A light week to offer a guaranteed recovery?

RobertB · Post by **RobertB** » Fri Oct 15, 2010 3:42 am

Hello guys -

depending on how much you follow every bit of info I post (

) you may be aware im going to go for something like texas method as soon as I have my Fitday sorted (so I can get my diet measured properly)

But the reason I'm going to texas method is I was burning out slightly on the novice x3 full body max lifts

last week and this week I've not been too bad, couple of gains (OHP/deadlift again) and don't feel as tired - I'm still gunna go for the periodization asap but my question is....

Since I have a slight (shouldn't take long to fix) elbow area injury stopping me doing pull ups - and I'm going to change programs, would a week of noticably light work be a good idea to transition the programs, ensuring I am fully recovered - or is this going overboard in terms of recovery (one does get excited/carried away reading Practical Programming

)

I've heard of advanced peeps taking a week off if they smell a hint of overtraining but as I say, I'm not sure I'm overdoing the recovery mentality.

Post by **Ironman** » Fri Oct 15, 2010 3:54 am

You could try light with low volume for a week. That should do the trick.

Post by **Jungledoc** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 12:24 am

In fact, it's a good idea for most people to stick in a light ("deload") week periodically. I do it every 4th week. I say "most"--it's not universal, but helpful to most people.

Haffy13 · Post by **Haffy13** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 7:44 pm

Due to having shoulder bursitis, I was thinking about taking a week off either every 4 weeks, 6 weeks, or 8 weeks. However, this seems like a better solution. So, could you recommend what % of 1RM I should be doing for a deload week and how many reps?

Post by **Jungledoc** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 9:36 pm

Roughly 50. Wendler recommends a set at 40%, one at 50% and 1 at 60%.

Or you can cut the reps. Or a little of each. Or do completely different exercises that week (but go easy on them). It can be a good time to experiment with new lifts, or something you haven't done for a while. You can choose lifts that are intended to be complimentary to your regular lifts, or completely different.

Haffy13 · Post by **Haffy13** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:00 am

Would that be 5 reps at 40%, 3 at 50% and 1 at 60% similar to warmups Starting Strength style? I'm also wondering How often I should take a week off and do this? My program is basically going to be heavy lifting twice a week, HIIT twice a week, Circuit training once a week, and light cardio on off days, but I'm easing into that due to my shoulders.

Thanks Doc

RobertB · Post by **RobertB** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:25 am

To deload once a month for a week seems a bit much for me but I can't say I have the education to disagree. To compensate for three weeks work with a full light week, would that not suggest that the three weeks before are being overdone?

I guess periodization is just that however, as long as it allows for heavy/light/rest, set it up how you like/how it works.

I just have a mentality that although rest is 110% required, so is consistent disruption, and would be scared that 9 days off/light per 30 would leave a bit too much?

This is assuming no issues such as the shoulder though - I won't even pass anything more than observation on injury posts/comments since I've never dealt with them.

Post by **Jungledoc** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:26 am

For the most part it works out well for me. If my workouts have been interrupted by life, work, etc., I won't do as long a deload.

At to your questions, I'd suggest you read Cressey, read Wendler, try it for yourself different ways and see what works, then make up your mind.

GTO · Post by **GTO** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:34 am

Haffy13 wrote:Would that be 5 reps at 40%, 3 at 50% and 1 at 60% similar to warmups Starting Strength style? I'm also wondering How often I should take a week off and do this? My program is basically going to be heavy lifting twice a week, HIIT twice a week, Circuit training once a week, and light cardio on off days, but I'm easing into that due to my shoulders.

Thanks Doc

Wendler says do 3 sets of 5 on the big lifts, I believe at the 40, 50 and 60%, the same percentages as he recommends for your your warmup.

Haffy13 · Post by **Haffy13** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 1:40 am

Jungledoc wrote:For the most part it works out well for me. If my workouts have been interrupted by life, work, etc., I won't do as long a deload.

At to your questions, I'd suggest you read Cressey, read Wendler, try it for yourself different ways and see what works, then make up your mind.

I would very much like to do that, but could you provide with more specifics of what to read by them and where to find said reading material.

Thanks

Post by **Jungledoc** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:55 am

For Wendler, I was thinking he had a chapter on deload in 5/3/1, but as I look at it, the discussion is all mixed into the text. Several comments in the FAQ section. Cressey has a whole book on the subject called "The Art of the Deload".

I Googled "weight training deload" and got lots of results, much of which included the word "download". Maybe that's the same thing! I did an advanced search to exclude that, and got several good articles. One http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthrea ... =121391461 is a post on a forum on Bodybuilding.com, but seemed very good to me, for a brief summary.

Post by **Jungledoc** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:57 am

Oh, yeah. The 5/3/1 manual is available as an ebook from the EFTS site, and Cressey's book is also an ebook available on his site.