Taking breaks

[grass]

Say I lift or run 4 days of the week and then the weekend rolls around.. so I take a break for 3 or 4 days without doing anything.

My question is. Is it better to get rest like this? for a few days?
Or should I try to keep the breaks around 2 days?


How easy is it to lose muscle?

Don't want to work all week and then lose my gains on the weekends I can't work out.

[Gixxer1k]

I am by no means an expert, but I will offer my workout routine for you to ponder. Basically I lift M, T, TR & Fri. and do cardio on the same days. Wednesday I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wrestling so it is like an extra cardio day. I eat a very good diet M-F as well. When the weekend rolls around, I eat whatever I want to, and basically do nothing active (except maybe wrestle for an hour or so on Saturdays).

If for some reason I cannot make it to the gym on Friday, I will do that weight workout on Wednesday. I will still do my cardio on Friday, but no lifting. That leaves me with 3 days of no lifting. I don't feel like I lose any muscle at all. Sometimes the extra day off of lifting really helps me, or so it seams anyway.

Basically, I would suggest the 2 day break when possible, but I don't think that 3 days off of lifting will hurt. I would do something active on that Friday though. Don't just lie dormant. Sorry for the long blab. Hope it helps a little.
Brian

[grass]

Thanks for the info Brian. Sounds like you have things set.. that's what I want to do... but have to change things to work them around my schedule right now.

Will you explain what you're talking about by eating good? M-F

Right now I'm stuck with the burger king diet. So it's a double whopper meal, double 1/4 pounder, or whatever else sounds good.
It's hard to eat good right now.. working around other things.

Being smaller, I was told to up my calories intake by a ton.. when doing cardio and lifts.

[Gixxer1k]

Basically, I eat every hour or two, in small quantities. Here is an example of a typical day:

6:45am - Protein shake w/fat free yogurt and peanut butter

8:30am - Piece of fat free cheese and a bannana

9:30am - 2 packets of oatmeal

10:30am - Lean Turkey/Chicken/Beef (whichever one I bring to work that day)

11:30am - Orange

12:30am - 1 cup of FF yogurt

1:30am - 2pc baked chicken, can of corn, 1 spoon of peanut butter

etc. etc. throughout the day.

Dinner - Chicken/Beef w/ steamed Vegetables.

Before bed, protein w/ skim milk

Like I said, I am no expert, but this has really helped me lean out. I was weighing about 255 in November of last year, and I am weighing about 220 right now, and I am as lean as I have ever been. This diet may not be the best, but it works for me. I think that the smaller, more frequent meals help me not to overindulge at lunch and dinner. Also, if I am trying to cut weight for a tournament or something, I will cut all carbs at night, but not during the day. Hope this helps.

Brian

[Beto_GTZ]

I think having a plan will help a lot, like a good schedule and diet. The diet is just as important. I wanted to lose weight and add muscle but i had no idea how to start, but i ended up finding a book online called the Testosterone Advantage Plan. It gives you a schedule, workout log, and a diet (and a grocery list to go with it). The plan has worked for me so far as i have lost 16 lbs in 8 weeks (no shit) and there has been some muscle growth (not much though it's only been a few weeks). Anyways this book gave me exactly what i needed, direction. If you want any more info let me know, but you can get it at Amazon.com. Good luck and sorry this turned out kinda long!

[grass]

Thanks for all the info. :)