stronglifts on hiatus

[ebm1224]

this past week has been crazy and my fitness/diet have suffered because of it. the last time i worked out was tuesday and i've eaten fast food for a few meals this week. not fabulous.

but! i'm planning to go to the gym on saturday to do stronglifts.

so, my question: since it's been more than the standard 1-2 days between workouts, should i increase the weight as per usual with the program? or should i keep it where it was last time?

on a related note, i will be out of town for 4-5 days next week and will not have access to a gym. depending on the situation (going to see the boyfriend's family so i'm not really sure what the plans are once we get there. and i don't know the area at all), i will try and do a bit of running (working on my 5k goal) and some bodyweight stuff.

but! when i get back in town, how should i go about getting back into stronglifts? are there things i can do to not lose my momentum?

thanks for the advice!

[Guest Snake McClain]

keep where you were last time. so if normally it's tuesday, thurs, saturday for you. Just act as if this saturday is thursday.

Good for you for not letting your distractions get the best of you. Get back on track and get at it. How to stay motivated??? I dunno. I am movitvated by being in there so I can't answer that one.

[wildross]

What Bruce said. < 1 week, I just repeat the last day. > 1 week, back off a bit.

[notanartmajor]

I would increase as normal, a few extra days shouldn't make any physical difference. The trick is, don't psyche yourself into thinking it's some insurmountable weight. It isn't. Heck, the extra rest probably means you'll do better than you expect.

[oystergirl]

I think that you need to listen to your body. If you get into the gym and you are feeling freaking awesome, go for it...if you are not, then just go with where you were which is better than not doing anything at all. Stress is part of life, but getting guilty about how you react is only going to add more stress and then you get unmotivated. Simply realize you are doing the best you can right now and that each day is a chance to continue in that pattern. Rock it! p.s. body weight on the days away are gonna be great and I am glad you figured out a contingency plan. We are vacationing in a few weeks and while they have a gym, I am going to make sure I take a few body weight routines with me in case the gym is filled with fitness fluff....

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

If its only been 1-2 extra days, I say add weight. I'm actually starting to find that the 1 day to recover isn't quite enough for me and am considering making my Wednesday squats lighter.

Around a week, do what you did last time. I did this for the first day when I came back from vacation. I wouldn't reset until around 2 weeks with nothing. The exception is for sickness. I really had to reset after being sick for a few days.

[Lachy]

I'd say increase if you completed all your reps/sets last time. If it was pretty easy last time, then there's no need to back off. If it was a struggle, but you got through, then your body has simply had a little more time to recover and should be ready for the new load. The time off wasn't enough that you would loose muscle/strength, so no need to tread water and stay in place. But like oystergirl said, most important thing is to listen to your body. Go through your warm up, and see if you feel good.

Durring your time away do the best you can, and when you return just feel out your workout based on your warm ups, but by then maybe don't go up in weight.