Returning to gym after 5 week break - strength or size?

[arthuritus]

Hi all,

Its been about 5-6 weeks since I was last in a gym. I was doing great with my strength training but then I had exams and then I got sick and then went on holiday and didn't eat.

Upshot is that I've lost 5kg of hard gained muscle and wiped 10% off my lifts.

Now that I'm back in the gym, do I start on strength training to renew all the neuromuscular connections to make my hypertrophy training more effective or do I try to bulk up so my next strength training can target more muscle?

Not sure if that makes sense but I've got a chicken and egg thing going on here. I'm leaning toward hypertrophy because thats my end goal but the combination of higher reps (less weight) and lost strength makes me feel like I've lost months, not weeks.

Also because the general trend I can make out from internet programs seems to be to start with high reps. Not sure if that applies here though.

Thanks in advance.

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

Hi all,

Its been about 5-6 weeks since I was last in a gym. I was doing great with my strength training but then I had exams and then I got sick and then went on holiday and didn't eat.

Upshot is that I've lost 5kg of hard gained muscle and wiped 10% off my lifts.

Now that I'm back in the gym, do I start on strength training to renew all the neuromuscular connections to make my hypertrophy training more effective or do I try to bulk up so my next strength training can target more muscle?

Not sure if that makes sense but I've got a chicken and egg thing going on here. I'm leaning toward hypertrophy because thats my end goal but the combination of higher reps (less weight) and lost strength makes me feel like I've lost months, not weeks.

Also because the general trend I can make out from internet programs seems to be to start with high reps. Not sure if that applies here though.

Thanks in advance.

5kg of muscle lost in 5 weeks? na bro a lot of that is bound to be water if you've dropped the carbs & creatine...

that stuff you read about starting with high reps for beginners is basically to keep beginners using low weights and making sure they focus on doing it right & hammering that form in to muscle memory through repetition. another reason is to help condition the muscles to exercise.

you won't have to go to such extremities such as starting super light again but it may pay to hammer out some higher rep stuff in your first week back just to help see where you're at. also a good time to exaggerate the range of motion and scout how your flexibility levels are - better you find it out now with these light weights than when you're under your strength training weights. the week after that just go by feel, try to push yourself but obviously don't go right back to the exact weights you were using before the break. you probably wanna put in a decent bit of cardio to help your respiratory system out too.

the strength and muscle you lost will come back fast.

[NZresident1]

true bro science there lmfao

You don't say age range so if you just finished exams I take it your 15-20 yrs old.

Look up Anatomical Adaptation training phase, if you have been sick and lost weight from this then it pays to start a new regime from the beginning.

cardio? Why?

Focus on the above and then this will lead into the next phase of Hypertrophy training.

[arthuritus]

Cheers, some good points there.

I've already bounced back 2kg so I guess about 3kg of muscle in 5 weeks is more reasonable.

I'm keen to avoid starting over with the AA phase, its pretty much 3-5 weeks down the drain although of course it would pay for itself many times over if it prevents me from getting injured.

I think what I might do is go for a strength training for the main compound lifts to get the core strength up. I'll Give myself a week or so to ease into it and get my flexibility and everything sorted.

At the same time I'll be working at the high rep end of the hypertrophy range for any other exercises. A bit like an AA phase, only with heavier weights and for less time = )

Feel free to tell me this is ridiculous. Thanks for your input so far.

[NZresident1]

I was doing great with my strength training but then I had exams and then I got sick and then went on holiday and didn't eat.

You answered your own question.

Start at AA this can be used by any level athlete to reboot where you left off.

If it is about the weight your lifting is this your ego getting in the way of your training goal?

Hypertrophy will follow the AA phase so natural attrition will occur.

Smart training always beats out beast training to get your foundation back on track.

Your call.