Deload
imxnianne
Posts: 216 Member
How do you deload? Do you take a week off, or drop weight?
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Replies
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I usually take a week of vacation and incorporate body weight when I can1
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Usually neither.
I personally do a high intensity or a wash out.
Though there is certainly nothing wrong with either option of yours.1 -
Usually I drop the amount of weight and volume, but sometimes I just take the whole week off. Either way is fine.1
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I normally drop weight to ~65% and do lower volume as well for the week; may take an extra 1-2 days off that week too (but for me personally, I don't take the entire week off)1
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There are tons of ways to do it, including the two methods you mention. Here's Mike Israetel's thoughts on the topic
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Thank you everyone for replying. To those trying to reach a new PR, and to those who have tried both and was able to own the weights even more after.. which one was more affective? Did you include more stretching in that week? How was the diet during the week? Are you still eating the same amount, are you doing a surplus that week, or are you eating just a lot healthier.
I’ve taxed my body a bit too far, and it’s time to “deload” from what I’ve researched. My strength has decreased and won’t go up and basically, 2 days recovery isn’t helping much. I really don’t want to take that week off.. and to be honest this will be my first time doing it.
I’m nervous if the week is done and I go back to my 5-3-1 with the weights I’m at, I won’t be able to do it again if I don’t hit those weights hard each time I try. This is why I’m trying to figure out the body’s recovery time.
I appreciate all the advice and suggestions!0 -
Thank you everyone for replying. To those trying to reach a new PR, and to those who have tried both and was able to own the weights even more after.. which one was more affective? Did you include more stretching in that week? How was the diet during the week? Are you still eating the same amount, are you doing a surplus that week, or are you eating just a lot healthier.
I’ve taxed my body a bit too far, and it’s time to “deload” from what I’ve researched. My strength has decreased and won’t go up and basically, 2 days recovery isn’t helping much. I really don’t want to take that week off.. and to be honest this will be my first time doing it.
I’m nervous if the week is done and I go back to my 5-3-1 with the weights I’m at, I won’t be able to do it again if I don’t hit those weights hard each time I try. This is why I’m trying to figure out the body’s recovery time.
I appreciate all the advice and suggestions!
When is the last time you increased volume? That is usually why weight increases stall.
It is well proven that 5/3/1 is probably the second worse program as written for sufficient volume with a good avg intensity hence why most people stall on it. Deadlift is usually the only thing that people report can keep going compared to the others.2 -
Thank you everyone for replying. To those trying to reach a new PR, and to those who have tried both and was able to own the weights even more after.. which one was more affective? Did you include more stretching in that week? How was the diet during the week? Are you still eating the same amount, are you doing a surplus that week, or are you eating just a lot healthier.
I’ve taxed my body a bit too far, and it’s time to “deload” from what I’ve researched. My strength has decreased and won’t go up and basically, 2 days recovery isn’t helping much. I really don’t want to take that week off.. and to be honest this will be my first time doing it.
I’m nervous if the week is done and I go back to my 5-3-1 with the weights I’m at, I won’t be able to do it again if I don’t hit those weights hard each time I try. This is why I’m trying to figure out the body’s recovery time.
I appreciate all the advice and suggestions!
When is the last time you increased volume? That is usually why weight increases stall.
It is well proven that 5/3/1 is probably the second worse program as written for sufficient volume with a good avg intensity hence why most people stall on it. Deadlift is usually the only thing that people report can keep going compared to the others.
Just last week I hit a plateau. I was doing fine going up 5-10bs per week. My body just all of a sudden couldn’t handle the weight and it became more of a struggle doing those weights and less. It was really weird, no matter with recovery days.
I will admit, my food intake was less (due to no appetite, idk why..).. I then ate a lot one day. Next day I tried again, thinking I just needed more food. For some reason, 155 felt like 175 in squats. I was struggling...
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I take a deload week every fourth week. On my compound lifts, I just perform what would be my warmup sets, then my normal accesory work.1
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Thank you everyone for replying. To those trying to reach a new PR, and to those who have tried both and was able to own the weights even more after.. which one was more affective? Did you include more stretching in that week? How was the diet during the week? Are you still eating the same amount, are you doing a surplus that week, or are you eating just a lot healthier.
I’ve taxed my body a bit too far, and it’s time to “deload” from what I’ve researched. My strength has decreased and won’t go up and basically, 2 days recovery isn’t helping much. I really don’t want to take that week off.. and to be honest this will be my first time doing it.
I’m nervous if the week is done and I go back to my 5-3-1 with the weights I’m at, I won’t be able to do it again if I don’t hit those weights hard each time I try. This is why I’m trying to figure out the body’s recovery time.
I appreciate all the advice and suggestions!
When is the last time you increased volume? That is usually why weight increases stall.
It is well proven that 5/3/1 is probably the second worse program as written for sufficient volume with a good avg intensity hence why most people stall on it. Deadlift is usually the only thing that people report can keep going compared to the others.
Just last week I hit a plateau. I was doing fine going up 5-10bs per week. My body just all of a sudden couldn’t handle the weight and it became more of a struggle doing those weights and less. It was really weird, no matter with recovery days.
I will admit, my food intake was less (due to no appetite, idk why..).. I then ate a lot one day. Next day I tried again, thinking I just needed more food. For some reason, 155 felt like 175 in squats. I was struggling...
Will happen 100% of the time at some point if you train a LP style. Hence why training that way HAS to have limitations and just taking a deload will never drive progress in a LP in the long run. 5/3/1 is a glorified LP that can work for a while but it's a really horrible program if we are talking getting the biggest ROI.
Also why more advanced training is necessary.2 -
It might be time to up your calorie intake. Not sure what your weight and body comp goals are, but there comes a point that you can't build muscle unless you fuel your body to make it.1
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Fit_Chef_NE wrote: »It might be time to up your calorie intake. Not sure what your weight and body comp goals are, but there comes a point that you can't build muscle unless you fuel your body to make it.
I totally agree with the calorie intake increase. I just hate seeing my stomach bloat. All my fats in the stomach for the most part, which is totally normal yes. I’m trying to lose bf at the same time. I am for sure am doing the diet wrong at the moment since working 40 hours a week with two children.
My bw: 126.6lbs
Height: 166cm
Bf: 22%
My goal is more for strength but tone. Therefor power building was what I was aiming for. I think that’s the term!
I think I over worked out, going 5x a week for 2 months and working with lack of sleep of 5-6 hours a day. My body can’t recover fast enough for my liking and yes I’m ridiculously pushing it too much.
I just like the adrenaline knowing that strength has increased as it did.
I’m taking it easy at the moment, but appetite for some reason is gone. I still want to go gym, but I’m forcing myself to stay home today and take an extra rest day.
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As you get bigger in mass your body requires more calories, so if you have been progressing really well for awhile but not doing any increase to your calories, that can explain the stalling.
Is your sleep right? Is your calorie intake right? Are you pushing yourself hard enough in your work outs? Those are my 3 questions whenever I start stalling. If you are hitting those 3, then there are lots of things you can try to get back on track.
-Are you mixing it up? Doing the same exercises and same routines will eventually lead to stalling. You're muscles can work in many ways and developing them in only 1 motion isn't optimal. Arnold put it best when he said "Shock the muscle". For me, once week I might do Tricep extensions, and then in the next session maybe I switch it to Tricep pull downs. When my squats start stalling, I can switch to Front Squats for a few weeks. You can also mix up the intensity. Maybe this week start with 3x5 or 5x5 sets with heavy weights, and the next workout take a lot of the weight off and go hard on some 3x10 squats. There's a lot of really good variety out there and you might find some new exercises that you love and really work well with your training.
-Greyskull LP is pretty good for beginners into early intermediate. It uses AMRAP sets to finish out big compounds, this has the function of helping mix it up. When you can't hit at least 5 reps on your AMRAP set you deload 10% and keep going. It's also very customizable and easy to follow. You can be pretty successful with it as a beginner to help break through and set new PR's. I'm sure many here will have their opinions on Greyskull, which you will find with just about any routine. That's not because routines suck or don't work, it's because we all have different bodies. So while it may work for me and you, it might not work for the next person below me.
-Are you getting enough rest and recovery? you said you're only getting 5-6 hours of sleep? That's not going to work well for you. You need a min. of 7 hours for weight lifting and I mean bare min. You should be aiming for 8 hours solid.This one is so important. Muscles don't grow from lifting weights, muscles grow from resting after you lift weights. You can lift till the sun goes down all day long, and if you don't sleep you wont have gained anything. There is more to resting then just sleeping right. When you are lifting heavy weights and doing the big compounds your central nervous system takes a pounding. It needs rest too, and as some others have said on here, taking a week off when you feel worn down can really help a lot. I usually take a full week off about every 6-8 weeks, however everyone is different. Some people take it every 4 weeks, some people can go a whole damn year and never need that week off. You gotta explore a little and find out what works for you.2 -
As you get bigger in mass your body requires more calories, so if you have been progressing really well for awhile but not doing any increase to your calories, that can explain the stalling.
Is your sleep right? Is your calorie intake right? Are you pushing yourself hard enough in your work outs? Those are my 3 questions whenever I start stalling. If you are hitting those 3, then there are lots of things you can try to get back on track.
-Are you mixing it up? Doing the same exercises and same routines will eventually lead to stalling. You're muscles can work in many ways and developing them in only 1 motion isn't optimal. Arnold put it best when he said "Shock the muscle". For me, once week I might do Tricep extensions, and then in the next session maybe I switch it to Tricep pull downs. When my squats start stalling, I can switch to Front Squats for a few weeks. You can also mix up the intensity. Maybe this week start with 3x5 or 5x5 sets with heavy weights, and the next workout take a lot of the weight off and go hard on some 3x10 squats. There's a lot of really good variety out there and you might find some new exercises that you love and really work well with your training.
-Greyskull LP is pretty good for beginners into early intermediate. It uses AMRAP sets to finish out big compounds, this has the function of helping mix it up. When you can't hit at least 5 reps on your AMRAP set you deload 10% and keep going. It's also very customizable and easy to follow. You can be pretty successful with it as a beginner to help break through and set new PR's. I'm sure many here will have their opinions on Greyskull, which you will find with just about any routine. That's not because routines suck or don't work, it's because we all have different bodies. So while it may work for me and you, it might not work for the next person below me.
-Are you getting enough rest and recovery? you said you're only getting 5-6 hours of sleep? That's not going to work well for you. You need a min. of 7 hours for weight lifting and I mean bare min. You should be aiming for 8 hours solid.This one is so important. Muscles don't grow from lifting weights, muscles grow from resting after you lift weights. You can lift till the sun goes down all day long, and if you don't sleep you wont have gained anything. There is more to resting then just sleeping right. When you are lifting heavy weights and doing the big compounds your central nervous system takes a pounding. It needs rest too, and as some others have said on here, taking a week off when you feel worn down can really help a lot. I usually take a full week off about every 6-8 weeks, however everyone is different. Some people take it every 4 weeks, some people can go a whole damn year and never need that week off. You gotta explore a little and find out what works for you.
I’m curious on why one would disagree on this1 -
Thank you everyone for replying. To those trying to reach a new PR, and to those who have tried both and was able to own the weights even more after.. which one was more affective? Did you include more stretching in that week? How was the diet during the week? Are you still eating the same amount, are you doing a surplus that week, or are you eating just a lot healthier.
I’ve taxed my body a bit too far, and it’s time to “deload” from what I’ve researched. My strength has decreased and won’t go up and basically, 2 days recovery isn’t helping much. I really don’t want to take that week off.. and to be honest this will be my first time doing it.
I’m nervous if the week is done and I go back to my 5-3-1 with the weights I’m at, I won’t be able to do it again if I don’t hit those weights hard each time I try. This is why I’m trying to figure out the body’s recovery time.
I appreciate all the advice and suggestions!
When is the last time you increased volume? That is usually why weight increases stall.
It is well proven that 5/3/1 is probably the second worse program as written for sufficient volume with a good avg intensity hence why most people stall on it. Deadlift is usually the only thing that people report can keep going compared to the others.
I saw a whopping 5lb increase over several months on my bench on 5/3/1. *kitten* volume, no true progression.1 -
I deload when I just can’t recover well enough between sessions, despite rest and nutrition. I have a coach so he decides, we argue as I never think I need to, he drops the weights and sometimes the sessions (I want to train 4-5 times a week and he drops it to 3), I sulk then do what he says. Lo and behold I get back to form after the deload week! 🤣 it’s almost like I should trust my coach...1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEhA-4sS08A
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