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07. Deload Week - When, Why & How
33 Plays1 month ago
In this episode we're going over a listener suggested topic, to better understand Deload week. Lifting with enough intensity is crucial to get stronger, but if we're not giving our body enough rest & opportunities to recover (like implementing a Deload week), our body will struggle to get stronger, and the risk of injury increases.
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Looking for a structured strength training program that focuses on helping you get stronger & build muscle, that includes weeks like Dropset week to make sure we're pushing enough, but also includes Deload weeks to make sure we're helping our body recover to keep moving forward?
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Transcript
Introduction to Strength Training and Deload Weeks
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, hey friends, let's get into another episode of the Basics of Balance. My name is Ariella, I will be your host today, and I'm really excited for the topic today for a couple of reasons. Number one,
00:00:13
Speaker
All of the episodes to this point have really been focusing on, in my opinion, like the behind the scenes side of your fitness journey, the pie in the sky topics as it relates to coaching and understanding, um you know, the how much of our our fitness journey is psychological and. how to measure progress and what affects progress. You know, it's been very generalized. You know what i mean? i I think it's important to kind of lay the foundation to kind of understand these principles.
00:00:42
Speaker
However, today we get to get a little bit more specific and talk about strength training specifically as it relates to deload week. OK, and the reason is which is also the second reason that I'm excited for this topic, is this is a suggestion from somebody who follows me on Instagram, okay?
00:01:00
Speaker
ah And so shameless little plug, make sure that you follow me on social media, all right? Whether it's Instagram or Threads, um All of the links to follow me on various social media platforms are in the description of the show. So make sure that you are following me and we can you know stay in touch. OK, but this is a topic suggestion from somebody who
Why Deload Weeks Matter in Training
00:01:20
Speaker
follows me. And so I think it's also really appropriate because.
00:01:24
Speaker
um The Train With Me ah membership that I offer is currently doing exactly this, and that is deload week. okay So at the time that I am recording this episode, they are going through a deload week. ah Individual clients, they also go through a deload week, and today we are talking about a deload week because, man, it's important, you guys.
00:01:46
Speaker
Really, really important. And so I'm going to read to you what this person wrote so that we have some frame of reference. But we're going to talk today about um deload week that kind of forces us to talk about some training intensity um and also just talking about recovery and whatnot as as it relates to getting stronger. OK, so.
00:02:04
Speaker
ah This person wrote, I would love an episode on how to go through a deload week. I just finished a 12-week strength training program, so now I am wanting to give my body and cortisol levels some time to rest.
00:02:17
Speaker
I want to maintain my progress, though, so would love some tips for how to properly do that. um And so that kind of forces us to first of all, understand that When we are following a structured strength training program that follows progressive overload principles, we are doing the same exercises for weeks at a time with the intention of lifting more weight over time. Okay. So with each week that we do the same workout, we are number one,
00:02:52
Speaker
getting better, we are improving, right? So our form is improving, our range of motion is improving, we are feeling more comfortable. And as a result of feeling more comfortable, because we are practicing that same exercise over and over and over again, we are getting stronger. Our our muscles, our body can handle more and therefore we lift heavier weight over time. Okay.
00:03:12
Speaker
Lifting heavier weight is not necessarily just like beating your chest and like, how heavy can I go? um The goal is to lift more weight over time. However, There are also some exercises like lateral raises that you just can't seem to increase your weight. You know what i mean?
00:03:28
Speaker
But all of that to say, when you are trying to get stronger, when you are trying to build muscle or preserve muscle, it's really important that we are lifting heavy enough.
The Role of Recovery in Strength Training
00:03:38
Speaker
um in order to stimulate the muscle, to break down the muscle, to you know get the muscle stronger, things like that. okay And so as you can imagine, when you are trying to get stronger and when you are lifting more weight over time, you are pushing yourself, right? Every single week you are pushing your limit.
00:03:58
Speaker
And so it makes sense then that we need to we need to understand the benefit and importance of taking a deload week every now and then. Okay. Um, strength training is only part of the equation as it relates to getting stronger and building muscle.
00:04:15
Speaker
I argue that recovery, what you do after that workout is a little bit more important. Sure. Of course we need to lift weight, right? That's how we stimulate the muscle. That's how, you know,
00:04:26
Speaker
things start muscle protein synthesis, right? However, at the end of the day, if you are not following up that lift with enough food to recover, enough protein to recover, enough sleep to recover and enough rest days to recover.
00:04:41
Speaker
Well, we're not gaining the full benefit of that strength training session. See what I'm saying? So like the recovery side of strength training is massively important. Okay. And as we've talked about in the past, your body is first of all, incredible.
00:04:54
Speaker
It is, it is adaptable. It will do the best with what we give it right with what it has. However, It can only do the best with what we give it, with what it has, okay? And if we are constantly pushing the limit, but we are not also following up that effort with taking it down a notch, that's really when we risk injury and that injury is going to set us back.
00:05:17
Speaker
um And so that's just not great, okay? And so it's important to understand when we are following a strength training program, we have to make sure that we are bringing the intensity,
Managing Lifting Intensity and Self-Assessment
00:05:28
Speaker
okay?
00:05:29
Speaker
it is not enough to just lift weights. Lifting weights is an extremely vague term. ah You can have the quote unquote perfect program, the most optimal program to reach whatever goal you're chasing, right?
00:05:43
Speaker
ah But if you are not lifting heavy enough in that program, if you are not bringing the intensity, you might feel like you're spinning your wheels. You might not see the changes that you thought you were gonna see.
00:05:55
Speaker
And really, it had nothing to do with that program. It was because you did not lift heavy enough. And oftentimes we can handle way more than we realize. And, you know, there are some things that I personally do to help us get better acclimated with what it feels like.
00:06:13
Speaker
to lift heavy enough, right? to To lift with enough intensity, to know that you are pushing yourself, okay? and um And so one of the ways that I try to coach this is I use rep ranges in my programming.
00:06:25
Speaker
And when we use a rep range, um we do not want to hit the top rep range. So a rep range would be um you know, a rep range of eight through 10. So eight nine eight reps, nine reps, or 10 reps, okay?
00:06:38
Speaker
And so we don't wanna hit 10 reps. Many people, they wanna max their reps out, okay? i think it's a psychological thing, an ego thing, where it's like, nope, I wanna max my reps out. But really, we don't wanna max our reps out. um We want to fall at the bottom to the mid rep of every single set. And if we hit that top set, if we max out our reps, that's actually a cue that we can and should be able to handle more, okay?
00:07:01
Speaker
And so it's almost like a self-test, if you will. It holds you accountable to say, okay, listen, I have hit the the the top rep on every single exercise ah this week.
00:07:12
Speaker
Okay, that means next week I want you to try to lift more weight, okay? And lifting more weight is not significant. It's two and a half to five pounds depending on the muscle group, right? Unless it's lateral raises, then you are just stuck at that weight for the rest of your life.
00:07:27
Speaker
um But all of that to say, that's kind of ah a way that we self-gauge and monitor. Am I going heavy enough? OK, also, do you need rest time in between your working sets? All right. So if you get to the end of your set and, you know, the rest timer, you know, pops up.
00:07:45
Speaker
and you don't feel like you need all of that rest, well, that's a sign you're not going hard enough. you know So there's a couple of ways that we you know we can kind of self-gauge depending on you know the program you're following and you know their principles and whatnot.
00:07:57
Speaker
But that's a couple of ways I do it within the program. um Another tool which is a favorite um among among you know people that do my programming is I do a week that's called Drop Set Week. um Because here's the thing.
00:08:12
Speaker
Your perception of what's hard matters. And if you if your goal is to try to bring the intensity and really push yourself. But if you think you're pushing yourself when really you got a lot more juice in the tank that you're withholding, but you don't realize you're withholding, right? Because your perception is, nope, I'm going big.
00:08:31
Speaker
Well, that's going to create some issues, right? That's going to give you a false sense of, no, I'm really pushing when in reality, we're not. You know what I mean? And that's what that's what leaves us feeling like we're on a treadmill. That's what leaves us feeling like I lifted weights, but nothing happened. You know what i mean?
00:08:45
Speaker
And so drop set week is... A week where we drop a set of every single exercise, but I want them to make up for the loss of weight um by removing that exercise in the remaining lifts. OK, or I'm sorry, by removing that set in the remaining sets. OK, so you only have two sets instead of three, but I want you to increase your weight on those two sets to make up for the loss of weight lifted by removing the set. See what I'm saying?
00:09:13
Speaker
And so they get a little bit more acclimated with what it feels like to push. um And so when we go back to normal intensity, we go back to normal sets, the weights that they left off on before drops that week, before they tried to go a little bit heavier, um feel a little bit too light because they got more acclimated. They got you know a little bit more adjusted to what it feels like to push.
00:09:35
Speaker
So your perception of what's hard matters, okay? So, you know, just kind of understand that as it relates to understanding deload week, taking a break, we have to understand that when we're following a strength training program, the goal is to lift more.
00:09:49
Speaker
But if our perception is, no, I'm pushing myself when you're really not, you're not going to feel like you need a deload week. You know what i mean? And so maybe this is the first time you're hearing something like that. um And so all of that to say.
00:10:01
Speaker
As it relates to understanding how important recovery is, right, and why, and that's where Deload Week comes into play, if we
Implementing Deload Weeks Effectively
00:10:11
Speaker
are if we are trying to get stronger, right,
00:10:15
Speaker
We are also wanting to stay active in that deload week. Okay. So the way that I handle a deload week is we follow still the same exact exercises as we've got accustomed to over the last few weeks.
00:10:29
Speaker
We are just reducing our intensity. Okay. So in this person's example, they followed a strength training program for 12 weeks. Okay, cool. I want you to do the exact same workout.
00:10:40
Speaker
or exercise routine again, so really 13 weeks if you will. But I want you to reduce your intensity by at least 25%. And what that's doing is, number one, it's helping you keep the habit alive, okay? It's helping you stay into that regular routine, helping you keep that habit alive so that we are not stopping the momentum that you've built.
00:11:02
Speaker
As we learned in our motivation episode, when we stop momentum, it makes it harder for us to start again. Okay. So we don't want to stop. We don't want to quit. We want to keep the habit alive. We just want to adapt how we handle that habit being reducing your intensity. Okay.
00:11:19
Speaker
And so when we reduce our intensity, uh, we're keeping that movement pattern alive, right? We're keeping that habit alive. We are just giving our body less to have to recover from. Okay.
00:11:31
Speaker
And so throughout the entire week, you're essentially just going through the motions. ah You might not even need, ah you know, the rest time between sets. You might not even feel like you need the rest days. Right.
00:11:41
Speaker
um But the idea is we are still staying active. Right. Because staying active is part of living a healthy and balanced lifestyle. um But we are giving our body an opportunity to Recover. We are giving our body an opportunity to get its head above water and really make sure that all of our ligaments, all of our tendons, all the nooks and crannies are recovered. OK, so that we can show up that much stronger for the next program. Right.
00:12:08
Speaker
um Or the next workout recovery in general. OK, as it relates to D load week specifically, um i oftentimes suggest to.
00:12:20
Speaker
Continue eating the exact same as if you were to just have a regular week. OK. And the reason is, first of all, this kind of like we this is kind of talking about the relationship
Nutrition and Recovery During Deload Weeks
00:12:32
Speaker
between training and ah um nutrition.
00:12:34
Speaker
However, it's really important to understand that when we are. eating enough food, we are giving our body the the right amount of nutrients to recover from that exercise, right? Working out doesn't get us stronger, guys.
00:12:49
Speaker
It's what we do outside of that exercise that gets us stronger, okay? And working out, that technically makes us weaker. If we are not replenishing with eating enough food, with eating enough protein, ah with sleeping enough, yada, yada, yada, then we are not necessarily getting stronger. OK, so as it relates to deload week, if the goal is to recover, if that's the whole entire point, well, we don't want to reduce our calories. Right. You you might not be pushing as much, but the quote unquote extra food that you would be eating.
00:13:22
Speaker
It's going to help promote that recovery, the whole entire point of your deload week, you know. And so we really want to make sure we are letting our body have a little bit of of a little. Why do I keep saying that we're letting her body have a little bit of a break, but we are also not withholding some of that support. We're not withholding some of that fuel. that's promoting that recovery. Okay.
00:13:44
Speaker
Deload week is also a fantastic week to, you know, catch up on um your steps, to catch up on maybe other style of training like yoga or, um you know, similar stretching, if you will, Pilates, you know, stuff like that.
00:13:59
Speaker
um If you are following a program they are hopefully giving you some of that guidance as well, okay? But as it relates to that deload week, it's just really important that we understand, um you know, you should feel like you need a deload week if you really are pushing yourself enough, okay? I hope that that was kind of helpful just to kind of go over some of the reasoning as to why you might wanna consider taking a deload week, especially if you are following a strength training program, and especially if your goal is to get stronger and or build muscle, okay? um
00:14:34
Speaker
As it relates to, you know when when this person says, I wanna maintain my progress, So I want those tips. Understand that sometimes we have to take a step back in order to maintain progress.
00:14:48
Speaker
Sometimes we have to take a step back in order to see more progress. OK, and so that's why we appreciate rest days. We appreciate rest timers between sets. We appreciate weeks like deload week that allows us to take it down a notch, right, to to catch our breath, to get our head up above water, help our body recover.
00:15:07
Speaker
um so that we can continue to show up, so that we can maintain our progress without having a setback, like an injury, right? Like doing too much without accommodating, hey, my body needs to recover, um so that we can make more progress. If we are not recovering, then we're not really lifting to our true potential. We're not giving our body enough time to do what we want it to do, right? um And so those are also kind of a few tips as to how to handle a deload week,
00:15:36
Speaker
um You know, really trying to make sure that if we are pushing ourselves, um you know, one day a week, whether it's every six weeks or whether it's every 12 weeks, ah really trying to take it down a notch by at least 25 percent. OK, continuing the same movement patterns, not stopping the habit. um and And, you know, the workouts will take less time, of course, and you won't push as hard continuing to eat the same.
00:15:59
Speaker
um amounts of food so that you you're promoting that recovery, really focusing on, um you know, sleeping well, hydrating, things like that. Right. um But I also do want to kind of ah talk about some signs that you might need a deload week, some signs that you might even just need a rest day, because I feel like I think the fitness industry is doing a lot better in terms of not not thinking as much of no pain, no gain. Rest days aren't good. You
Recognizing Overtraining Signs
00:16:29
Speaker
gotta work out six, seven days a week if you wanna see progress.
00:16:32
Speaker
um At least I hope that's the case. That's you know from my from my point of view, what I'm seeing online and you know when I'm talking to people and things like that. um And so if that is something new to you, welcome. It doesn't have to be like that. We get rest days. and We appreciate our rest days.
00:16:46
Speaker
And if we still wanna do something on our rest days, that's when we go for a walk. That's when we still stay active with other forms of activity, okay? But some signs that you might be overtraining, some signs that your body might be struggling, some signs that you might need to take a rest day and or a whole deload week, right?
00:17:05
Speaker
um Number one would be if you are just so tired, if you are fatigued, if you are lethargic. I oftentimes consider or relate to this as if you feel like you got hit by a truck, you're waking up, your muscles, your body just feels heavy, right? When you're walking, your legs just feel heavy.
00:17:24
Speaker
um You know, things are just moving slowly. You're just tired. You're just, you know, when when you're fatigued like that, when you're lethargic, so something is wrong. That is not something to just like ignore.
00:17:37
Speaker
do not um Do not pass go. Do not click $200. That is biofeedback. That is something we listened or learned about um in the last couple of episodes, okay? Your biofeedback is telling you, hey, your body needs to rest. Your body needs to not do that workout even though you want to do that workout, right?
00:17:55
Speaker
um Your body needs to take things down a notch, okay? Okay. So if you are having some times where you're feeling lethargic, where you're feeling like you got hit by a bus, hey, you might wanna consider taking an extra rest day or two or taking a deload week, okay?
00:18:10
Speaker
um If you are, if you cannot increase your weight, relatively speaking, if you are stuck at the same weight of the same exercises week after week after week and you just simply cannot lift more weight,
00:18:25
Speaker
you might want to consider taking a deload week, right? If your body can't get stronger, then we need to look at your recovery, right? We need to look at not necessarily just, oh, just keep going, one day it'll happen.
00:18:39
Speaker
And instead we need to look at, are you recovering enough? Okay, because if you're not recovering enough, you're not gonna be able to get stronger. um And so if you can increase your weight week after week after week, that's a sign.
00:18:51
Speaker
um Those who are in a caloric deficit, so those who are chasing fat loss or weight loss as their primary goal, um we really wanna make sure that you are taking a deload week every six weeks, every 12 weeks, every you know set period of time, okay?
00:19:07
Speaker
Because working out is stress on your body and a calorie deficit is stress on your body. And again, not all stress is bad. Working out stress is not bad, but we don't want to put too much stress on our body to tip the stress scales in the wrong direction to now have a big old hole that you gotta climb out of, okay? Such as, you know, dealing with, um you know,
00:19:30
Speaker
longer periods of stress and your body just starting to kind of break
Addressing Stress and Cortisol Concerns
00:19:35
Speaker
down. Digestive issues, you know, hormones start getting out of whack, you know, feeling extremely bloated. Maybe you're dealing with injuries. Maybe you get some brain fog going on, you know, kind of the things that we learned about, right? Those are all red flags. That's your biofeedback saying something is off. And so we really want to make sure that we are, especially if we're in a deficit ah Making sure that we're not doing too much.
00:19:57
Speaker
Okay. Your body is already stressed out. It's doing the best that it can. We're already intentionally not feeding it enough to see the changes we want to see. um And so we have to be really cognizant of the fact that, hey, your body is going to need some some rest every now and then. Okay.
00:20:13
Speaker
um But I also want to kind of circle back to what this person said as it relates to, i want to give my body and cortisol levels some rest.
00:20:25
Speaker
I really genuinely love that you included this context. um And so thank you for that, because this really allows for an opportunity to kind of piggyback off of what we talked about last week, such as when we are practicing a few basic habits, a few basic foundational, fundamental, healthy habits,
00:20:46
Speaker
we are from a from a big picture, from a big bird's eye view, making sure that we are as healthy and living as balanced as possible, okay? Meaning, if we are getting enough quality sleep every single night, if we are staying hydrated, if we are eating enough food and the right balance of that food, so making sure that we're getting in enough protein, carbs, fats, fiber, you know, stuff like that, um,
00:21:15
Speaker
then we really don't have to worry as much about cortisol levels because your cortisol levels are being as regulated as possible by taking care of those or by focusing on those habits, okay?
00:21:29
Speaker
Now, if you were practicing all of those habits and you got your labs taken and yes, your cortisol was through the roof, okay, that's different, right? We're already focusing on the basics, something else is wrong, now let's focus on the specifics, okay?
00:21:45
Speaker
But if we are practicing a few basic fundamental healthy habits and you already have a great understanding as it relates to knowing that your body needs rest in the first place, like what an awesome relationship with exercise that you have, um then I wouldn't worry so much about your cortisol levels. okay Taking care of basics first before we focus on the specifics.
00:22:10
Speaker
Your cortisol levels um again, are or I'm sorry, not levels, but your cortisol increasing every now and then, are not it's not necessarily a bad thing inherently speaking, okay? There are times when our cortisol increases and that is natural and that should be happening, right?
00:22:28
Speaker
When we are working out and that's a good kind of stress, your cortisol might increase when we are in that stress-induced state. But again, that's not a bad thing necessarily, right? Now, it would be a bad thing if those levels were sustained at an elevated rate. All right.
00:22:42
Speaker
But they can't be sustained at an elevated rate if we are focusing on the basics. OK. um And so, you know, just I say that to put your mind at ease. I say that because that's exactly um what I'm talking about in terms of.
00:22:58
Speaker
Let's zoom, zoom into really what matters. Okay. Um, and so I hope that that was a helpful explanation for you as it relates to, ah you know, deload week and, you know, how to implement that, you know, some tips on, you know, and why the, why the whole cortisol thing might not be as big of a deal as, as we think it might be. And because we oftentimes see that information online, um, and Hey, that's, that's part of the information age, if you will. Okay. That's part of the, the conversation online.
00:23:27
Speaker
So all of that to say, it's important to remember when you are following a strength training program, um we want to, you know, yes, lift more over time. But guys, that lifting more doesn't always mean lifting heavier weight. OK, you know, it's really important to make sure you are you know paying more of an attention on form, more of an attention on range of motion before you add weight. OK.
00:23:51
Speaker
um And when, you know, form and range of motion are good and we add weight, that's how we safely lift more weight over time. That's how we get stronger. That's how we build and preserve muscle um and whatnot.
00:24:02
Speaker
I would love to also kind of just like put in a little plug right now. It's Habits 4-Year Anniversary. And that's really exciting to me because four years ago I had a little tiny dream and we are still here.
00:24:13
Speaker
And now we're starting podcasts and stuff like that. And so I want to celebrate with offering this. 40% off of your very first month of training um just to try it out. Okay. There's zero commitment. There is zero contract. So if you try it for one month at 40% off, which breaks down to 50 cents a day and you don't love it.
00:24:31
Speaker
Okay. im I am not big on holding anybody hostage to anything. I am not a pusher. That is not my style. Okay. I will provide you with, um you know, the information and I will provide you with the support and the guidance.
00:24:43
Speaker
Um, but you know, I'm, I'm not here to just kind of hold you hostage. So anyways, all that to say, uh, a new program starts on Monday. I would love for you to join us 40% off. I will, uh, leave the links to, uh, learn more about the program and also links to sign up for the program. If you want to try us out, um, and also the promo code to enter at checkout to get 40% off. Okay. Uh, a true strength training program that focuses on progressive overload style principles that includes weeks like deload week. Like I said,
00:25:13
Speaker
um that includes form check weeks, that includes drop set weeks to really make sure that you are pushing the limit, right? And of course, some weekly guidance and some brain gains and stuff like that to keep you growing. So um I hope that this episode was helpful for you.
00:25:28
Speaker
If there's another topic anybody wants me to cover, I would love to kind of cover that. um But hopefully, you know a little bit more about how important recovery is, how important it is to really make sure that you are pushing, um but also Focusing on a few basic habits kind of, you know, removes the need to be worried so much about the specifics like, hey, you know, I don't I don't want to elevate my cortisol too much. Right.
00:25:52
Speaker
um And so I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. If you have ah questions on anything I talk about, make sure you follow me on socials. Make sure you subscribe. Rate the show. It really, really helps me out to spread the basics to more people.
00:26:05
Speaker
Have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll talk to you guys next time.