Deload week could be your secret weapon to get stronger
You’ve been training for a while, following an established routine, have been on top of your nutrition and sleep … but for some reason you seemingly stopped getting stronger?! We know how frustrating it is to hit the dreaded training plateau. It sounds counterintuitive, but something that might fix it is a good dealod week.
To understand deload week, we need to understand how a strength block works. A strength block is a 3 month training period designed to get you stronger. How? Progressive overload! Yep, every week you increase your weight, reps or sets for a certain lift (or tempo - but this one is more difficult to measure so let’s leave it out for now). The point is to increase the total training volume (which is basically weight x reps x sets), thus pushing your body to do a little bit more every week. Let’s take an (overly simplified) example:
Sam wants to improve her back squat, so she programmes a 3 month strength block to do so.
She knows her BB back squat 1RM is about 45kg, so she uses a formula to calculate that 35kg should be a good place to start for muscle growth (hypertrophy).
So, as we can see, Sam has gotten so much stronger as a result of herprogressive overload! This all sounds great, but Sam wants to see if her 1RM has improved too!
And this is where it gets interesting! Instead of going straight into testing, Sam should go into a deload week (week 11), and then into testing week (week 12).
Deload week is when we intentionally reduce the intensity and volume of your training. There are a couple of very good reasons why it’s important to do this:
Recovery! You’ve been training HARD for the past 10 weeks, so your body is naturally fatigued. By decreasing the volume and intensity, you give your body the opportunity to repair damaged tissue, reduce inflammation and replenish energy stores. And this goes hand in hand with injury prevention too, overtraining is REAL!
Long term progress: we all know training is a long term game, and deload weeks definitely contribute to this. By allowing your body to repair properly, you allow your body to adapt to regular training, and also feel ready for the next strength block.
Mental burnout: while we think strength blocks are a lot of fun, intense training can also take a toll on your mental health. You might find that you’re no longer as excited to train, or find it hard to go hard in your workouts. A week off from the mental pressure of giving your best can do wonders for your mindset!
Right, so Sam takes her deload week - week 11 - and she’s lifting at about 50%-60% of week 10’s intensity. What happens next? Week 12 Sam goes into testing week and PBs her BB Back squat at 55kg. And that’s how it’s done!
Already a member? Our LVL Up programming is designed to make you strongher, and yes that includes deload week too! Make sure you make use of the coach check-ins if you have any questions about your LVL Up sessions.
Struggling with your training programme? As part of our 6 Weeks to StrongHer programme you get structured guidance and 1:1 support to make sure you get strongher every week, and hit those PBs just like Sam did! Get on the waitlist HERE!