What Do Your Deloading Weeks Look Like?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
21

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
ah, right you are good sir. I meant I set 1 RM on all those exercises [/quote]

I get what you’re saying. I guess I don’t ever go for 1 RM maxes too often… erm, ever.

So, now let me pose a question. Is all you did last week is go in and do 1 RM tests?

I could be totally wrong or off-basis here, but it seems like keeping it that minimal would be less taxing on your nervous system (although I have reservations about throwing that term around.) Why not just take an extra day or two off? By the time I take more than a day off or so I start getting antsy and have to go and lift.

Again, I’m really not sure what your circumstances were with training, though.[/quote]

A 1RM is actually more taxing on the CNS then higher rep sets.
[/quote]

Well right, I know this, but I think the variable is how much he actually did during these workouts.

Did he go in and get a 1 RM, say yippee and leave?

Or did he go in, get a 1 RM, and then blast through 5 more sets working in normal rep ranges? If this were the case, I guess I could maybe understand a “de-load” (although I’m not sure what’s wrong with 1-2 days off,) but it’s still a big if.[/quote]

In my case I went in and matched my previous record for squatting, then broke it on the next 2 sets. The next day I broke my 1RM record on benching 4 sets in a row. Two days later I broke my deadlifting record 2 or 3 sets in a row, then the next day broke my incline record 2 sets in a row. I think the deadlifting is what absolutely killed me. i’ve felt flat since then.

22

This is a topic I’ve been thinking about lately. The scale has been moving up some in the past months along with my strength. For me, with that comes a bit more drive and intensity and I’ve been noticing it “affecting” me more lately as I continue to progress.

The past few weeks, around Wednesday/Thursday I wake up and say to myself, “oh, damn”. It takes me a few hours to shake the run down feeling, so I start contemplating having an “easy week” (like others I really don’t like just not going).

Thing is, I lift Mon-Fri and have the weekend off to spend with the family. Then Monday rolls around and I feel fresh again and say “fuck it, I’m going to pound it again”.

To the point, are you guys who feel like you need a de-load hitting it 6-7 days a week? Or maybe your training with a high volume?

I lift during my lunch hour so I’m limited on the volume. This allows me to drop all I got on a few exercises and get out. Maybe that on top of the weekends off has been enough to manage the run down feeling.

So maybe keep your poundages up and drop an exercise (or two) for a while.

Anyway, just thought I’d share my thoughts and offer an alternative to a traditional de-load. Maybe changing your schedule a bit would keep you from having to do it.

23

[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
ah, right you are good sir. I meant I set 1 RM on all those exercises [/quote]

I get what you’re saying. I guess I don’t ever go for 1 RM maxes too often… erm, ever.

So, now let me pose a question. Is all you did last week is go in and do 1 RM tests?

I could be totally wrong or off-basis here, but it seems like keeping it that minimal would be less taxing on your nervous system (although I have reservations about throwing that term around.) Why not just take an extra day or two off? By the time I take more than a day off or so I start getting antsy and have to go and lift.

Again, I’m really not sure what your circumstances were with training, though.[/quote]

A 1RM is actually more taxing on the CNS then higher rep sets.
[/quote]

Well right, I know this, but I think the variable is how much he actually did during these workouts.

Did he go in and get a 1 RM, say yippee and leave?

Or did he go in, get a 1 RM, and then blast through 5 more sets working in normal rep ranges? If this were the case, I guess I could maybe understand a “de-load” (although I’m not sure what’s wrong with 1-2 days off,) but it’s still a big if.[/quote]

In my case I went in and matched my previous record for squatting, then broke it on the next 2 sets. The next day I broke my 1RM record on benching 4 sets in a row. Two days later I broke my deadlifting record 2 or 3 sets in a row, then the next day broke my incline record 2 sets in a row. I think the deadlifting is what absolutely killed me. i’ve felt flat since then. [/quote]

I have a friend who’s obsessed with hitting PR’s on his 1RM’s. He’s lucky if he gets in the gym twice a week. He goes through phases of high enthusiasm, followed by periods of feeling “wrecked”. He’s also a great believer in ball busting failure ALL the time, and on every set…followed by forced reps.

Apart from the fact that you have to be “sensible” with the volume, and failure training (would only do it to failure on limited sets) I quickly learned from my friend and myself that you can only cope with so much “ball busting”. Better to pull back once in a while. For some that may mean taking a day off here or there, doing sets not to failure (improving form/quality rather than making PR’s).

24

[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that goes for a 1RM every week…[/quote]

I did this on bench press from my late teens through my early twenties (what started as a PL drive eventually became just so I could brag about my double bodyweight bench press).

It totally FUCKED my shoulders up and to this day I have to take care with every move I make in the gym. I can no longer do ANY chest or shoulder work with a barbell. It’s DBs, cables, and a few HS machines for me.

:frowning:

25

[quote]cueball wrote:

I lift during my lunch hour so I’m limited on the volume.

§§§§§§ same for me.

This allows me to drop all I got on a few exercises and get out.

§§§§§§ I do the same,at the end of the day wasn’t bodybuilding to become stronger (in a 5/10 reps range) on multijointed excercises?

Maybe that on top of the weekends off has been enough to manage the run down feeling.

§§§§ I could agree but ,very IMO, also type of job plays a big role in recovery time…
a white collar recovers shorter than a red neck,or not?

So maybe keep your poundages up and drop an exercise (or two) for a while.

§§§§ this week I maintened the same frequency(5x) but just one compound excercise per muscular group,same loading,just two sets to failure (no RP,no partials,just “normal” failure).
I feel good,next week try to set some PR on reps a/o 4lb more.
I feel fresh and regenerated (now).

Anyway, just thought I’d share my thoughts and offer an alternative to a traditional de-load. Maybe changing your schedule a bit would keep you from having to do it.[/quote]

liked this post.

26

[quote]buzza wrote:

[quote]cueball wrote:

I lift during my lunch hour so I’m limited on the volume.

�§�§�§�§�§�§ same for me.

This allows me to drop all I got on a few exercises and get out.

Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§ I do the same,at the end of the day wasn’t bodybuilding to become stronger (in a 5/10 reps range) on multijointed excercises?

Maybe that on top of the weekends off has been enough to manage the run down feeling.

Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§ I could agree but ,very IMO, also type of job plays a big role in recovery time…
a white collar recovers shorter than a red neck,or not?

So maybe keep your poundages up and drop an exercise (or two) for a while.

Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§Ã?§ this week I maintened the same frequency(5x) but just one compound excercise per muscular group,same loading,just two sets to failure (no RP,no partials,just “normal” failure).
I feel good,next week try to set some PR on reps a/o 4lb more.
I feel fresh and regenerated (now).

Anyway, just thought I’d share my thoughts and offer an alternative to a traditional de-load. Maybe changing your schedule a bit would keep you from having to do it.[/quote]

liked this post.[/quote]

Thanks, although your replies that you dropped in the middle of it are making my head spin with all those symbols.

27

[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:

In my case I went in and matched my previous record for squatting, then broke it on the next 2 sets. The next day I broke my 1RM record on benching 4 sets in a row. Two days later I broke my deadlifting record 2 or 3 sets in a row, then the next day broke my incline record 2 sets in a row. I think the deadlifting is what absolutely killed me. i’ve felt flat since then. [/quote]

What’s the logic/reasoning behind going for PR’s (1 rep max at that) on every lift, in one week?

28

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:

[quote]SSC wrote:

[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
ah, right you are good sir. I meant I set 1 RM on all those exercises [/quote]

I get what you’re saying. I guess I don’t ever go for 1 RM maxes too often… erm, ever.

So, now let me pose a question. Is all you did last week is go in and do 1 RM tests?

I could be totally wrong or off-basis here, but it seems like keeping it that minimal would be less taxing on your nervous system (although I have reservations about throwing that term around.) Why not just take an extra day or two off? By the time I take more than a day off or so I start getting antsy and have to go and lift.

Again, I’m really not sure what your circumstances were with training, though.[/quote]

A 1RM is actually more taxing on the CNS then higher rep sets.
[/quote]

Well right, I know this, but I think the variable is how much he actually did during these workouts.

Did he go in and get a 1 RM, say yippee and leave?

Or did he go in, get a 1 RM, and then blast through 5 more sets working in normal rep ranges? If this were the case, I guess I could maybe understand a “de-load” (although I’m not sure what’s wrong with 1-2 days off,) but it’s still a big if.[/quote]

1000 internet pardons… read your post wrong.

29

How do you guys feel about low, explosive reps to active the nervous system, as opposed to higher reps to pump blood into the muscle? (active recovery/neural charge)

30

[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
A 1RM is actually more taxing on the CNS then higher rep sets.
[/quote]

What does this mean?

How do you measure this?

31

[quote]howie424 wrote:
How do you guys feel about low, explosive reps to active the nervous system, as opposed to higher reps to pump blood into the muscle? (active recovery/neural charge)[/quote]

Just pyramid the load to get the best of both worlds.

Ramp up (explosive 3’s or whatever), rest, reduce load a little, rep out to failure or close (higher rep set).

Many do this with success

32

[quote]its_just_me wrote:

[quote]howie424 wrote:
How do you guys feel about low, explosive reps to active the nervous system, as opposed to higher reps to pump blood into the muscle? (active recovery/neural charge)[/quote]

Just pyramid the load to get the best of both worlds.

Ramp up (explosive 3’s or whatever), rest, reduce load a little, rep out to failure or close (higher rep set).

Many do this with success[/quote]

I think you are missing what I am saying. I don’t think anybody reps out to failure on their deload weeks.

This discussion IS about deload weeks, correct? So how do you feel about doing low explosive reps to activate the nervous system for deload weeks, the way CT does, vs light weights for high reps to pump blood into the fatigued muscle.