Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
Loading and unloading
- Thread starter anthrax
- Start date
coolcolj
New member
it has nothing to with muscles or exercises, its a whole body CNS thing
basicly you crank up the volume and total training load for a period of time like 1-2 weeks to push the body in a CNS fatigued state.
Then back off the volume to allow your body to rebound back, but not so much you detrain though. Usually deloading goes for at least 2 weeks, 4 is better thoughi fyou load up real hard
That's how most athletes train, except powerlifters and bodybuilders
It's what you call the Dual factor theory, vs the Single factor theory which everyone mostly uses - ie workout, recover and lift more the next session.
In dual factor theory - you treat a period of workouts as one single fatiguing period, and then the unloading workouts as a recovery period.
In Single factor theory - you treat a single workout as stimulus, and then you rest a few days, supercompenstate and lift more the next session.
basicly you crank up the volume and total training load for a period of time like 1-2 weeks to push the body in a CNS fatigued state.
Then back off the volume to allow your body to rebound back, but not so much you detrain though. Usually deloading goes for at least 2 weeks, 4 is better thoughi fyou load up real hard
That's how most athletes train, except powerlifters and bodybuilders
It's what you call the Dual factor theory, vs the Single factor theory which everyone mostly uses - ie workout, recover and lift more the next session.
In dual factor theory - you treat a period of workouts as one single fatiguing period, and then the unloading workouts as a recovery period.
In Single factor theory - you treat a single workout as stimulus, and then you rest a few days, supercompenstate and lift more the next session.
Last edited:
coolcolj
New member
some words from Chad Touchberry on this
Do not load the exercises, load the organism. In other words, dont waste 3 weeks totally focused on squats. Use the big 3 to create volume to tax the organism. Train all 3 together so that the physiology of the body is altered.
People used to spend too much time on bodyparts, that has switched to the exercises. I say focus on changing the organism and everything will fall in to place. Load and unload ALL lifts together
----------------
there are several ways to deload. one being an 8 week cycle.
2 weeks of hard training, 2 weeks of concentrated loading, 4 weeks of deloading.
Another is 6 weeks, same as above, but with a 2 week taper instead of 4. I have seen that this does not work as well.
Currently I am working where I have 1 week normal, one week hard, one week deloading, then back to a normal week. Then repeat. This gives me one hard week, one recovery, and 2 not-so-hard.
Another more popular way to do this is the 3 up one down method. Although you cant have a significant alteration in training volume under this plan, if you do, the one week down will not be enough to help compensate.
The reason for deloading is to allow for super compensation of the organism. In theory the purpose of training should be to over-reach the organism (over-train and have or be on the near brink of a performance decline), then deload, and you will supercompensate. It all goes back to the General Adaptation Syndrome put forth by Salye.
There is significant hormonal changes that go with this sequence of events. Over time, when you can learn how these cycles occur, and how training can alter these natural cycles, your training can become much more productive.
Do not load the exercises, load the organism. In other words, dont waste 3 weeks totally focused on squats. Use the big 3 to create volume to tax the organism. Train all 3 together so that the physiology of the body is altered.
People used to spend too much time on bodyparts, that has switched to the exercises. I say focus on changing the organism and everything will fall in to place. Load and unload ALL lifts together
----------------
there are several ways to deload. one being an 8 week cycle.
2 weeks of hard training, 2 weeks of concentrated loading, 4 weeks of deloading.
Another is 6 weeks, same as above, but with a 2 week taper instead of 4. I have seen that this does not work as well.
Currently I am working where I have 1 week normal, one week hard, one week deloading, then back to a normal week. Then repeat. This gives me one hard week, one recovery, and 2 not-so-hard.
Another more popular way to do this is the 3 up one down method. Although you cant have a significant alteration in training volume under this plan, if you do, the one week down will not be enough to help compensate.
The reason for deloading is to allow for super compensation of the organism. In theory the purpose of training should be to over-reach the organism (over-train and have or be on the near brink of a performance decline), then deload, and you will supercompensate. It all goes back to the General Adaptation Syndrome put forth by Salye.
There is significant hormonal changes that go with this sequence of events. Over time, when you can learn how these cycles occur, and how training can alter these natural cycles, your training can become much more productive.
Last edited:
coolcolj
New member
more from Chad
The biggest mistake made is that people do not vary the volume, and they spend too much time at a low intensity. This is the fundamental basis of Glenn P's programming, which has changed the way I arrange my own training.
For example in the last time I trained pure OLY: my notebook indicates the following...
Week 1: 4 sessions, mean Intensity 80%, reps 80
Week 2: 5 sessions, mean Intensity 85%, reps 110
Week 3: 9 sessions, mean Intensity 90+%, reps 192
Week 4: 3 sessions, mean intensity, 75%, reps 63
Week 5: 4 sessions, mean intensity, 80%, reps 78.
week one is normal.
week 2 is sorta ramping up.
week 3 is the overreaching week.
week 4 is the unloading.
week 5 normal.
I have done similar things over 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 10 weeks. But I find the longer the cycle, the less motivated I am to train. Mainly due to the overreaching weeks lasting 14-21 days. Toooooooooo much pain for someone that doesn't compete anymore.
This is a good example of how the Volume and Intensity can increase at the same time. They do not have to be opposite each other ala Medvedyev. The shorter cycles are also good if you like to rotate exercises (conjugate method). The longer cycles are great if you stick with 6 -8 main exercises (bulgarian based).
Hope this helps clear up the confusion.
-----
This is what I argue. And this philosophy has been heavily influenced by Glenn P, Dr. Lon Kilgore, as well as Jeremy Hoy. But the volume NEEDS to be drastically different for adaptation and supercompensation.
Also keep in mind that this is a small 5 week snapshot of my training block. Prior to the 5 week period, I had a 14 day loading pattern at nearly 195 reps / week at 95% max, then unloaded for 4 weeks.
I never said it was easy, but the other thing to keep in mind is that folks are not training as hard, nor as heavy, as often as they should be.
What you have done is calculated the volume load (setsxrepsxweight) and found these extreme changes. I do know they are extreame, but thats the point. To create a state of over-reaching. You can't do that by using small changes in volume!!! A one week over-reaching cycle like this is not that bad at all, its when I have over-reached for 2-3 weeks where the pain sets in, and sleep is disturbed, soreness doest even begin to describe what you feel. One week is VERY do-able.
Keep in mind as well, that if you calculated the volume loads of most powerlifters early on in their periodization cycle (IE: Base strength), sets of 10, you would find that the volume load is MUCH MUCH larger than it is here. By about a factor of 5 fold. Volume load is a cool way to look at data, but you also have to keep in mind the rep range used.
I have also found that using this methodology with PowerLifts requires about 25% less volume than with Olylifts due to some added eccentric stress.
The biggest mistake made is that people do not vary the volume, and they spend too much time at a low intensity. This is the fundamental basis of Glenn P's programming, which has changed the way I arrange my own training.
For example in the last time I trained pure OLY: my notebook indicates the following...
Week 1: 4 sessions, mean Intensity 80%, reps 80
Week 2: 5 sessions, mean Intensity 85%, reps 110
Week 3: 9 sessions, mean Intensity 90+%, reps 192
Week 4: 3 sessions, mean intensity, 75%, reps 63
Week 5: 4 sessions, mean intensity, 80%, reps 78.
week one is normal.
week 2 is sorta ramping up.
week 3 is the overreaching week.
week 4 is the unloading.
week 5 normal.
I have done similar things over 6 weeks, 8 weeks, and 10 weeks. But I find the longer the cycle, the less motivated I am to train. Mainly due to the overreaching weeks lasting 14-21 days. Toooooooooo much pain for someone that doesn't compete anymore.
This is a good example of how the Volume and Intensity can increase at the same time. They do not have to be opposite each other ala Medvedyev. The shorter cycles are also good if you like to rotate exercises (conjugate method). The longer cycles are great if you stick with 6 -8 main exercises (bulgarian based).
Hope this helps clear up the confusion.
-----
This is what I argue. And this philosophy has been heavily influenced by Glenn P, Dr. Lon Kilgore, as well as Jeremy Hoy. But the volume NEEDS to be drastically different for adaptation and supercompensation.
Also keep in mind that this is a small 5 week snapshot of my training block. Prior to the 5 week period, I had a 14 day loading pattern at nearly 195 reps / week at 95% max, then unloaded for 4 weeks.
I never said it was easy, but the other thing to keep in mind is that folks are not training as hard, nor as heavy, as often as they should be.
What you have done is calculated the volume load (setsxrepsxweight) and found these extreme changes. I do know they are extreame, but thats the point. To create a state of over-reaching. You can't do that by using small changes in volume!!! A one week over-reaching cycle like this is not that bad at all, its when I have over-reached for 2-3 weeks where the pain sets in, and sleep is disturbed, soreness doest even begin to describe what you feel. One week is VERY do-able.
Keep in mind as well, that if you calculated the volume loads of most powerlifters early on in their periodization cycle (IE: Base strength), sets of 10, you would find that the volume load is MUCH MUCH larger than it is here. By about a factor of 5 fold. Volume load is a cool way to look at data, but you also have to keep in mind the rep range used.
I have also found that using this methodology with PowerLifts requires about 25% less volume than with Olylifts due to some added eccentric stress.
Last edited:
Similar threads
