{"id":1848985,"date":"2023-02-16T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T13:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1848985"},"modified":"2023-02-16T08:11:49","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T13:11:49","slug":"turning-an-off-day-into-a-muscle-growth-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/turning-an-off-day-into-a-muscle-growth-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning an Off Day Into a Muscle Growth Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fturning-an-off-day-into-a-muscle-growth-day%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1848985&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<div class=\"lightbox-wrapper\"><a class=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c237c483b88156832e53f1e7077514597c6651bf.jpeg\" data-download-href=\"\/uploads\/short-url\/rI86Sclah8XRzvHgUIoigDqy6ZN.jpeg?dl=1\" title=\"Growth Day\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c237c483b88156832e53f1e7077514597c6651bf_2_690x282.jpeg\" alt=\"Growth Day\" data-base62-sha1=\"rI86Sclah8XRzvHgUIoigDqy6ZN\" width=\"690\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c237c483b88156832e53f1e7077514597c6651bf_2_690x282.jpeg, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c237c483b88156832e53f1e7077514597c6651bf.jpeg 1.5x, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c237c483b88156832e53f1e7077514597c6651bf.jpeg 2x\" data-dominant-color=\"685A47\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/a><\/div>\n<h3>\nHow to train smarter and rest harder<\/h3>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Are your gains stagnant? Are you not making the progress that you want? It might not be your exercise. It may be your rest days\u2026 or lack thereof. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>\nOn Off Days, Build More Muscle<\/h3>\n<p>How you manage your off days can have a huge impact on your ability to build muscle mass and become stronger. For the dedicated lifter, the problem isn\u2019t that you take an occasional rest day. The problem is that you don\u2019t take ENOUGH rest days, and you don\u2019t time them wisely in your training week.<\/p>\n<p>Iron addicts may find the off days a torture. For many, a rest day makes them feel like they\u2019re slacking off, so they train six or even seven days per week. However, the most common training day for the best strength athletes or bodybuilders is four days per week. Sometimes, it&#8217;s five. (An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.t-nation.com\/training\/news-best-workout-split-every-other-day\/\">every-other-day split<\/a> may even be better.)<\/p>\n<p>Those training six or seven days a week tend to progress at a slower pace than those hitting the gym four to five days a week. There are exceptions, but unless you\u2019re genetically gifted, you should base your training decisions on the most widely successful approach, not on the exception.<\/p>\n<h3>\nIt\u2019s a Growth Day, Not an Off Day<\/h3>\n<p>Change your thinking like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Think \u201cstimulation days\u201d instead of training days.<\/li>\n<li>Think \u201cgrowth days\u201d instead of rest days.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you take a rest\/growth day, you build more muscle, replenish glycogen stores more easily, and let the nervous system get back to its optimal working state. This will help you grow faster, but it\u2019ll also improve your performance on the day you get back to the gym.<\/p>\n<p>During your off days, crucial things happen that make it easier to grow and get stronger. Your body has limited resources. And if you invest more resources in a workout instead of resting, you\u2019ll have fewer available to fuel adaptation and growth.<\/p>\n<p>During rest days, you devote more of your resources to growth and repair. Your nervous, immune, and hormonal systems also get back to a situation conducive to growth and performance. If you\u2019re well rested, you\u2019ll be able to perform at a higher level and do more volume, both of which will make the session more effective.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowth days\u201d make you grow directly by allowing you to recover. They make you grow indirectly by allowing you to put a greater stimulation on your body during your workouts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"lightbox-wrapper\"><a class=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c87881db403e775b58fb40c6c265488c81d4c30c.jpeg\" data-download-href=\"\/uploads\/short-url\/sBrG8Ic2itcEkHEL1XOs0iSeug4.jpeg?dl=1\" title=\"Bodybuilding Diet\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c87881db403e775b58fb40c6c265488c81d4c30c_2_689x388.jpeg\" alt=\"Bodybuilding Diet\" data-base62-sha1=\"sBrG8Ic2itcEkHEL1XOs0iSeug4\" width=\"689\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c87881db403e775b58fb40c6c265488c81d4c30c_2_689x388.jpeg, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c87881db403e775b58fb40c6c265488c81d4c30c_2_1033x582.jpeg 1.5x, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/c87881db403e775b58fb40c6c265488c81d4c30c.jpeg 2x\" data-dominant-color=\"906D60\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<h3>\nA Big Nutrition Mistake<\/h3>\n<p>Ask people what they do for nutrition during their off days and most will tell you they lower calorie or carb intake. (Heck, I\u2019ve even recommended it in the past.) It\u2019s a common recommendation, but it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n<p>People think that since they won\u2019t be training and burning as much fuel, they shouldn\u2019t consume the same amount of carbs, or else they risk gaining fat. If your goal is STRICTLY fat loss, there may be some value to this. But if you\u2019re looking to build as much muscle and strength as possible, see your off days as days where you\u2019re trying to do everything you can to maximize growth and performance, not days where you don\u2019t do anything. Think of your time off as an investment.<\/p>\n<p>With this in mind, what should you do nutrition-wise? Cut carbs and calories, leaving you with muscles that aren\u2019t fully replenished with muscle glycogen and leaving you unable to take advantage of the anabolic properties of insulin? No! Do the opposite.<\/p>\n<h3>\nHow to Accelerate Growth Day Gains<\/h3>\n<p>Insulin is the most anabolic hormone in the body. It shuts down catabolism (protein breakdown or muscle wasting) and ramps up anabolism \u2013 protein synthesis or building muscle. It also activates mTor, which triggers muscle growth and increases glucose storage inside the muscles. Muscles being full of glycogen is itself anabolic. As a bonus, a fuller muscle is a stronger muscle.<\/p>\n<p>If your goal is maximum muscle growth and strength gains, it\u2019s important to consume plenty of quality carbs and protein during those off\/growth days. See each growth day as the only day in the week where the body is allowed to build muscle. If that were the case, what would you do on that day to make sure that you get every possible ounce of muscle growth? Certainly not lower your calorie or carb intake!<\/p>\n<p>At the very least, keep calorie and carb intakes the same or increase them a bit. I\u2019d also increase protein intake slightly to take advantage of the more anabolic state. <a href=\"https:\/\/biotest.t-nation.com\/products\/mag-10\">Mag-10\u00ae<\/a> pulsing would be perfect for this. I simply add three Mag-10\u00ae servings of \u201cpulses\u201d to my regular protein intake on these days.<\/p>\n<h3>\nHow Many Growth Days Per Week?<\/h3>\n<p>Most people should train four days per week. For a normal person, four HARD sessions per week are about all that can be done. Sure, training more often is possible, but it would require the careful and precise use of training days with a much lower stress level. I don\u2019t like these because I always feel like I have to restrain myself and \u201ctrain with the brakes on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you like to go balls-out, four training days a week is the best option to start with. That leaves us with three rest\/growth days per week. Occasionally doing five sessions per week is fine, which would leave us with two rest\/growth days. But this isn\u2019t the ideal long-term solution.<\/p>\n<h3>\nWhere Do You Place Growth Days?<\/h3>\n<p><strong><strong>One rule:<\/strong><\/strong> Avoid taking two days off in a row. Performance tends to be flat after two days of rest and the quality of the workout always suffers. So here\u2019s the best option for three growth days and four training days in a week without having two days off in a row:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Monday:<\/strong><\/strong> Training Day 1<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Tuesday:<\/strong><\/strong> Training Day 2<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Wednesday:<\/strong><\/strong> Growth Day 1<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Thursday:<\/strong><\/strong> Training Day 3<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Friday:<\/strong><\/strong> Growth Day 2<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Saturday:<\/strong><\/strong> Training Day 4<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Sunday:<\/strong><\/strong> Growth Day 3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\nHow Do You Structure Training Days?<\/h3>\n<p>Make the heaviest days Thursday and Saturday. These are the days when performance should be at its highest. On Monday, in theory, you could also go super heavy, but since you have a second training day in a row, we don\u2019t want lingering neural fatigue. Make Monday a challenging session but not as heavy as Thursday and Saturday. It can have a bit more volume, however.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday is the training day that should be the lightest \u2013 understanding that light is relative \u2013 with the highest volume. Another option is to train your lagging muscle group(s) with higher volume on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of the split you\u2019re using, here\u2019s my recommendation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Monday:<\/strong><\/strong> Moderate Loading and Volume<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Tuesday:<\/strong><\/strong> Highest Training Volume<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Wednesday:<\/strong><\/strong> Growth Day 1<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Thursday:<\/strong><\/strong> Heavy Training<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Friday:<\/strong><\/strong> Growth Day 2<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Saturday:<\/strong><\/strong> Heavy Training<\/li>\n<li>\n<strong><strong>Sunday:<\/strong><\/strong> Growth Day 3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\nDon\u2019t Focus On The Wrong Things<\/h3>\n<p>The only thing that matters with training is getting results. Period. That\u2019s how you evaluate how good a job you\u2019re doing. Sadly, I see more and more people taking pride in other things \u2013 the amount of work done being at the top of the list.<\/p>\n<p>It goes like this: Joe is passionate about training. He reads everything he can find and desperately want to earn the respect of other gym rats. But Joe isn\u2019t really muscular, nor is he strong. And his training doesn\u2019t seem to be giving him the gains he\u2019d like.<\/p>\n<p>So Joe begins to train more and more. At first, it\u2019s in the hope of getting more results, but eventually, doing more work becomes his new goal. Joe isn\u2019t getting more results, but he prides himself on training harder and more often than any other person.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a vicious circle because he\u2019s killing his gains by training too much. But by now his only source of pride is how much work he can do\u2026 and then he gets hurt.<\/p>\n<p>Listen, if you want maximum growth and progress, you need those rest\/growth days. Becoming a stimulus addict, refusing to take days off, and piling on volume will just leave you frustrated and likely injured.<\/p>\n<div class=\"lightbox-wrapper\"><a class=\"lightbox\" href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/df42927c1629547b3887593a76e00302093bc317.jpeg\" data-download-href=\"\/uploads\/short-url\/vR36AfgA5d38GVi9doKndBDx9Xx.jpeg?dl=1\" title=\"Build-Muscle\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/df42927c1629547b3887593a76e00302093bc317_2_689x388.jpeg\" alt=\"Build-Muscle\" data-base62-sha1=\"vR36AfgA5d38GVi9doKndBDx9Xx\" width=\"689\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/df42927c1629547b3887593a76e00302093bc317_2_689x388.jpeg, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/df42927c1629547b3887593a76e00302093bc317_2_1033x582.jpeg 1.5x, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/df42927c1629547b3887593a76e00302093bc317.jpeg 2x\" data-dominant-color=\"353239\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<h3>\nInvest in the Next Workout<\/h3>\n<p>Let\u2019s pretend that Friday you have a competition or a physical test. You have to have a great performance \u2013 either lifting heavy or being able to do a ton of high-quality work. You know you\u2019ll be judged on your performance that day. What will you do the day before?<\/p>\n<p>Will you go running on Thursday? Will you do hill sprints? Will you pump up your shoulders? Of course not. You wouldn\u2019t put your body through any fatigue that might interfere with your performance on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>THAT\u2019S how you need to see your rest\/growth days and workouts. At each workout, you need to perform at the highest possible level. On your rest\/growth days, you need to do everything you can to put your body in the best possible situation to perform at the highest level. That holds true for your nutrition, <a href=\"https:\/\/biotest.t-nation.com\/products\/mag-10\">supplementation<\/a>, and training.<\/p>\n<p>Growth days make the magic happen: building more muscle and preparing your body to perform the next day.<\/p>\n<h3>\nTrigger, Recover, Grow<\/h3>\n<p>Training really is that simple: the workout is there to trigger the biochemical responses that tell your body to adapt and grow. Once that\u2019s been triggered, doing more will simply deplete resources.<\/p>\n<p>When you\u2019ve triggered the right response, just allow the changes to occur without disturbing the processes. Yes, changes can still occur on days that you train, but for a maximal response you need to train super hard and then do everything you can to speed up recovery on the growth days.<\/p>\n<p>While suboptimal workouts might occur due to unplanned life events, they should never happen because you were under-recovered from your previous workouts. Remember, the big problem with under-recovery is that it builds up. You might only cause a small deficit in recovery at each workout, but it\u2019ll accumulate quickly. When it does, you can kiss your gains goodbye!<\/p>\n<p>Train smarter. Rest harder.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>First of all, thanks!<br \/>I train EOD and am not good at recovery. On these growth days I do little cardio, like 20 m skipping rope and some abs, or some running. Do you consider this a training? Or where to put them in this case, at the end of the training days?<br \/>Thanks again.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Anything that is intense enough to cause a physical improvement is training, not rest.<\/p>\n<p>You rest by doing less not by doing more.<\/p>\n<p>Active recovery is misunderstood by most: the moment the activity level becomes even slightly demanding, it INCREASES recovery needs, it doesn\u2019t speed up recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Walking is fine. Stuff like yoga is likely fine. Mobility work, within reason, is fine.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<aside class=\"quote no-group\" data-username=\"xango\" data-post=\"2\" data-topic=\"281132\">\n<div class=\"title\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/avatars.discourse-cdn.com\/v4\/letter\/x\/dfb087\/40.png\" class=\"avatar\" \/> xango:<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>am not good at recovery<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s not that you are not good at recovery. Is that the stuff you do on your \u201cdays off\u201d is an additional stress, it\u2019s not recovery.<\/p>\n<p>Now, it\u2019s not as stressful as what you do on your regular training days, but it is still training stress that you need to recover from.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<aside class=\"quote group-Elite_Coaches\" data-username=\"Christian_Thibaudeau\" data-post=\"1\" data-topic=\"281132\">\n<div class=\"title\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" src=\"https:\/\/sea2.discourse-cdn.com\/tnation\/user_avatar\/forums.t-nation.com\/christian_thibaudeau\/40\/25809_2.png\" class=\"avatar\" \/> Christian_Thibaudeau:<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Remember, the big problem with under-recovery is that it builds up. You might only cause a small deficit in recovery at each workout, but it\u2019ll accumulate quickly. When it does, you can kiss your gains goodbye!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p>it\u2019s says all .  can\u2019t clarify,define better . thank you<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>In that case, if I want to have some cardio sessions like running, is it better to do it after training on the same day, or maybe to skip one training day and make cardio out of it? Or maybe just to end the training in a metcon fashion?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>What are your goals with the running? That may help him with advice. Do you love running, are you trying to improve your heart health, do you have weight loss goals, is it about sports conditioning, etc?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Right, no info supplied, sorry.<br \/>I like to run, and to hike as well &#8211; both at a low effort level. I also want to keep my heart healthy. 45 yo, low fat level, I started few years ago with weight lifting. I went from 60 to 72 kg in that period; if I gain some more muscle will be good, but not my main target, I focus more on strength. I train EOD, lift specific.<br \/>I also do yoga everyday, very relaxed one (Yin yoga), no stress at all.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>It really depends on you. How you are recovering.<\/p>\n<p>Some people can do fairly demanding physical activity every day. Others will need 2 days COMPLETELY off per week others will need 4 days COMPLETELY OFF per week.<\/p>\n<p>I cannot give you a universal answer.<\/p>\n<p>Some people will get a lot of central fatigue both from cardio and lifting. Others only get fatigue from lifting others only from cardio.<\/p>\n<p>Now, yoga is doable. But it\u2019s a mistake to think that it doesn\u2019t impose any stress at all on the body. Stress doesn\u2019t mean being stressed. In a training context it means challenging your body so that it becomes better. If your yoga improves some physical capacity (including mobility) it represents a training stress. The fact that you are feeling zen and relaxed afterwards doesn\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s low stress mind you, which is why I told you that it can be done on off days. But if you are doing it daily, it certainly increases your overall physical stress over the week.<\/p>\n<p>The thing is figuring it out how many TRUE rest days you need to feel good. And then divide all the work you want to do among those days.<\/p>\n<p>But be aware that it might be unrealistic to want to do all of what you want to do and recover optimally. You might have to take something out or decrease the amount that you do.<\/p>\n<p>Now, yes, there are better times than others to do some of the training types that you do. But the first step is figuring out what will be the optimal training to off days ratio for you.<\/p>\n<p>From experience, most people should train around 4 days a week. Meaning 3 days completely off (except walking, mobility work, yoga if you are not doing it on the other days). You might be good with 5 days. But very few people should have more than 5 training days per week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Hey Coach,<\/p>\n<p>Great Read thanks can playing a Sport in the same day as the workout day could cause also Fatigue since I am not that good with recovery since I always feel best on a one day on one day off and feel my best when in the lifting day I only recover and on the next of day I do the sport which is like cardio or that could be also stressing me out<\/p>\n<p>Thanks<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Hi! Great article!<br \/>Do you have any preferable carbs to fat ratio? I always keep prots at 1\/1.2g per pounds.<br \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/emoji.discourse-cdn.com\/apple\/v.png?v=12\" title=\":v:\" class=\"emoji only-emoji\" alt=\":v:\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" \/><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>I\u2019m currently on week 3 of your Best Damn Workout Plan for Natural Lifters Part 2 sequence. You really stress that the most optimal way to follow the plan is to workout 6 days. Based off what you know now, is 5 days better? I\u2019m a 50 year old lifter and even though it\u2019s a strenuous program, it\u2019s been an extremely effective program in terms of strength and size.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>This is great.  As some others have stated, I train every other day (Jay Ferruggia training program), and appreciate \u2018what to do when you aren\u2019t training\u2019.  The example of participating in a competition on a Friday was outstanding<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Last year I remember you suggesting that one could do multiple sets with the same weight but really challenge yourself on the last one! Wouldn\u2019t those additional non failure sets of the same weight be interpreted as junk sets tapping into your recovery? Or can they be used as part of the necessary volume for hypertrophy? The reason I ask is because on some exercise mostly big compounds I notice that I can do more reps on the last set of the same weight, it\u2019s like the others were part of a warm up! Weird! By the way I am 67 so I am thinking just maybe my aging body needs that kind of warm ups.<\/p>\n<p>Philippe<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Great article coach &#8211;  and a valuable REMINDER for us iron addicts.  I actually made my best gains when I was working out every 3 days.  Full body &#8211; basic lifts &#8211; lots of weight &#8211; rest 2 whole days and then hit it again.  Training LESS is difficult &#8211; because the \u201cmust train hard and frequently\u201d paradigm is becoming more popular these days and many of us have a \u201chard work\u201d ethic.  Having a great home gym I  have to stop myself from wanting to lift something every time I walk by the power rack.  I like your advice to eat quality carbs even on off days &#8211; makes a lot of sense.  Hearken back to the \u201cold days\u201d when 2-day\/week regimen was highly suggested for big gains &#8211; that seems to have gotten lost in the newer training ideas.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>How does this interact with training splits? If I normally do legs\/push\/pull\/shoulders on four separate days, should that be it for the week if I train balls out? Or does the fact that each muscle group is getting several days of rest between workouts mean that I should keep it at 5-6 days a week? (4 split\/1 rest\/repeat)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Coach, thanks for the article. Always enjoy your point of view either on TNATION or THIBARMY. How does your position on Growth and Stimulation days impact ideas around Neural Charge Workouts? Would you simply include them on Stimulation days, and leave them out of Growth days?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post\" itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Thanks for posting. All your articles and posts provide the best, basic information, in the easiest way to understand and apply. I appreciate how you also anticipate the arguments and address them. And yes, off days can be torture for iron addicts\u2026and the iron addicts will always find a way to self sabotage the best advice <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/emoji.discourse-cdn.com\/apple\/joy.png?v=12\" title=\":joy:\" class=\"emoji\" alt=\":joy:\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" \/>\u2026\u201cI will just walk at a really slow pace on off days\u2026for three hours\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to train smarter and rest harder Are your gains stagnant? Are you not making the progress that you want? It might not be your exercise. It may be your rest days\u2026 or lack thereof. Here\u2019s why. On Off Days, Build More Muscle How you manage your off days can have a huge impact on &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1848988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[7660,10597,11399],"class_list":["post-1848985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-day","tag-growth","tag-muscle"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1848985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1848985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1848988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1848985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1848985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1848985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}