Go light? Take a break? Suck it up? Eat a twinkie?

[scootermaster]

So after 10 weeks and 29 workouts of squatting heavy, three times a week, my legs are tired. Add on to that, more cardio (even though it's modest) than I've done since I was 15, and a lot of activity (volleyball, football) that happens to be entirely on sand, my legs are just tired. To the point where walking small distances, or even just standing for awhile, fatigues me.

I want to give them a rest. So I was thinking about taking a week (3 workouts) off from squats. Should I do this? Or should I just squat "light"? And if so, how light? More reps? Nothing at all? I

Don't worry, I'm not giving them up at all. I just figure I've earned it. I just don't want to get back on the horse, so to speak, and have it be like I'm squatting again for the first time.


Thoughts?

 

[GenHoth]

yes, a week without squats should be enough to refresh yourself

 

[crt1530]

You are not allowed to take a break from squatting when you squat less than you bench press. Sorry.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: crt1530
You are not allowed to take a break from squatting when you squat less than you bench press. Sorry.

lol that's mean.

Scooter, try going lighter and ease up on the sets for a few days?

 

[skace]

Are you squatting 3 times a week? Don't squat 3 times a week.

 

[GenHoth]

Its ok when you first start weightlifting. But as you progress your legs cant handle the workload anymore and you'd be correct.

 

[Deeko]

If you didn't want to go a full week without squatting, you could go a few weeks only squatting once a week.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Deeko
If you didn't want to go a full week without squatting, you could go a few weeks only squatting once a week.

This is a decent idea. Next week is A-B-A, meaning I have deadlifts twice. So maybe I'll do my normal workout this Friday, and then skip squats on Monday and next Friday. So I'll give myself four days off, then squat, and then another four days off.

And then, of course, back to the grind the following Monday. Sigh.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Doesn't sound like it would hurt to take a week off of all leg exercises. You'd actually be surprised how much stronger you'll come back.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
Doesn't sound like it would hurt to take a week off of all leg exercises. You'd actually be surprised how much stronger you'll come back.

I second this especially if you just started out. Also, continuous muscle fatigue (not just day-3 days after) is a good warning from your body. If you push yourself to injury you will be out for a while. Taking a week off won't hurt *if* and a big IF you make sure you come back with the same intensity. It is way way way too easy to take a week off....than a few more days...than another week..than a month....ect

 

[imported_Imp]

I've noticed the biggest changes when I take time off. You're actually suppose to give your muscles 1-2 days off depending on how long those specific muscles take to heal.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Imp
I've noticed the biggest changes when I take time off. You're actually suppose to give your muscles 1-2 days off depending on how long those specific muscles take to heal.

Well, I lift in an A-B-A-B-etc schedule, MWF and I've stuck to that pretty religiously (one miss in 10+ weeks). So, I squat every other day, and the rest of the exercises get 3+ days off in between.

I don't know if it's mental or what, but I always feel worse when I go for [long] stretches without lifting. If I'm gone for two weeks or something, it always makes me feel weak. It's possible a lot of that is in my head; just feeling guilty and all.

But I've decided to give my legs a little break next week, so I'll letcha all know how I feel the week after that.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Squat every other day? Try every 3-4 days and use heavier weight.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
Squat every other day? Try every 3-4 days and use heavier weight.

The program he is Rippetoe's Starting Strength.

Workout A Squat, Bench, Power Cleans

Workout B Squat, OH Press, Deadlifts

Alternating M-W-F.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Take a week off. Sounds like you're approaching something like CNS fatigue. How's your mind clarity and such? I was having similar problems when I ran into that.

 

[paulxcook]

If it were me I would try a week off. But I really don't understand why your squats are lagging behind so much compared to your deadlift and especially your bench. In reading your journal I think you may be stressing form too much, if that is possible. Or you could take a week off from the cardio and beach activity and see how you feel.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
If it were me I would try a week off. But I really don't understand why your squats are lagging behind so much compared to your deadlift and especially your bench. In reading your journal I think you may be stressing form too much, if that is possible. Or you could take a week off from the cardio and beach activity and see how you feel.

Well, squats aren't lagging bench. I've done bench press, in some form or another, for 15 years. I've done squats probably 50 times in my entire life, counting the workout journal. (I've done deadlifts, in case you're wondering, maybe 32 times in my entire life).

So bench just had a massive, MASSIVE head start.

I'm going up 10 pounds a time on deadlifts because it feels comfortable, and I think I can do it.

I'm going up 5 pounds a time with squats because it's hard. And, frankly, it's been "hard" for the last however many workouts (probably since about 160 or so) so maybe it's like leg press, where it's difficult but you can sorta do an arbitrary amount of weight. What I mean is, maybe it's "hard", but the level of hardness won't increase, whether I'm doing 175 or 225.

But I'll certainly find out when I get there. Even going up 5 pounds a workout means 15 pounds a week. Assuming I don't actually stall (i.e. the answer to your question isn't just "my legs are fucking weak" -- which they very much might be) then I'll be at 225 in a month. 3 weeks to get there, and my 1 week off.

I can wait that long.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I told myself to push through it too, scootermaster, and then I got caught about halfway there with a ridiculous surge of fatigue, soreness, lack of mental clarity, lethargy, etc. You really should take a week off from all lifting starting now, dude. Plus, you're going up 15 pounds a week... That sounds pretty excessive. On a good week, I used to go up 10 pounds. 15 pounds is too much. You're destroying your legs too much. Your body needs to adapt to the weight through both composition and nervous "reconstruction." You need to go slower or you're gonna hurt yourself, man.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
I told myself to push through it too, scootermaster, and then I got caught about halfway there with a ridiculous surge of fatigue, soreness, lack of mental clarity, lethargy, etc. You really should take a week off from all lifting starting now, dude. Plus, you're going up 15 pounds a week... That sounds pretty excessive. On a good week, I used to go up 10 pounds. 15 pounds is too much. You're destroying your legs too much. Your body needs to adapt to the weight through both composition and nervous "reconstruction." You need to go slower or you're gonna hurt yourself, man.

See, this is funny....

You've got that crt45435435345 kid telling me to keep going, Mr. Cook wondering why I don't squat more (and telling me I'm *too* worried about form) and then you telling me to take a week off, entirely.

The 15 pounds a week thing is a little deceptive. Lest we forget, I started at 95 or something pounds. Maybe it was 75. I don't really remember. That's absurdly low for someone who weighs 200+ pounds and is fit. So I had to play catch up, but I wanted to make sure my body got used to the motion and all that.

But now that I feel it has, it's getting hard. Which it's supposed to. It's not calling "playing out", it's called "working out".

But don't worry...I'm going to rest. I can tell I need it.

 

[paulxcook]

Notice I also said that if it were me I would take a week off. I can't tell if you are offended by what I said, but you shouldn't be. Just about everyone has the most strength in deads, then squats, then bench. Your squat IS lagging behind the other two lifts. The reason being that you've been benching forever but only just recently started squatting. I didn't know that, which is why I asked. Again I can't tell exactly what your attitude is since this is just text on a forum, but if you don't appreciate my suggestion that you might be too focused on form (which you even said yourself is true, because you aren't pushing your knees as far forward as you thought, so now you can focus more on getting the weight up), then why ask for advice?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
I told myself to push through it too, scootermaster, and then I got caught about halfway there with a ridiculous surge of fatigue, soreness, lack of mental clarity, lethargy, etc. You really should take a week off from all lifting starting now, dude. Plus, you're going up 15 pounds a week... That sounds pretty excessive. On a good week, I used to go up 10 pounds. 15 pounds is too much. You're destroying your legs too much. Your body needs to adapt to the weight through both composition and nervous "reconstruction." You need to go slower or you're gonna hurt yourself, man.

See, this is funny....

You've got that crt45435435345 kid telling me to keep going, Mr. Cook wondering why I don't squat more (and telling me I'm *too* worried about form) and then you telling me to take a week off, entirely.

The 15 pounds a week thing is a little deceptive. Lest we forget, I started at 95 or something pounds. Maybe it was 75. I don't really remember. That's absurdly low for someone who weighs 200+ pounds and is fit. So I had to play catch up, but I wanted to make sure my body got used to the motion and all that.

But now that I feel it has, it's getting hard. Which it's supposed to. It's not calling "playing out", it's called "working out".

But don't worry...I'm going to rest. I can tell I need it.

Well, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which one to listen to since only one of us is getting a degree in a related field (aka me with my exercise biology major). I'm kidding since both these guys know well enough what to do. However, I'm unsure as to if they've had the same experience as you and I. I can relate in the aspect that I know what you're feeling and that I desperately needed a break. A week off won't hurt you anyways. It'll give you some time off and you'll come back stronger anyhow It's win-win dude My solution wins.

 

[Red Dawn]

On one hand you can work through it, risk nagging injuries and eventually have to take time off due to those injuries which could take a lot longer than a week or two or you can take a week off now, heal and recuperate and come back stronger with renewed energy from the well deserved rest.