I heard its good to stop weight training for a week after a long period of weight training to give your muscles a break. Is this true? If so, after how long and for how long?

because i do a split routine, i allow parts of my body rest at most, 2 days, or 1, depending on everyone else. you need to take least a day off in a week

if ur body feels bitter/hurt , rest for more than that time.

I have not been very strict with the breaks, though, I try to take 2 weeks off every 3 months.

When I go to the gym, look at my training diary and think "Oh my God, I have to do all these excercises", I know it is time to take a break or change the plan a bit.

I train hard for 4 weeks or so then take one week of active rest. I also do a upper/lower split so that helps too. Your cns has to recover and rest is critical for making gains.

Generally, a week off every 2 or 3 months great. Cardio is ok, but keep away from lifting completely.

high intensity phases followed by high volume ophases works well and gives you the recovery you need or work in blocks of say 4 weeks and increase int for 3 weeks until at max wt then deload with about 70% on week 4 and start again...like i said in an earlier post, not every session needs to be max wt or effort, recovery sessions are very important...i do 3 recovery type sessions a week and 4 regular sessions...the increases weejkly vol can also be enough to off set any breakdowns with food during the week...sometimes i train more so i can eat something crap

Thanks for the advice. I'm coming up on 2 months now of consistant excercise following a 4 day schedule and I think I will take a week off soon and change up my routine.