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Barbell Deload Week?

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JeffC

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I have been approaching two cycles of Wendler 5/3/1 and I chose the deload every second cycle option. 40% x 5, 50% x 5, 60% x 5, are programmed. For me when I remove weight from the bar and go lighter for a week I lose the momentum have have worked for. What has worked in the past is keep intensity up and drop volume. No back off, assistance, or fluff and pufff. Just hit a good number quickly, and get out of the gym.
 
My preference for a deload week is do nothing. Relax. Drink beer. And yes I suffer for it when I return to training but over the long term having a complete break seems to work at least as well or better for me than just moderating weight and/or volume
 
I've just purchased Wendlers "Beyond 5/3/1", he has 5 deload week options. I highly recommend this book or at least the ebook. Simply outstanding.
 
I think if and how to deload depends on many things and especially the nature of the program you’re considering deloading from, so it’s hard to generalize.

-S-
 
What has worked in the past is keep intensity up and drop volume. No back off, assistance, or fluff and pufff
A while back I received a weekly letter from Aleks Salskin saying this is the way to go, based on Russian or German studies (as usual). It makes sense to me.
 
@KIWI5 Yes, I missed or forgot that section. I reread his suggested deloads in Beyond 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler.

The High Intensity Deload or Option 3 fits me.

I feel good. No aches. No pains. I want to maintain momentum in my program. So I think either of those fits well.
 
If I were you, I would keep going as usual.

I hear you. Who wants to deload, but I paid for the books I might as well use them. I’m not gonna go freestyling. There has been a lot of experience, thought and results, more than I have, put in to Wendler’s programming. I’m not about to question that.

For me it’s like having a coach say “do this”,and you say “no, I’m going to do this other thing”. I listen to experience and try my best to be coachable.

Saving some now is money in the bank for future progress.
 
I hear you. Who wants to deload, but I paid for the books I might as well use them. I’m not gonna go freestyling. There has been a lot of experience, thought and results, more than I have, put in to Wendler’s programming. I’m not about to question that.

For me it’s like having a coach say “do this”,and you say “no, I’m going to do this other thing”. I listen to experience and try my best to be coachable.

Saving some now is money in the bank for future progress.

Sure, no doubt Wendler knows what he's talking about. He doesn't know you, though.

I think the more I lift, the more simple I get. I just do. I think having been ignorant about certain aspects of programming, like the deloads, has helped me progress. Of course, the coach is most useful to a novice teen to make sure he doesn't burn or break himself. But when we get past a certain age and certain imaginations, and have our heads on our shoulders right, we know. You have plenty of experience. What has or hasn't worked for you before?
 
I think it depends. On a more traditional american style strength program where you lift 1 or 2 times a week per movement (like the squat for example), and where workout intensities and volumes can be pushed hard, the deload is important. For high frequency programs, where one is lifting many times per week (but the individual workout isnt as "intense" because one is accumulating stress over multiple workouts), then a deload can be a detriment.

This is at least the case for me.
 
The only time I used a planned deload was with the 50/20 program. It was a heavy volume routine the way I did it originally. Bryce suggested that I take the 4th week completely off as that had worked best for him but I found that wasn't the best for me. I did the best with 2 days of work on the deload week doing C&P and Bottom Position squats on day 1 and Bench and Deadlift on day 2 working up to a decent single on all the lifts. This single was something I could have probably done 3-5 reps depending on how wound up I could get myself.
 
Taking a week off of any lifting is not a deload. There is no better way to kill progress than missing an entire week of lifting.

Changing things up with different exercises, prehab/rehab, mobility, specific variety, bodybuilding bro work, etc. are all options. If I want to keep moving my main lifts forward it’s not a bad idea to work on my groove and bar path with lighter weights and higher rep sets. Focusing on practice rather than work my pay off because I have let technique slip a bit in favour of reps and bar speed.
 
Taking a week off of any lifting is not a deload. There is no better way to kill progress than missing an entire week of lifting.

I recalled the Australian Institute of Sport releasing something on this subject and googled. I thought it would prove me right ... But I was wrong! Their focus was injury risk after layoffs but there is some very interesting data here, as per:

"If an athlete trains at 60% of their normal volume and intensity for 2 weeks, it takes 10 days to progressively return to full training load to reduce injury risk. Longer breaks in training and greater drops in volume and intensity require a longer progressive return to full training to reduce injury risk."

More comprehensive data is available at 5 and Appendix Table 1. The paper recommends a planned approach whenever training is reduced for four days or more.

http://runpure.com.au/wp-content/up...-_Loads_and_risks_following_troughs250615.pdf
 
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“I wouldn’t over analyze the deloads, just take a break and come back stronger. They don’t make you weaker. The amount of weight you lift over several years, your consistency, your ability to remain on a program with solid principles, your heart/determination, and your willingness to do what others are unwilling to do (also known as Kaiser Soze Syndrome) are what will make you strong and unbeatable.”

Beyond 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler

Linear Progression is a myth. You have to move backward to move forward. Whether you beat yourself up to the point you are forced to step back, or quit, or you program your step back, even linear programs have protocols for deloads when you stall on the lifts. Better to slow down before it’s too late, than drive off a cliff, or run into the same wall over and over. The point is just take it easy for a bit, come back recovered, and ready to work again.
 
I chose a higher volume lower intensity deload. I can work on technique and take it easier for a week. The assistance is unclear, but I will choose similar protocol with lighter exercises.

When I start again I may keep my TM the same and increase density by reducing rest for the first cycle. There is also a different percentage protocol I could use. I picked the lower intensity option for my first run through. So I I pick the other option I would definitely keep my TM the same.
 
I am into my second deload week, and I was actually looking forward to it this time around. I chose the higher rep version again with lighter higher rep assistance work. I will do Curls for a week.

I hit some decent weights and failed a Press attempt. I pushed hard and was feeling a bit of fatigue at the end of my heavy week. Perfect. That’s the way it should be before a deload.

I know when I have trouble sleeping and am tossing and turning, I feel like I am lifting in my sleep, my CNS needs a break. I do have build my stress that’s adds to the training stress, so I will recharge for another push.

Wendler says schedule your step back so you are not forced to take one. Take a deload before you are given a deload.
 
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Taking a week off of any lifting is not a deload. There is no better way to kill progress than missing an entire week of lifting.

Active Recovery Supersedes Passive Recovery

Active Recovery means preforming light, easy exercise. It benefits recovery by increasing blood flow to the muscles. An increase in blood flow to the muscle delivers nutrient and eliminates metabolites (take out the garbage) which enhances recovery.

Passive Recovery mean doing nothing, allowing for recover but isn't as effective as Active Recovery.

Changing things up with different exercises

Varying Exercises

Research and anecdotal evidence have demonstrated that one of the keys to increasing strength and muscle mass it by varying exercise during a training program; attacking the muscle from different angles.

Varying an exercise can be as simple as going from a Wide Grip Bench Press to a Narrow Grip Bench Press or a High Bar Squat to a Low Bar Squat.

Deload Workout or Week

This works to some extent for novice lifters. However, deloading for one workout or one week in the long run, especially for individual with more training time, it not as effective as...

Periodization Training

Periodization Training is a training cycle based on progressive increases in load, volume, or the combination over of weeks; with the final week being an all out effort or close to it.

The all out effort or close to it is followed by deloading the intensity of the training session and progressively increasing the weight over a period of weeks to a greater load that your previous training cycle, for a personal best.

Part of the reason for this has to do with...

"Wound Healing"

Research simply back up common sense, "The greater the trauma to the body, the longer recovery period necessary for recovery."

Kenny Croxdale
 
John Meadows said training is digging a hole, and recovery fills it up again.

Some people never get very deep, some people never let it fill up and can’t get out because they dug too deep. I was getting pretty deep before my deload. Now I am breaking ground again with a solid day one of work.

Everything you experience digs and fills the hole not just your training.
 
I've found that the type of deload (whether to deload volume or intensity) has varied based on what my training focus is at the time. Example: if I'm focusing on explosive work and strength training is supplementary, then dropping volume and keeping the intensity up seems to keep me fresh yet maintain explosiveness. However, if I'm focusing on progressing a strength metric and my explosive work is on maintenance mode, then I feel best and continue to make progress best when I drop the intensity and do a bit more volume/add in some extra mobility work during the deload. This may sound like a silly distinction, but it often feels like I'm reloading rather than deloading. I've done some work, made some progress, feel a bit stale...I've emptied the chamber, it's time to reload.
 
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