Volume and frequency - wise, yes. This is what most HIT advocates would call regular training. Just a few sets but they are done with extreme intensity.
This is a two part deload, first part is two weeks of this (low frequency and volume but extreme intensity), the second part is an actual deload if five days with just one upper body day and one lower body day.
I’m trying this out because I don’t feel that regular one-week deloads have ever worked for me as they should.
My two biggest indicators are appearance and scale weight. For some people workout performance is a good indicator but mine is rarely affected.
Visual cues may be a bit hard to see at first; most people have no idea what an empty and flat physique looks like. You also have to be pretty damn lean for it to show properly. The main thing to look for here is how full and round your muscles are compared to usual. It takes some time to learn.
With scale weight, it’s a game of two extremes; if your weight has been dropping well and it then stalls for some time (think 3-4 days) you may want to do a full refeed with both fats and carbs to get the engine humming again, so to speak. The thing with this is that you don’t necessarily need it. Other way is to just keep doing what you’re doing and eventually your weight may start dropping again. This is if your calories are already so low that you can’t drop them further (or you can only drop them once afterwards), if you can, may just do that.
In the other end of the spectrum; if your weight starts to steadily rise and you feel that it may be due to stress you may want to do a carb load. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. Just have, say an extra 300 grams of carbs in 1-2 meals. For example, some fruit and rice is a great option.
With refeeds we have to remember a couple of things;
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If your diet is low in a micronutrient, you most likely don’t need to have it in a refeed. For example, you don’t eat a lot of carbs but you have a decent amount of fat in your diet, so carb loads are what you should start with.
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The leaner you are, the more you can tolerate in terms of calories. Far too often people do full-on cheat days every week while still being fat. There’s no need for that and it may actually just destroy your progress.
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Refeeds are a tool, not a privilege. Don’t use them if you don’t need them. It takes some time getting to know your body, so if you try them now and they don’t work, ditch them, but don’t be afraid to try them again later.
There were indicators like increased appetite and frequent urination in there which I’ve always felt to be kind of useless. On the other hand, the 8-12 weeks to get into supercompensation mode is a good thing to remember. Even if you start from 10% bf it’ll most likely take you 3-4 weeks to get into supercompensation mode, so people who refeed on week one while on the cycle diet and 20% bf are doing it horribly wrong.