DELOAD WEEK....Who does them?

[GdaddyGains]

I admit I am addicted to weight lifting. The idea of taking a week off sounds like hell.

Luckily I have access to a private gym this entire time.

Just curious how many people actually take a week off to full recovery from a long run of intense heavy training?

 

[GearGodess]

I admit I am addicted to weight lifting. The idea of taking a week off sounds like hell.

Luckily I have access to a private gym this entire time.

Just curious how many people actually take a week off to full recovery from a long run of intense heavy training?

just do it. your body will thank you. recovery is very important to more growth and solid gains. it's like preventative therapy to ensure you are 100% in and avoid unnecessary injuries or set backs.

 

[BigBaldBeardGuy]

I admit I am addicted to weight lifting. The idea of taking a week off sounds like hell.

Luckily I have access to a private gym this entire time.

Just curious how many people actually take a week off to full recovery from a long run of intense heavy training?

If you’re truly doing heavy intense training over several months then a deload week is essential for fatigue management. A lot of people confuse soreness and a rundown tired feeling for “overtraining” though. “Bro, I’m doing 2 a days and my body feels like shit, I’m overtrained”. No. Those guys are just reaching the point of accumulated fatigue, which is where you WANT to be. Everything up to that point wasn’t really doing anything. This is the sweet spot.

Muscle fatigue is essential for the super-compensation effect. Train hard and accumulate fatigue and then deload and your strength will bounce back even greater, allowing you to push more weight and stimulate additional muscle growth.

When the weights start to feel heavier, you don’t need to do a deload. It’s when your progress completely stalls or decreases - that’s an indication that your muscles are over-fatigued.

 

[MuscleFreak]

I admit I am addicted to weight lifting. The idea of taking a week off sounds like hell.

Luckily I have access to a private gym this entire time.

Just curious how many people actually take a week off to full recovery from a long run of intense heavy training?

i never take full week of from gym,but i do dealod every 2-3 months..I just lower the volume and dont go to failure every workout

 

[Eman]

Taking a full week off for a deload is pretty unusual, that's something you'd only do for special circumstances.

A real deload is just dropping volume and intensity every 4 weeks or so. I used to skip them because I didn't think I needed it but I was surprised how much of a difference it made when I was tracking my lifts and periodizing my training.

 

[ickyrica]

I've been deloading since the end of February

 

[Test_Subject]

I do one whenever I feel like I need it -- usually every 6-8 weeks or so.

I'll generally just do pump work for a week in the 40-60% range so that I still get some effort in but at the same time drop some accumulated CNS fatigue.

I've found that they help a lot with staying fresh in the gym and my injuries have become less frequent. The first week back to "real" training I feel like an animal.

 

[taco33150]

Your body will let you know.

 

[Rippidy Dippidy]

I’ve only ever de-loaded before a powerlifting comp.

 

[Vincentino]

A week completely off? Eh, I think that would do more harm than good, at least for me. When I don’t do at least a little something my joints ache, especially my knees. When I’m in a full power split, I deload every 4th week, drop the intensity and the weight, focus more on accessory lifts.

 

[Blange89]

I love how powerlifting is starting to come over

 

[Millard]

Taking a full week off for a deload is pretty unusual

Is it? I don't know. I assumed most people did it every few months.

 

[Eman]

Is it? I don't know. I assumed most people did it every few months.

That's true, I just wouldn't refer to that as a deload, it's more of an off day or week. That may sound like I'm splitting hairs but a structured deload to a coach is a training micro cycle that would be built into a training block. This is probably less of a thing in the bodybuilding world though... Deload and days off are probably synonymous for most bb coaches, but a strength, conditioning, sports, etc coach would not consider them the same thing.

 

[flenser]

I will skip a week or sometimes two when my joints start hurting all day. I get a lot of swelling in my knees that makes simple movements painful. I didn't know it was normal to take that much time off, I just thought it was because I'm old AF. ..

 

[CAswole]

I've used Wendlers 531 from time to time and he programs a deload every 4 weeks. While I think this is too often, my point is that it's put right into the program. you're going up to say 60% of your training max on that deload week. So it's really not "off" as much as it is a light week backing off on accessory work.

 

[GdaddyGains]

I have never had any injuries. As long as I am making progress do you think you need to tone down the intensity and training?

I’ll take 2 days off in a row if I feel I need it. I rarely train 3-4 days in a row when I am eating for performance.

Dieting hard is a different story, I get so depleted I can damage my muscles as much due to strength loss. I can got 4-6 days in a row. Plus you got the cardio stealing calories.

 

[Silentlemon1011]

I have never had any injuries. As long as I am making progress do you think you need to tone down the intensity and training?

I’ll take 2 days off in a row if I feel I need it. I rarely train 3-4 days in a row when I am eating for performance.

Dieting hard is a different story, I get so depleted I can damage my muscles as much due to strength loss. I can got 4-6 days in a row. Plus you got the cardio stealing calories.

Sometimes I feel the same as you
Progress is being made, feeling good... dont need a deload.

Then work will force one onto me lol.

When I hit the weights after 4 or 5 days off the gym, strength has always gone up everytime.