Hey team,
Last week was a very intensive week and I am sure your body is feeling it. You asked your body a lot by doing all of 1 rep max testing. If you hit all those lifts, this post is for you. You will not see any heavy lifting this week for the regular program. In saying that, we will ask you to do one widow maker set before the retest.
A deload week is simply a week spent recovering. In this week, please go easier, about 50% intensity. How long does your body actually need for recovery? Consistent training eventually builds a deficit that cannot be repaid in a single rest day. A deload week is a chance for your body to recover from that deficit. The deload week allows your body to catch up – to repair connective tissue. Muscle can recover more quickly than connective tissue. A deload week keeps tendons and ligaments healthy. If you chronically develop tendonitis, then scheduled deload weeks are definitely part of the solution.
~ an excerpt from Tony Gentil Core
You get stronger by recovering from exercise. This simple concept forms the basis of exercise physiology. Hans Selye first described it in 1936. Countless professionals like Zatsiorsky, Rippetoe, and Kilgore have expanded it further. The basic theory goes like this:
1. Provide a stimulus to an organism (exercise)
2. Remove the stimulus (rest)
3. The organism adapts to better handle the stimulus (Next time you can deadlift 375 lbs instead of 370 lbs). This is called super-compensation.
We all recognize the importance of Step #1. We all recognize the fun of Step #3. But Step #2 often goes neglected, even though it’s equally critical.
What happens when you neglect Step #2 and you never remove the stimulus (you continue to exercise constantly)? Seyle actually studied that too. The organism dies. Now everyone will stop exercising before they die, but the point is that a never-ending stimulus (unceasing exercise) doesn’t make you better. It makes you worse. It digs your body into a hole that keeps getting deeper. This is overtraining.
