How much is too much for a week?

Good topic, ta Alex.
I've added a poll to our Fb page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peak-Performance/6140642631

I usually do a couple of hours cycling per day (my commute) and about 4 hours per week on the climbing wall - but I'm not training for anything specifically at the moment.

Ah same Michael, I cycle everywhere, because I can’t stand being sat in a Car, have one of those attention spans that doesn’t let me keep still for two long. 9/10 I get to the place I’m going before my mates do in the car!

Also helps with general aerobic fitness, one less thing to waste time on at the gym, so can focus on more rugby specific training.

Hey Alex,

With my players/athlets/clients, the total workload reflects the amount of recovery time they can afford. If I have a runner for example who wants to run 50miles a week, i immediately ask can you also allocate sufficient recovery time? If not, don't overload the body!!

Personally, I train most days and employ many different recovery straegies but the top two have to be nutrition and sleep. If they are comprimised at all reduce training volume.

One final consideration is your day job! If you work physically you may be close to overdoing it already versus working at a desk all day may be well short of requirements.

Hope this helps
Joe

Good post, cheers Joe.

Awesome answer Joe will take it back to discuss with my friends. Big believer in recovery myself, and like you said I prioritise with food and sleep (sometime I like sleep too much!) as for job I coach sport all day, always outside and rarely get the chance to sit down, but hey I'm not complaining about it, best job really.

Interesting. I have a friend who is a fitness intsructor she went on hoiiday recentley and had a whole week off training, it was the first time she'd had that long off since she started almost 20 years ago. She said she'd done 30 push ups all week! Her first teaching class back was 'fun', she put us through hell!

'Joe fitness' post is excellent, too much is an imbalance on exercising/playing too much and not allowing enough time for recovery. Depending on your training schedule both your recovery and exercise periods need to be sufficient along with a well planned out nutrition programme

@Christiesgal - your friend that hasn't had a week off training in 20years, that is a bad example of insufficient rest periods. A week off every 8-12 weeks will enable your nervous system as well as your muscles to recover properly.

Hello and welcome Alex. Some interesting points here about how long one should break for without losing condition. I know my auntie who teaches step and other aerobic type classes used to feel blah if she missed more than a couple of days.

Oh I totally agree Alex, I had a week off last week.

As for how long you can take a break without losing fitness, well I was always told that 6 weeks is the maximum break you can take without your muscle memory disappearing.

The most I've ever taken since I started training regularly was 5 weeks and when I went back to it, it was nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be. Just glad I didn't leave it another week!
The thought of having to start again from square one is rather daunting.