When You De-Load...

De-loading. Do you guys de-load on every 4th week or 5th week. I wanna start a westside template soon and since I’m going to be a beginner to westside I know you can keep the ME exercise for 3 weeks before moving on. So I was wondering do I do the 3 weeks with the ME exercise, de-load for a week, then on the 5th week start the new ME exercise? If not, how do I do this all? I don’t want my CNS to burn out by jumping in like crazy and all.

You really shouldn’t do a 3 week mini cycle of an exercise. The way westside does it now for lower body is week 1-squat variation, week 2-deadlift variation, week 3- good morning variation. deloading every 4th week is a good idea. You can have a repetition day or do some sort of circuit workout to give your nervous system a break.

Oh really?..I’m gonna look into that, but since I’m a beginner to westside and all wouldnt you think that it’d be best to do it the “old” way?. I’m thinking of picking up the beginner’s manual over at Elitefts. What do you think?

dl-

I train with a modified Westside template, and I deload fully every fourth week. However, the template follows the adjusted volume-intensity score scheme of:

Week 1: High
Week 2: Medium
Week 3: Very High
Week 4: Low

The subtle reduction in volume in week 2 really makes it possible for me to essentially beat the crap out of myself in week 3 and impose a ton of fatigue.

That sounds interesting Eric. You say volume-intensity and your outline is high, medium, very high, low. What does the intensity look like then…Medium, High, low, low?..Also could you give me as how that would look like…how many sets?
Thanks

dl-

I have the beginner’s manual. It’s about 70 pages, very specific, and simply written. I haven’t done the program yet, but the manual specifies just about every rep and set. I highly recommend it.

Oh really, that sounds sweet. PM me when you’ve started the program and tell me how it goes for you and all. Thanks

dl-

Note that I said “volume-intensity score;” it’s something I invented to chart the interaction of the two.

Sets won’t tell you much; doing 8 sets of 3 will be entirely different than doing 8 sets of 8.

[quote]dl- wrote:
That sounds interesting Eric. You say volume-intensity and your outline is high, medium, very high, low. What does the intensity look like then…Medium, High, low, low?..Also could you give me as how that would look like…how many sets?
Thanks

dl-[/quote]

EC,

Could you please describe your scoring system a little more in depth? It sound’s like an intriguing (sp?) way of organizing training sessions.

I train WSB, and I don’t de-load at all, I’d never heard of it. Since I’m making continual gains, is this a problem? Should I be de-loading? (Every nine weeks or so I take off though).

Basically, it’s something I came up with that I feel accounts for the shortcomings of just tracking volume or intensity. I factor in both of those items, as well as complexity of exercise, tempo, and a miscellaneous category.

It’s kind of hard on the eyes, but it’s worked well.

[quote]buckeye75 wrote:
EC,

Could you please describe your scoring system a little more in depth? It sound’s like an intriguing (sp?) way of organizing training sessions.[/quote]

You should definitely be deloading. It doesn’t have to be a complete week of rest, but if you aren’t constantly fluctuating the stress imposed on your body, it won’t supercompensate.

You might be seeing gains doing what you’re doing, but that’s not to say that you couldn’t be seeing better gains by doing something differently.

[quote]cap’nsalty wrote:
I train WSB, and I don’t de-load at all, I’d never heard of it. Since I’m making continual gains, is this a problem? Should I be de-loading? (Every nine weeks or so I take off though).[/quote]