Author Topic: Smartest way to act when you go back to the gym after being sick for a week.  (Read 1055 times)

proxi

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Hey people was wondering I was sick for 7 days lying in bed with the flu, fever and all that comes with that shit, first time in years. They say the harder they come the harder they fall  ;)
Would it  not be the wises move to train two days easy, for example today chest, quads, shoulders, triceps 50-60% max, 8-12 reps,  just focusing on concentration on the muscles  and getting the feel back. 
Tomorrow back, traps, biceps and hamstring. Rest for one day and then start with the normal schedule. Starting on the chest and triceps.
What do you guys think, would appreciate your thoughts and advices in this.

garebear

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Full body workout followed by a ten mile run.
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Big-C

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I had fever for a week about a month ago... After the fever broke I went in the Gym. Not the greatest idea... bottom line is that the one week fever equaled abouttwo weeks from gym.

pumpster

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I'm about to do exactly the same today, after being off for a week with a cold.

IMO if it's 1.5-2 weeks or more, you should do exactly what you posted, use moderate intensity for the first days until the muscles are used to it again. If you go harder you're only going to be sore as hell the days after that, and will have to wait longer to do the next workout.

In this case of only a week off, i think that you can go close to or at full intensity; even if you're sore it won't be as bad as with a longer layoff. The only thing that might hold you back is if you don't quite have the same endurance or energy after being off, but sometimes it's the opposite due to all the pent-up energy.

proxi

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Thanks for the advices Big-C and pumpster. I went to the gym today and man oh man you have lost some power, found it out immediately when I was racking the bench with 20 kg that it was not as light picking the 20kg up as usual. But you feel great afterwards although you cant wait until you finish the workout, because you dont like being this weak when you train ;)
Now it is back, traps, biceps and hamstring tomorrow and then we can start to grow again ;)
Hope you all stay healthy

pumpster

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Thanks for the advices Big-C and pumpster. I went to the gym today and man oh man you have lost some power, found it out immediately when I was racking the bench with 20 kg that it was not as light picking the 20kg up as usual.

Ya i could never train a muscle only once a week because that's what happens to me, i'm no longer in the groove and don't lift as much with a week off.

Besides which, no one really needs a week to recover, that's just a particular way of thinking. The recovery period gets shorter the more often a muscle's hit within the usual boundries; 3-4 days in between workouts is fine.