How do you guys deload?

[roy2]

How do you guys go about your deloading? Do you ever take an entire week off from all lifting and cardio to deload? I'm relatively new to the idea of the concept of deloading.

Deload to Reload: http://www.elitefts.com/documents/deload.htm

 

[Guinness5.0]

In a nutshell, just do less. That simple.

My training generally involves sets across (same weight done for a few sets/reps) and usually I just work up to one set at the last weight I used for the strainght sets (so if I did 5x5 with 315, I'd work up to one set w/ 315 during the deload). I also slash frequency - I usually train 3 or 4 times per week while loading, and only 2 times a week while deloading. Generally you'd wnat to keep the weights high and cut the volume.

It's one of those things where there's not one answer - play with it and see what works. I personally wouldn't take a full week off unless I was really beat up, but that's not to say that it would never be a good idea to do so.

 

[roy2]

In a nutshell, just do less. That simple.

My training generally involves sets across (sam weight done for a few sets/reps( and usually I just work up to one set at the last weight I used for the strainght sets (so if I did 5x5 with 315, I'd work up to one set w/ 313 during the deload). I also slash frequency - I usually train 2 or 4 times per week while loading, and only 2 times a week while deloading. Genreally you'd wnat to keep the weights high and cut the volume.

It's one of those things where there's not one answer - play with it and see what works. I personally wouldn't tae a full week off unless I was really beat up, but that's not to say that it would never be a good diea to do so.

Great reply. How many weeks do you train between deloading phases usually?

 

[eat big]

I would eliminate most isolational movements and concentrate on mass movements like deads, bench, rows, squats etc. Also, I'd go a little lighter on those lifts for a while too. A combo of volume and weight is the best approach IMO.

 

[Protobuilder]

Many sources suggest 4-8 weeks of loading (AKA volume or accumulation phase) followed by 1-2 weeks deloading. For example, I've seen lots of training sources suggest 3 hard weeks followed by one easy week each and every month.

 

[letsrun4it]

I'm relatively new (couple of years) to lifting, especially compared to most of you but this goes back to my competitve running days. It was 100% necessary to take a week off after cross country season and then again after track season. I think the same thing would apply to lifting, twice a year take a week off and dont exercise at all. When you come back sure you'll have lost a little but your body will have healed all the little injuries that could have turned into big injuries and your muscles will respond even better to the exercise. If someone didnt take that month off in November after the XC season by about January everyone would be passing them.

 

[roy2]

I think I managed to send k to Proto and Guinness for their answers.. You purchase it through the karma store, correct?

 

[silver_shadow]

i used to take a week off from the gym before. this time, i haven't deloaded since i started working out again in sep. but this is what i've got planned:
4 weeks of intensity (4x per week), followed by 2 weeks of deload: 2 days of 50% squats/DLs, 50% bench (3x10), followed by 15-20 mins of cardio, 2 days of 15-20 mins of cardio, with some very low weight high rep deads (5x20).
actually, i'm already in the 4th wk of the first intensity cycle. next wk is the start of deload.
how does the deload part sound to you guys?

 

[blut wump]

I used to run myself in six-week cycles of ramping up to new maxes and then taking 7-10 days off. These days of Madcowdom, I rarely take blocks of time out from the gym, my last break being over Christmas. Just slashing volume and frequency works well and you don't have that annoying first week of being deconditioned after the short layoff.

SS, the idea, typically of a deload is to take time out without actually taking time out and losing your development. I think four gym visits during a deload week is more than you need and maybe counter-productive. I'd suggest dropping it to two or three days and keep the reps low and push yourself more towards heavy weights, maybe a big triple or some slightly lighter 3x3. Drop your fluff work and let the body recover.

 

[Guinness5.0]

how does the deload part sound to you guys?

I wouldn't do it that way. You're doing a TON of volume, which is what you want to get away from. Keep the weights heavy but slash the total workload (pounds moved).

 

[Illuminati]

How do you guys go about your deloading? Do you ever take an entire week off from all lifting and cardio to deload? I'm relatively new to the idea of the concept of deloading.

Deload to Reload: http://www.elitefts.com/documents/deload.htm

just like Jim says in the first paragraph of the article, its one of those things that with time, you just know when its time to back off. when you are first starting out, everybody is so eager to make huge gains, yet they forget about the fact that rest is needed. same thing with injuries. so many people new to the gym think that they can just work through something. and again, what they really need is rest. before you really hone in on your training, and know you body, you have to force yourself to take some time off every so often.
typically, I will take some time off (not really off, but back my training off a few notches) when i stop making steady gains, or after I make some huge PR's. right now, I'm about due for a back of period, but I have to keep pushing a little, as I'm getting ready for a meet in June. i'm getting some new gear, and I have to do the best that I can to learn the groove of the shirt, and get used to using my DL suit. after the meet, I will be taking an entire week off, and then take a few weeks to get back into the swing of things.
the same thing with injuries. you can't work through them. you can't continue to go full bore when you get hurt. workouts need to be heavily modified, and scaled way back when you get hurt. this is something that most people only learn once they have screwed them up pretty badly, and have been forced to take months off from the gym, instead of a few weeks if they had simply taken time off, or heavily scaled their workouts back. b/c of my back injury last year, at the slightest sign of something that hurts during a workout, i call it quits for the day. and if it doesn't feel right the on the next workout day, then I'm either not working out, or I am doing significantly less work (weight wise). there is no point in pushing yourself once you are injured. be smart about your training, and take time off. a couple days off, is much better than a couple months off.

 

[silver_shadow]

I wouldn't do it that way. You're doing a TON of volume, which is what you want to get away from. Keep the weights heavy but slash the total workload (pounds moved).

so what would you suggest i keep/trash... i want to keep some of the cardio at least... good idea or bad?

 

[silver_shadow]

oh roy, sorry, for the thread hijack...

 

[Illuminati]

Great reply. How many weeks do you train between deloading phases usually?

Jim Wendler wrote an article called "What I Learned from Lou" (Lou being Louie Simmons.) It is put best in the article:

"Train Optimally, not maximally. This is the number one thing that I learned from lou and has taken a lot of time to comprehend. There are a lot of people out there that still believe that you have to train your balls off every single time in order to succeed. One of the best pieces of advice that I ever got was: leave the gym with something in the tank. I'm not sure who told me this, but several people have and I still think its worth remembering.

What Lou told me is that when someone is dead on in their training, they instinctively know what is enough and what is too much. The don't have a calculator and they don't consult Supertraining. The just know.

Training Optimally simply means that what you are doing in the weight room (and what you are not doing) is going to maximize your success. Training maximally in the weight room means that you are just putting the pedal to the metal every single workout, with little regard to the outcome in the long run."

 

[roy2]

just like Jim says in the first paragraph of the article, its one of those things that with time, you just know when its time to back off. when you are first starting out, everybody is so eager to make huge gains, yet they forget about the fact that rest is needed. same thing with injuries. so many people new to the gym think that they can just work through something. and again, what they really need is rest. before you really hone in on your training, and know you body, you have to force yourself to take some time off every so often.
typically, I will take some time off (not really off, but back my training off a few notches) when i stop making steady gains, or after I make some huge PR's. right now, I'm about due for a back of period, but I have to keep pushing a little, as I'm getting ready for a meet in June. i'm getting some new gear, and I have to do the best that I can to learn the groove of the shirt, and get used to using my DL suit. after the meet, I will be taking an entire week off, and then take a few weeks to get back into the swing of things.
the same thing with injuries. you can't work through them. you can't continue to go full bore when you get hurt. workouts need to be heavily modified, and scaled way back when you get hurt. this is something that most people only learn once they have screwed them up pretty badly, and have been forced to take months off from the gym, instead of a few weeks if they had simply taken time off, or heavily scaled their workouts back. b/c of my back injury last year, at the slightest sign of something that hurts during a workout, i call it quits for the day. and if it doesn't feel right the on the next workout day, then I'm either not working out, or I am doing significantly less work (weight wise). there is no point in pushing yourself once you are injured. be smart about your training, and take time off. a couple days off, is much better than a couple months off.

K to you.

For the last five years I've trained with no knowledge of deloading or strategically resting until I stumbled across madcow's dual factor 5x5 a while back. While the concept of deloading is intuitive, very few sources I had access to would mention it (sources included various weight lifting/body building books and the internet), so I was always preoccupied with some other less crucial information. I wish I would have had started lifting according to madcow/rippletoe/starr instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclepedia of Bodybuilding, but at least I was doing high volume training right off the bat instead of doing biceps once a week 'til failure.

 

[Protobuilder]

Great stuff here.

To add to what Illuminati mentioned, I think Dan John stated one of the best pieces of advice he'd gotten, but wished he'd applied more regularly, was that if you go the gym and hit your PR, go home. You achieved your goal and are heading in the right direction. And, if you MISS your PR, stop, go home. You're not ready to train yet.