Week Off From Training- The Effects

Hi. 

I havent been able to see how much you're doing as there isn't anything on your log but It may be that you're not consuming as many calories as you should for the work you're doing, or maybe you need a supplement. 

MAKE yourself go back to training,i'm sure you'll notice that you feel far better and can push harder after a week off.  BEWARE though, I've heard that once you get pat 2 weeks fitness declines rapidly.  I may be wrong, but I'm sure I read that in one of my tri books.  I noticed a massive difference after I had a few weeks off, so better to start back sooner rather than later!! 

Good luck getting back into it.  I'm sure there are far more knowledgable people than me who will post some useful stuff for you. 

I haven't taken any weeks off, but have been really sidelined on running from an injury. I've had a bit of a motivation problem too as a result, but its starting to come back. Just don't quit, whatever you do....

PS, don't know how new you are to tri training, but when i first started it wiped me out.  I would sleep like a baby and was picking up all sorts of colds etc., think i had my nutrition all wrong (and still do, i'm just getting used to it now!  I have no idea what to eat!!)

I had a similar question because I was off a few days for vacation.  Now that I am back, I found that my heart rate is elevated when swimming, biking, or running the same distance and rate. 

I don't know if that is from diet, the time off, or the long car drive (7-8 hours).  It makes me concerned about tapering.  I read on here that the taper would help get rid of some of the fatigue so I expected to come back fresh and have things be easier, not harder.

Good for you in taking a week off!  You just hit the reset button!

Now get back on the horse with a new focus and energy!

Well I took a good amount of time off after my Ironman last year. It was well deserved and needed time off.

This year I have decided to make training enjoyable. I know what I can and cannot do.

What I cannot do is train in the morning. Sure, I can do it on the weekends (7:00 AM), but that's pushing it. During the week, forget it. I hate morning workouts. I will do it occasionally if I have something to do that night, but that's far and few between.

Now, what I can do is train after work until 9:00 PM. That's fine with me. I'm not miserable that way. So that's what I'm doing.

Maybe you need to analyze what is and is not enjoyable for you training wise and change things up?

I think people fall into two groups when they take a week off.  Either they can not wait to get back at it or they have no motivation to start training again. 

If I take a few days off I can not wait to get back on the bike, in the pool, or in my running shoes but that is my personality. 

I think that you just have to trust that once you start training again you will get back into the swing of things.

Also rest is when you get stronger, faster, etc.  You need the rest.  You might find that you feel better after the week off and this will cause you to train just a little bit harder. 

i took a week off and it turned into almost 2 weeks! 
when i started back i was tired, and like you mentioned, I felt i had completely lost my motivation!  I had done 4 races in 3 months, I was wiped and not sure i wanted to continue because now I just have one race left this season and it's not for 6 more weeks, I wasn't sure I could sustain the energy!

I am happy to report that while winded the first run, swim and bike, I am now finding my groove again.  I have a swim buddy who is training for a 70.3 so she keeps me going and she also suggested a few short road races over the next weeks to get me back into race mood 

good luck to you and glad you got some rest!

I've done tri training for 2 years, but never taken a week off just in the middle of no where like I have now. Only after races and at the end of the season.

I'm fairly sure I'm eating enough most days, it has taken me a while to get my nutrition sorted out. I take multivitamins daily.

I seem to over train/over reach and always seem to get sick. I'm not exactly sure when to cut back on the training until it's too late generally. I train for olympic distance, I've never followed a plan. I seem to maybe break the 10% rule on cycling quite often and get sick after long rides or big cycling weeks. Maybe I just need to take it slow and build up my cycling as I do my running, I don't get injured from cycling, just run down and catch a cold. 

Sure. I take extended stretches of time off...At least a couple of months at the end of the season, for one. And then I ususally have a stretch in the middle of the season where I may race a couple of times, but don't do much during the week at all.


Edited by mmrocker13 2009-08-12 4:07 PM

Taking some time of can be good, and often necessary for regular life reasons.  But I try not to take more than a few days off of running.  Swimming and cycling come back fast, but running can be hard after a week off.

Brian

I freak out after a couple days.  The best I can do is do upper body weights for a couple days and give the legs a rest...which is what I'm planning to do after the end of the month...

I'm feeling that way this week. I haven't done zero training, but I was planning to go to the gym to lift and swim tonight on my way home from work right up to the time I got to the gym driveway and I just kept right on going. But I do have a triathlon on Sunday, so I'm using that as my excuse. I'll run tomorrow night and maybe bike a little then be done until Sunday. More than anything, I'm not motivated this week to lift anything heavy. I used the excuse that I didn't want to be sore this weekend from doing deadlifts on Wednesday, I'll just pick that back up on Monday. I do think it is my body telling me to take a break, so I'm listening. There are lots of days of training ahead of me, a week off here or there is no big thing.

It's good to take a break...but I don't think I could do a week..plus i remember reading in my exercise physiology book that you lose most of the gains you make with fitness after a week...and that scares me, especially after all the hard work you may have done. But its not good to be burned out!

Last week I was on vacation. From Sunday to Thursday I did no running or biking. I did a lot of walking and got in one 30 min pool swim and a pair of mile long ocean swims, along with lots of snorkeling and recreational swimming. Friday was a travel day and I lost Sat through Monday with a sinus infection. I was back at it yesterday and had a brick today. It felt great to be out there running again! I think the vaca and the down time did me a world of good. 8 weeks out from my HIM and I feel great!

I was on vacation for 2 weeks. During that time, I managed to run every other day (or so). I'm glad I did. Getting back into the swing of things has been hard enough.

Time off is good...but too much time off and your motivation will be tested.

I am sure there are some effects of taking a week off.
Some good effects-Muscle recover, sleep, chance to re- your goals
Potential bad effects-detraining of muscles and cardio system.

I am not an expert, but as a recreational athlete who is solidly toward the rear of MOP, I would say that taking time off is GOOD.

I don't usually follow a strict plan for my tri or marathon training. I have a general number of workouts I want to get in and 1 or 2 key workouts each week (long run and brick most of the time).

However, if you find yourself grumpy, it can be overtraining. Take a look at your workout volumes, sleep and nutrition and think about where you might be coming up short.
You will usually see overtraining in HR values if you use them

As far as motivation, that is harder. I like working out regularly, and I think it helps my attitude. However, you have to set reasonable goals and have a reasonable plan to be successful.

Maybe now is the time to look for a basic plan to follow and step it down a little to get perspective?

Good Luck!

P.S. If you do decide to give up on tri's, do you have a nice bike you want to sell cheap????

I just started back up after a week off.  I have no races planned until a 5k on Thanksgiving so all motivation was lost.  I started to wonder if I would ever regain my motivation.  Well, on day 6 my legs started getting twitchy and I knew it was time.  That first run was amazingly difficult.  My typical easy runs are done at 9:30 pace and that first run I was struggling to hold 10:30.  Didn't feel too horrible on the first bike and my next run I was able to hold my typical pace.  All this to say your body will let you know when it's ready and then it's up to you to conquer the mental aspect.  NOW GET OUT THERE AND TRAIN!

All well and good...


....but did anyone else quickly scan the OP after reading the thread title and think a week off of training awhile back had led to some baby-making???

About every 2-3 months I make sure to take 3-4 days off.  My body pretty much tells me when.  Usually I have my biggest gains after that time off.

I don't think I ever really plan to stop totally. There are enough holidays, etc that manage to come up and cause me to take a day of two completely off.

Rest for me means I usually cut way back on mileage for a week, an easy ride or two, lots of walking, some jogging, maybe a bit of gym work. If I ever stopped completely I would go bonkers.