Gym Questions

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During the late December Holiday I took a week off from lifting in order to spend time with family and assist with Holiday activities. This was also due to the fact that the gym I attend was closed for a few days as well during the Holiday. Now that I am back, I've noticed a bit of an issue with my gym routine. One muscle group is failing consistently while the others are essentially at the same strength level from the week before. My chest (pectorals, etc..) feels weaker than before I left and I am finding myself in situations where I'm not even sure I can complete a rep amount that was standard before.

My questions are:

1. Is this normal or typical if one were to take a week off?
2. Should I drop the weight or reps and just deal with the setback?
3. Should I allow more time for my chest to rest? I've been lifting without much of a break since early fall.

Any tips from people who attend and use the gym regularly?

After only a week off from not lifting, I would think strength would stay about the same. Even if you were overtraining before, I would think a week off would be enough. If it was me I would just deal with the setback. What other option is there?

I had a couple of weeks off from the holiday. I did as much as I could stand so I'd be sore and build the muscle back. Still sore... -_-

A week off shouldn't have any effects on strength or tone, but other things such as a temporary change in eating habits, sleep patterns, or catching a flu bug could absolutely affect your strength in as little as a few days. Maybe; just maybe, a little extra soreness the day after the first day back at the gym, would be normal.

In any case, I'd just resume normal lifting plans, and let the soreness run it's course, as long as it's not something abnormally sore. Pain = gain

Charles

Thank you everyone for your replies and advice!

I was concerned that I would fall into a downward trend with my progress but it seems like this may just be natural or a bit of a strange fluke. I will continue to try to reach expected rep and set maxes and even if I have problems I won't give up.