.

[almostgone]

I'm also in the 50 and over club. Started lifting EOD after reading one of Kel's posts in the HIT Dungeon thread and it suits my recovery time and my work schedule very well. I follow a 5 way split (shoulders, back, chest, legs, and arms). Never worry about what day of the week it is, just keep up with what body part to work on. I occasionally throw a day of some form of cardio in here and there.

[bartman314]

today was intense... was more motivated to crush it after a full day off. let the experiment continue.

[Khazima]

Rest is essential in weight training especially for CNS recovery. Plenty of people succeed without it but it's easier to get burnt out and your recovery needs to be on point (adequate food, nutrients, sleep, low stress, drugs etc). Also, training extremely intense all week every week will lead to burning out a lot faster. There's a saying 'you can train hard or you can train long but you can't do both' which is relatively true, if you're giving it your all 7 days a week you'll burn out in no time. If you're just stimulating the responses you desire then recovering properly you could train all week every week for a while without burning out too fast. Although i wouldn't say it's optimal.

From what i've seen/read/watched training 3-5 days is optimal, usually 4 being the sweet spot but working in a gym 10 hours a day 6 days a week i can't bring myself to workout less than 5 days.

[bartman314]

so i did back today - couldn't quite be as intense as shoulders yesterday. maybe it's the lack of a day off, maybe not. i'm going to continue to play around with the day (days) off element and see what works at my current age/fitness level/diet/sleep regimen. i agree with khazima's point, and may end up at the 4 days a week, but will need some filler for the 3 days (cardio/yoga/stretching/biking?!?).

[Buster Brown]

I am 45 and believe in rest days. There are definitely some guys who do respond well to more training and we all need to see what we respond best too. That being said.....you don't grow in the gym so rest is important. That's not to say on a given day off you can't do dome light cardio and look at it as active rest as long as you keep it at just that. I also am a firm believer in cycling my training going from a PL routine for 16 weeks to a maintenance routine for 8-12 to a BB routine for 12-16 weeks. This has helped me avoid injuries and continue training the way I want and not let the injuries dictate my training to me.

[bartman314]

i've gone through my 4 day cycle and took another day off... well i did an hour of cardio. of the 4 workouts, i was stronger in shoulders, chest/tri, and legs. slightly weaker in back (day after shoulders - i do 5 working sets of posterior delts and 6 working sets of traps.

the experiment continues.

[papathesmurf]

Taking time off I believe is crucial. Last December I had a shoulder injury and it would hurt like crazy when I benched. Being Mr. Toughguy I thought I could push though it. Week after week it would get worse and worse and I would still work it. Finally I decided to rest it for a couple weeks now it's my strong shoulder.

[Ashop]

As others have said,,,REST is an extremely important part of this big puzzle. That's when we recover and grow.