Miss a day of rest = serious regression?

[LCN]

I have to go out of town for 2 days for Christmas and won't have access to the gym at that time.

So I decided to adjust my workout schedule by turning my 2 day rest period into a 1 day rest period. This way I could workout the morning of the 24th and have my two off days while out of town.

So at this point my schedule has been xxOxOxOxOxO (x = off day).

Anyway when I did my workout today I regressed big time.

My squat work sets were 2/2/2 instead of the 5/5/5 I was shooting for. My bench was 4/2/2 whereas last time I did 5/3/3 at the same weight.

My deadlift was 1 rep (technically 0 reps because my grip failed before I could lock out). I had previously done 2 reps with this weight.

Could all this be due to missing one rest day?


Unfortunately the diagnosis is complicated by two things -

(1) I deliberately lowered my carbs yesterday, the day before my workout, because I'm trying to lose a little fat. Still I consumed about 80 carbs, equivalent to about 7 cups of milk plus some vegetables. This is nowhere near ketosis. Previously I had been consuming about 170g carbs per day.

(2) I am recovering from a cold (today was probably the last day of it). However the cold was not that bad and I have worked out twice during it with ok results.


I know it's tempting to say "it's a combination of all three", but I want to know if that's really true, because I would like to keep my carbs down. I am simply getting too fat. Would be a shame if I mistakenly attributed this to the lowered carbs.

(Also I know going sub-GOMAD is not optimal for strength gain, but I felt like a compromise was in order.)

[Mark Rippetoe]

I think it's a combination of all three, really.

[fluxboy]

Also, if I could venture some experiences ...

It sounds like you are micro-managing your life around working out. While this sort of dedication is commendable, I have found that it is both impractical and unnecessary for the lifter who just wants to get big and strong. This isn't rocket science, and our bodies are pretty versatile. If something comes up, and you can't lift for a week or two, your muscles will not disappear. And you might even benefit from it.

Over the course of a year, I'd argue there are negligible differences in results from one who averages a strict 3x/week, and one who averages, say, 2.5/week. However, the latter who trains regularly, but still allows flexibility, will likely keep with it. Feeling you have to get to the gym every two days, particularly over the Christmas holidays, is not a long term plan for success.

I, for example, might be heading off to the oil patch soon. I'll be in the field for two weeks straight, then have a third week off. And I'll continue to get bigger and stronger, only working out one week out of three. Of course it's not ideal, but I hope it helps demonstrate how versatile heavy lifting and eating can be.

So eat and lift like a viking, hibernate like a bear, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Best,
Flux

(ps I find your carb counting alarming)