Hi Jordan, I’m writing to you with a simple question. at the end of this week I will finish week 5 of the hypertrophy I program, I am training almost every day to go as far in the program as possible. I’m extremely satisfied with how things are going so far. Next week I’ll be on vacation for 15 days and won’t have access to a gym. How do you advise me to handle this? Greetings and congratulations for the excellent work.
Hi Luigi,
Thanks for the post. If I’m understanding you currently, you’re lifting more than the 3x/wk programmed within Hypertrophy I in an effort to get further into the program than you otherwise would if “only” lifting 3x/wk. If true, I would recommend stopping this and going back to the program written as it is. Now, you could argue that if you’re doing great, why rock the boat? I’d agree with that to some extent, though I don’t think it’s possible to "know’ how you’re responding to the program if you’ve been using this approach for 1 or 2 weeks. If pressed, I’d recommend running the program as written.
As far as the vacation goes, I don’t think this requires special management. I would just pick the program up at the nearest low stress/pivot week to where you stopped. I would not expect any significant effect of taking 15 days off the gym in a trained individual who is otherwise healthy and being active. Have fun!!!
-Jordan
Thank you very much for the prompt response, Dr Jordan.
I will return to the programm as written and enjoy my vacation, avoiding focusing on the short term.
As you have already mentioned elsewhere, what truly matters is how the training progresses in the long term.