Rest question

[denbrkln]

Are the 2 days at the end of the ABA cycle necessary or can you keep going once every 48 hours? I ask because I know programs have to take other things into account, such as when the coach might be available, when training is ideal, etc. Has anyone had success not taking those 2 days off?

[thersites]

There are a lot of variables in this question. How old you are, what other work & exercise you are doing that may effect recovery, your sleep, your eating, etc. If you are young, sleep well, eat a lot of the right foods, and don't do much else, then you might be able to get away with SS without the two days off for a while. Eventually, you will probably find you stall even so. Of course, if there is some good reason to not take both days every once in a while, you'll probably be fine (pay extra attention to the variables above that you can do something about), but it is usually better to regularly get your full recovery to keep the linear progression going as long as you absolutely can.

[Carlos Daniel]

The Program is hard enough as it is.

[Lorem Ipsum]

In PP (page 103) the reasoning behind the 72-hour at the end of the week rest is mostly that it is convenient. That way you work out Mon/Wed/Fri or some such, and the days always stay the same. If you're alternating workouts (i.e. employing the ABAB SS workout) you can train every other day.

If you have the time, motivation, nutrition and sleep enough to train every other day, why not try it? The worst thing that can happen is you find the lifts to be too damn hard and either add back the rest-day or eat more.

[FKYT]

I've run a "every 48 hours" program with some success until recently. Now the squats and deadlifts are getting to be heavy enough where I'd appreciate an extra recovery day. I've just had to reset my squat and will be switching to a 3 day per week program from now on to stay as consistent with the original program design as possible.

[denbrkln]

Thanks for the answers, guys. I ask because I had to take a day off and to get my schedule back on track, I'm going to have to go 5 w/o's without a 3day rest. If I like the results I'll keep doing it.