Are Deloads Actually Useless!? (Examining The Science)
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
- @menno.henselmans is here again to set the record straight on deloads!
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0:00 Full Week Off
2:42 Reactive Deload
4:30 Planning deloads 
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Scott: “no gay jokes on this video”
Dr Mike: staring angry at the floor
I deload not because of any science-backed reasoning, but because sometimes my body could really use a bit of a break. I always feel MUCH better after taking a week off (or going light) and no one can convince me otherwise.
maybe try reducing the insane volume your doing and you wont need deloads, essentially what i read is you like being lazy.
@@SamSimplyTrains "you're too lazy" "also reduce your volume you're working out too much"
huh?
@@SamSimplyTrains bro you are so hardcore wow
@@Yama-qg3il does it really blow your mind that 2 concepts can exist at once lmao
@@ThroughTheWormhole Thanks?
It just so happens that life throws a particularly hectic week at me every 6-12 weeks, so I basically just deload whenever that happens
I was thinking the same thing. I never have to worry about deloads because life keeps getting in the way.
So true. I just cannot have a 6 day per week for more than 2 weeks in a row. It's always something that breaks at least 1 day.. but I don't mind I just use it as a fuel to perform better next exercise. I still grow so I don't mind. Life is weird
I take a day off, two max sometimes. Never a full week though
Unless you’re specifically being paid to look or perform a certain way I’d say do what you’d like and you’re fine it’s insane to be this pedantic and not be stepping on a stage or making money off your looks
You've always got an hour ..no excuse
If I am exhausted, sore all over, joints feel like the have broken glass in them, and my grip strength is struggling with a cup of coffee then yes I am taking a week off.😂
…. Then yes I am hitting a new PR
Maybe lower your volume?
To quote the great American philosopher Foghorn Leghorn "That's a joke, son"😅 I do like the DOMS sometimes
If you upper body is sore that much, you don't to stop training legs, or maybe it's an other problem, like joint problem, tendons problem and that you need to see a professional, it can happen im just saying
That sounds like some different problem
I actually programme my deloads based around what's going on in my life. If I have a long 3-4 day weekend with the family and can't gym I actually structure my training to go hard before hand then really enjoy the time off with my family. It's a new training programme I have devised. It's called" living your life and not letting your life be your entire gym (just most of it 😆)
Did you mean "not letting the gym be your entire life"?
regardless most here will be in the grave within 800 months so live life
@@MJfromdaO I intend to live forever. So far it is working out quite well :P
Funny that Gregorian calendar bias was mentioned, I train every second day so naturally the actual days I train change every week. It gives me and my program robustness against the rest of life. If I feel like shit, instead of wasting a workout, I'll just postpone one day, and instead of blowing out my program for a whole week it all just scooches along one day. On Friday I had no sleep due to work, was supposed to do max effort deadlifts but I know that on low sleep my compounds suffer. So I did them Saturday instead, and felt amazing, and hit my target weights. I don't do deloads by taking a whole week off, I'll just rest an extra day or two then get back to it.
Same-except I exercise everyday, until I feel I need a rest, and then I take a day or maybe two off. I just rotate between workouts without respect to the day of the week
Same. Scooch method is super flexible and at the same time maintains consistency
this is what i've recently been doing too :)
Rest every third day here. Day 1, heavy cardio (run). Day 2, weight training focused. Day 3, rest/recover. Even so, still noticing after 6-8 weeks, the number of aches and pains pick up, so take it light for a cycle of two.
Personally this is way too flexible for me. Id have a hard time making any progress on a training plan like this where i just get to fuck off and skip legs whenever i want
I'm married, have two young kids, work full time, pushing 40 years old, 4x a week of heavy lifting in the gym, 2-3x a week BJJ training, meal prepping every day/weekend. I deload for the mental break as much for the physical break. Does wonders for my recovery both mentally and physically. After the week, I'm hungry for the gym again and mentally good to go. When I do deload, I typically deload the week I'm competing in a BJJ tournament, or the following week after my competition.
Yep I just deload for the mental break. Only do it once every 20-30 weeks though.
That’s probably as busy as someone can get, getting burnt out is practically inevitable
@RLS_91 I compete every three months, so that's my deload schedule. One week every three months
@_baller probably so, but even then, I still feel like there is some way I can do more. I shouldn't, though. Recovery is vital.
@@epete425 lol what inside your mind is telling you to do “more”, most ppl do a lot less
Having an option in the RP hypertrophy app to have deloads occur only after backslides in progress would be AMAZING. I would gladly pay extra for that option.
Brother, I’m 65, and I need time off. Used to push through it. Now by taking time off, I have far fewer tweaks and am making better progress.
reduce frequency?
yea sounds like you're just doing too much in general
fewer*
I'm 64 and I take every 9th week off. My training is as good as it ever was and I avoid having to grind through a series of workouts to reach that mental break. 💪
@@Pedant_Patrol Edited, thanks. And I was a teacher, albeit mostly pre-school.🤣🤣🤣🤣🙄
Deloads are absolutely necessary, my last deload week I got 3 PRs
If that works for you, great.
I hear what he is saying, for me, an active
deload is needed for a week after 2 or 3 months. I feel the stress of life kicking my butt
Yea real humans are not lab rats.
months!? Dude now that I'm older every 4th week needs to be a deload. Whats wild is when I was younger, I'd only take a break/deload if we were going off to spring/christmas break where I had no choice. But now, 3 weeks of heavy heavy lifting, on the 4th week, which I'm in right now, I can barely function. Edit: mentally, I don't need a deload, my mind actually tells me to man the f*** up, but my body is screeming, dude, you need a break everything hurts.
I go about 6 weeks working out, then take that much needed deload, then get back to it for another 6-8 weeks
You're not Trump.
@@dmora2386 we might be the same age, 44
I read, "Deloads are actually useless" And my immediate thought before I even clicked the notification was, "Tell that to my hips, man 😂"
I'm deloading now, and I can feel the life slowly coming back to me haha
Yea same, but not just hips, fucking everything is fucked after 16 weeks at age 37
@@ChitWhitly wait till the joy of 65. 🤣🤣🤣🤣All the best. Enjoy the process.
@@chrisweidner4768 Thx my brother, my dad is 64 and i got him training 3 times a week in retirement, he loves it!
@@ChitWhitly man, I don't know what happened. I did my deload pull session, and then my shoulder started to hurt. I was like, are you serious?! 😆
@spencersivco8503 lol brother I feel your pain, I miss being 25 hahah
I agree with this for the most part in terms of the muscle recovery etc. However you haven't mentioned for CNS. Sometimes taking for me 4 days off after a 5-7 week period i feel fresh to go again. If i didnt i would feel like utter garbage. But hey it works for me.
true
Also stuff like work and home life (aka alternative stress) taxing the central drive at times. Muscles may be gtg but the spirit isn't haha
I take dealods naturally when i'm on vacation or on a trip i prefer this over planning them..
Great mentality
my way to go 🥰
Grip strengrh is one of indicators.
I used to not do deloads, but tennis elbow did me in.
Same here. Started to do weighted pull ups, but I guess to fast after my time off from thr gym and my elbow gave in. Already 3 weeks and getting better very very slowly
Before I watch the video, i want to say ive been deloading for 25 years comfortably, so curious to see Menno’s take on this.
why are you even watching this channel if you're lazy af?
I dont care if there's no evidence, if my joints start to bother me after 4 weeks of heavy training im taking a deload week (half the weight/half the series). Worked wonders for the past year
hows the progress after?
Same
How's there no evidence when you just provided some evidence (those joints) ?
@@aarononeill3anecdotes are not evidence
@@aarononeill3anecdote lol
Phenomenal video! Thanks for the comprehensive explanation. It’s super helpful. 🙌
I respect this information and will definitely incorporate this into my future deloads. For me deloads are a great mental break as well. Not having to go to the gym for 5-7 days helps tremendously in the long run 💪🏾
I'm actually doing s one week deload this week. First one in 2-1/2 years of consistent, 4 days a week training. I'm 55 and was really starting to feel fatigued for the first time. I figured I'd try it and see if it'll help.
Tl;dw:
-you can build a work capacity to where you recover in as little as 24 hours (as seen in 6x and 7x weekly frequency in professional Norwegian powerlifting competitors who were studied in lab settings)
-deloads should be specific to muscle groups, and based on measured overreach, rather than calendrical schedules (if you overreach [get weaker while not under training] on bench. Deload your pressing muscles only)
-if you detect overreach on a set, and take the rest of the sets off from the workout, sometimes this alone will provide enough recovery to allow progress on the next scheduled session (he calls this a “reactive deload”)
-Mike mentions a tip where sometimes when overreaching mid-mesocycle to take a half week where you do half the volume and half the load which should reduce fatigue enough to complete the mesocycle
-Monica Bellucci is a dimepiece
Thank you for all your useful information.
Mike and Menno, great content, love it!
I've experienced what you've described.
After watching a crapton of Mike's advice on yt, I've devised a program that was supposed to go for 12 weeks.
I went on for 9 weeks and might've overreached a bit cause I was feeling too tired all the time.
I decided to deload in the middle of the training week, it was about Wednesday or Thursday. What surprised me a lot is that I actually didn't need a full 7 days to recover. I was good to go after about 4, and on day 5 I started new mesocycle with different focus (chest).
I didn't expect that muscles from previous meso (back) recovered so greatly and I was feeling a lot stronger.
Deloading really differs from person to person and imho requires a lot of self awareness and understanding of your own physiology. That means for someone 2 weeks deloading will be necessary and for others only a couple of days.
Nervous system fatigue is something that we really need to pay attention too.
BTW that was my first ever comment on yt. This shows how much I love your content :D I would love to train with you someday, just to see if an amateur can survive how the pros do it.
Keep it up!
Dr.Mike looking like a Harkonnen on that thumbnail, beautiful
More like Bane without his mask or beast from glass.
Deloads based on autorgeulation and biofeedback have changed the game for me.
X2
“Uhhh, you said load..uh huh huh huh uhuh huh.” -Butthead
100% that’s all I’ve ever based it on and feels wonderful imo
you lift when you feel good and you don't if you don't. you're welcome, that'll be 200$
Same here.
Another factor that I think wasn't addressed is if you are cutting. When I'm cutting, build up of fatigue from training happens more easily and recovery takes longer. After 8 weeks of cutting and training, sometimes I just need a week of maintenance calories and half the training volume. Then I'm back to it. It may sound like I bitched out, but it's way better to be able to train hard while cutting to maintain mass. I don't have a show to hit, there's no reason to blow myself up metabolically for this.
I would like to add that the mind is super large part of a workout at least for me. I deload every 8 to 12 weeks and when I get back to the gym after the deaload I always se progress in performance and all the physical signs (pump, streach, ability to control eccentric etc) I think it’s important to remember that the psychological impact of rest and recovery and the consequence of just getting a break from your mundane routine resuscitates your will and mindset. Even if my muscles would be ready after 72 hours in sted of a week, I know that my preformance as person will be better after that full week which undoubtedly will leed to better gains then the workouts I would preformed if mentally exhausted or just on autopilot. It really keeps the workout a fun activity for me to just take breaks from it sometimes. It makes you appreciate the gym more. Great video!
I'm literally in burn out right now, and I sure as hell can tell you taking a week off or going very light helps tremendously. Everyones body and recovery is different. Science all you want, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt my body cannot endure another week of punishment like this. My sympathetic is all screwed up, I'm huffing and puffing like I can't breath, getting dizzy when standing up quickly joints are hurting like crazy, sleep is all screwed up(which is further impairing recovery and is causing an infinite fatigue loop). My entire being is saying, take the foot off the gas for a bit. When I was on gear/roids and when I was younger, recovery was much much much faster, sure, I could power through it. But in my 40s now...nah man. I know when my body needs break. Breaks are good.
There is something very important about addressing psychological fatigue that a deload does. Pushing hard over five weeks and then taking a week deload serves as such a massive demarcation line, a perfect marker for adjusting program, resting, decompressing, and more.
I can only speak for myself - but the one week off was MUCH more for my mental health than physical. I needed it off. Perhaps it's my age but it takes a lot of willpower to keep doing this. I was hating it. But by the end of the off week I was really wanting to get back to lifting and I'm happier now. So maybe we all should just do it as we see fit. Do what we need to do to keep on going.
Legit, couldn’t have come at a better time. Lost 115lbs this passed year, been progressing with my lifts, getting a lot stronger, but a bit fatigued but damn, it’s harder to take time off than to workout as much as I do. Just wasn’t sure if I should “deload” bc I haven’t in a few months. Back to the video!
Dr Mike is my Hero! I learned more from him than any of my personal training certifications 😂 You have single handedly shaped me as a trainer ( no pun intended)
Dr Mike looks angry while listening to Menno... :O
He Just realised he lost he's week off and now he never gets another week off ever.
I love that he’s willing to have him on. Especially since a lot of what he brings to the table changes Mike’s views
@@anondelivers9051 lol
@@philnj7302 I love that Dr Mike follows the science and is willing to go in new directions. Far too many dogmatic people out there that are just set in their rut.
Stifling an erection is hard work.
I needed a deload where I took 2 days off and the remaining 3 days I took it easy. Before this, I trained hard for 3 months, but then I ran out of energy after 20 minutes of training and I was feeling pretty miserable anyway. I'm a beginner and I don't know much about working out/my body, but I'm learning more all the time
The hilarious thing about these fitness channels is that every day it's "NEW STUDY SAYS... the conclusion that people arrived at intuitively 60 years ago is basically correct". Like, yeah man, if your joints are sore and you're too tired - you don't have to go. Most of the advice on these channels doesn't apply to 95% of people. It's for guys whose mass is so far beyond homeostasis that they will look noticably different if they quit for 2 months. That's not most people. Just show up 2 or 3 times a week, full body workout, with loads that are challenging, and your results will be almost exactly the same as somebody who is "Sciencing the shit out of it".
@@frankcooke1692You have some valid points but you are vastly exaggerating. The guy that goes 2 times a week will gain mass but not a comparable amount to the "science based" lifter.
@@jbawg Depends what the threshold for 'science based' is. If we're just talking 'time under tension', progressive loading, and pushing to failure and things like that - that's literally just what weighlifting is, that's a given. What I mean is, beyond that - near enough is good enough - It's unecessary and possibly counter-productive to get bogged down in details beyond that - for most people. There's also arguably diminishing returns in training frequency. Twice a week is about 80% optimal. You grow muscle resting, not training.
@frankcooke1692 this! Some people work full time very labour intensive kids at home, so how do they follow the science to get to absolute monster size and workout as efficiently in regards to science, its all well and good being an influencer or youtuber/instagramer/ticktoker or a career where literally all you have to do is make a video go to gym eat your food since and repeat, of course they can follow all the science down to a T, get amazing results and look in top 1 percent of their genetics, but if your just looking for overall muscle development and fitness so just looking and feeling jacked then close enough if good enough, I've been training since I was around 17 I'm now 30, I got lost in trying to follow science because it seemed like daily they would contradict what was best for muscle growth, and it started to drown me because I'd have to change what I was doing weekly to follow the most effective way of doing things, diet, training all of it so now I just follow what works for me and I don't plan my weeks off I got to a point where my body just tells me enough for a bit thwn my motivation comes back pain goes away and I can smash it, sometimes for months but if I have a busy few days at work (I have a labour intensive job) or my little ones aren't very well so I've been caring for them I will take a few days or week off to sort stuff out then get back on it.
As with most things as long as your consistent with your training keeping strict form (please take my advice and don't try to be the strongest in the gym, I did this, passed with flying colours but now I'm older I'm paying the price for my ego of being the fat kid in school with something to prove all my joints are screwed my knees, elbows all feel like im 90 years old all because i didnt check my ego at the door at 19/20 thought i was superman until it caught up with me) and just control what you eat, you know what will be bad for you and what will be good for you, should you have that pizza takeaway or should you go home and try to make your own? Probably make your own, less things that have been added and you'll probably enjoy it more, do you want that donut or apple? You get the point
I use my deload week as a safety valve emotionally and physically. 😊
I love having a week of bodyweight/machine/cable light work. Feels good physically & mentally.
I'm a climber and I have to deload or injury is inevitable. I like the reactive deload advice talked about here.
Poor you. Tell that to builders working 60 hours week lol.
@@user-ns1fj7sv9t It's not a contest.
@@user-ns1fj7sv9tlol construction workers aren't crimping
I don't take a full week off, but eventually after several weeks I will take an extra day or two at the end of a week to rest on a weekend so I can sleeeeeeep and recover.
Hi RP, I would love to see a video on how to train with a long term illness (I have psoriatic arthritis at 34). I appreciate this might not be possible but if anyone could do it I thought Dr Mike could. Thank you for all your content. I love the podcast also. It has helped me train sensibly and safely and get back to being able to run around and pick up my kids.
Props to Mike for bringing someone that clearly has an opposing view to him (the RP app makes you plan de deload)… interesting conversation, I have to say that knowing that I deload is coming allows me psychologically to push harder, but hearing what Meno said makes me wonder if it’s the best approach
Uhm i see it differently. I think it's for an advanced understanding of taking a break. Mike's way is more casual like you don't need to know deep to get it and it's not overly complicated and Menno's way is more advanced like precision advanced like a targeted deload and more flexible but knowing when to do it is for advanced people only since you need to know your body really well to interpret the signals that your body is showing so Menno's way is more hardcore pretty much voz its literally going to failure on specific parts of the body and you'd need super willpower to reach that point. Mike - For dummies while Menno - For nerds and i do not mean that offensively.
For normal people Mike's way is best, no need to read the bible pretty much while Menno's way is for hardcore people that's really min-maxing gains.
The problem with using your performance to gauge when you should deload, is the inconsistencies that can happen with your performance. You reached 10 reps with your bench press, the next time you try again with the same weight, you reach failure at 8 reps. Was that a big degradation of performance? Should you deload? Should you panic and go to the hospital and demand the doctor tell you at gunpoint what's wrong with your gains? You bench press again the next time and you end up reaching 11 reps now. So what happened there? You didn't take a deload. This happens to me all the time. I don't really worry too much about my performance or reaching my targeted rep number anymore. I try to surpass myself but don't make a big deal out of it. If I feel mentally tired, have sore joints, can barely lift my ass off the couch, I take an unplanned rest day. If I feel really bad then I might take a deload week.
But devoting a whole week to a deload seems like an overkill that only really advanced lifters might need.
Maybe when you went for a 2nd set and hit 8, you didn't have enough rest/minutes between sets. Maybe the shorter rest time gave you a different type of boost/gains your body needed.
If your going to failure with less reps isnt that better for muscle hypertrophy ?
I agree, his leg press example of hitting 10 reps one day and 9 reps the next, then choosing to deload bc of that was a bit off in my opinion
It also depends on the volume, frequency, and intensity of training. I do 3 workouts at the gym a week (1 upper, 2 lower, about 22-24 sets, 0-2 RIR) and 3 times Muay Thai, after which I would also do all sort of exercises, but this time 0-1 RIR. Fatigue accumulates quite quickly if you don’t eat like a monster, a deload every 6th week works quite well for me. And in regards to taking a deload if you performance goes down, I would take a reactive deload if my performance goes down twice in a row for the same muscle. For example, on two of the Muay Thai days I do one-arm push-ups to failure. Recently there was a time when I did 7 reps on Thursday, but only 6 on Saturday, even though Friday was rest. If during my upper training on Monday my chest was weaker than the week before, then I would take a week off. Otherwise, just continue. When I came to do them on Thursday, everything was fine again, and same was the case on Saturday.
Two weeks break in highschool for Christmas was devastating to my gains. Working out for me is almost only for peace in my head. I don't take days off, almost ever. A day off and I'm already foaming at the mouth. This is really awesome news. I often wonder if I'm doing more harm than good.
I physically absolutely have deload every 4th to 6th week during my strength phases. During hypertrophy phases though, it's just a nice mental break after going harder and harder every week.
Why can you only choose a preplanned (4, 5, 6) weeks before deload and not decide yourself in the app based on this science?
Totally agree… deloads need to be optional in the app and provide more flexibility for when one is taken
Absolutely agreed. Duriing my last Meso I did an additional week of 0 RIR because I recover nicely (also enhanced for context) & I didn't feel like it messed me up where I couldn't manage. It honestly felt like I earned the deload week once it came about
That also puzzles me about the app, why is 4-6 weeks the only option?
Since Mike religiously deloads every 8th week the RP app doesn't even work for his needs...
@@zbelair20 I love the app, but I feel you on the need to increase the option for weeks before a deload. I can see the programming beating someone who doesn't have their recovery on point to dust with how intense it gets, but on my first few MESO go rounds I felt like I had another week or two in me before I needed to phone it in. I think 8wks is a perfect amount before needing a little mental rest.
Dr. Mike and Menno in the same vid makes me want to deload my... well I can't say
im glad dr. m brought up deloading for systemic fatigue but i wish they discussed that more
For me, deloads are for joint and connective tissue recovery. Which takes about a week.
After 5 weeks of hard training I am totally fried and depleted, deload weeks are mandatory in my training
You must not be a body builder then ig. IDK what youre doing that you you have to take weeks off of training...
@@SamSimplyTrainsprobably doing too much volume like Dr. Mike suggests, which is why Dr. Mike needs deloads. I've concluded it all comes down to patience, are you willing to pull back your volume and not need deloads or do you prefer going all out every day and then NEEDING a deload?
@@outsiderdf yeah fine, but going ALL OUT means your not getting as a high of a hypertrophy stimulus as possible. reduce volume only answer.
You must be overtraining like hell if thats the case.
@@SamSimplyTrains yep probs
The RP app tells me to deload. So I deload.
Dude is the app worth it?
@@dwaynecunningham2164 Definitely! I really like it! Tried the diet app too and it was good but weird...VERY different than normal diet trackers like MFP, Cronometer, etc. Ended up going back to Cronometer.
@@dwaynecunningham2164 for me yes. I finished my first mesocycle. The App did a great job suggesting loads, reps and exercises. It helped me to get pump and soreness without huge volumes. I'll start my second mesocycle in 4 days since, I took a week off lol.
@@dwaynecunningham2164it makes it so thst you don't need to know any neuances of lifting because it charts EVERYTHING for you and tells you what to do based on your goal and even alters itself based on your feedback after every workout. You basically have nothing to do but move the proper weight with proper form and eat the proper food. Its a digital personal trainer for a tiny fraction of the cost.
@@dwaynecunningham2164only if you value your time. If you’re poor then just use an excel spreadsheet. Doctor Mike explained to the T what to do if you can’t afford the app.
Interesting points, it's definitely good to look at these things rather than just blindly do the same stuff over and over. I quite like week de-loads, gives me some time to play with technique and exercises. That and I do love a list and plan!
I hate deloading. I get really antsy while on a deload but i know i need it. I guess it's like vegetables, it's not very tasty but you need it so man up.
Yes you need a week off or deload, IF you have a tendency to overtrain, especially over time, it’s good to reduce cortisol and joint strain since they take longer to heal
A month off healed my years of shoulder/elbow pain.... Lifting heavy again and hasn't returned since
Sounds like you had a small injury maybe?
@@kickgreven3921 constantly dealing with sharp pains and sprains.... Tried various stretching/warmups/diet/routines/massages/supplements even a chiropractor and physical therapist. Only thing that solved my problems was an entire month no weights at all.
Definitely an injury that healed by keeping it rested. Ive had that happen with my feet during my recovery from an Achilis tear. @kickgreven3921
I know hypertrophy is your specialty, but I'd love to see videos on training for other purposes, for example, how would you have firefighters train?
Stairs, heavy bag carries and drags, and lots of cleaning and cooking and hanging out to failure ;)
Bookoos of yt channels just research
This has basically been my approach.
I thought I was just terrible at sticking to training blocks and doing proper deloads, but taking 1-3 days off every 7-10 days of hard training was what's always felt right for me. I try to do these breaks during times when I don't have access to a gym anyways.
And even then it's mostly my joints and ligaments that're prompting the break because heavy workouts are fun.
Deloaded and took a week off and came back and felt my lifts tooko a massive hit. Im talking like 4kg and 1 rep off my bench etc. I like the proactive deload idea where I still train but just skip that muscle group for that workout and possibly the following one. Great content as always !
Agreed, a week is just an arbitrary number that we can work with based on our conventions.
But 72 hours off should be enough for most people to rest fully.
It might be more than a week if you're injured or truly overtrained (unlikely).
Knowing what Lizzo is capable of from the Eric Andre Show I can't even imagine the chaotic energy of Mike x Lizzo
Why would anyone want to give that whale any attention? People need to grow up
I used to never deload over my years of training, but for the past year I followed the RP Hypertrophy app and forced myself into the 3weeks on 1 week off/deload cadence. I used to fill the 1 week off was a waste of time, but after a year I can confidently say EVERY week following the deload week I got stronger.
Yeah as far as “reactive” that’s how I look at refeeds, do them when it’s really necessary not at some specific moment, for exhaustion though, it might be better to be ahead of it
Deloads keeping you big as hell
Just remember folks there are people that work very strenuous jobs with heavy lifting 5 days a week their whole life and just get a weekend for recovery each week!!!
I’m not a huge lifting guy. My work outs are pretty simple 4-5 days a week. I always lift at least 3 days a week and the other one or two days I just do cardio. I have a lot of cardio since my main goal right now is weight loss for the most part whilst building some muscle. Again I’m not a super pumped type of dude just not my thing. Never was. I follow this channel though to get the most out of the small amount of lifting I do and it’s helped a lot.
Anyways I find that just taking the whole weekend to myself I the best thing for me. I literally do no activity on the weekends. It’s my resting time. I work full time, I help my co-worker out in between commuting, and I try to fit about 45ish minutes of the gym plus the drive there. I’m tired as hell most of the week. I’ve been fairly consistent the past 4 months but this week has hit me hard plus I have some personal emotional issues and it’s definitely affected me and my performance at the gym.
So if anyone is unsure just keep your weekends to you. If your someone who really enjoys the gym and it’s like you time then definitely do the opposite. Maybe Monday and Tuesday skip the gym and leave the weekend if you prefer that. But I like having my weekends to do nothing or for family or friends.
I think deload thing is more on self preference, after working out for almost 3 months I planned to deload this April because the heat index here in the Philippines is 45c
Menno picked a 60 years old woman, the man has his own taste.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣Touche.
She wasnt 60 in the matrix, but I gotta say.... she dont look too bad at 60...
I agree with Menno on most of what he said about deloading but he's still wrong because he's ignoring the mental aspect of hard training.
And also overtraining is not always physical it's neural as well
Keep bringing in guests
I need more thumbnails like this one, Dr Mike.
"6 sets a day for 6 days is super hardcore." Yet data also says 52 sets per week per muscle group is the optimal stimulus for hypertrophy which blows 36 overall out of the water. I often feel like exercise science isn't so scientific. At the end of the day the law of individual differences is apt, listen to your body folks.
yeah but not 52 sets for every muscle group at the same time
@@renzo3939 yea iirc the study had them crush quads and nothing else.
I take deloads of reduced loads and decreasing volume over the week but absolutely never take an actual week off but I also don't plan them specifically. When I start feeling generally fatigued on a regular basis and my performance is stalling out I decide it's time for a deload.
My meso cycle lasts between 5-6 weeks before a week of de-load. I do full body workouts 3-4x a week on top of hockey an a physical job. Usually injuries or kinks are starting to add up and nervous system needs a breather. Works for me
MONICA...Bravo Menno !!!
I plan my deLoads to follow my once every 3 month bender. Liquor periodization helps maintain my long term fitness goals.
To be honest, after I come back from a deload my performance is lowered and I have to spend some time to get back to my previous shape... I was recently thinking about my deloads so this was very helpful thank you.
Full body every day! I’m starting a deload today
I’ve been training for 10 years. I have seen a lot of people who never took a break and trained 6 to 7 days a week and we’re too hard-core to take some time off every now and then and they all end up quitting. Whether it’s evidence based or not, if it keeps you more consistent and coming back than deal loads are more beneficial than not. Consistency will make you jacked over anything else. Theres, this thing called LIFE. Sometimes you have more important things to prioritize besides getting jacked. I get mentally burned out at times and just need a effin break. And a week off reignites my passion to train.
I think the deload has been a game changer for me. I would bail on exercise programs because I would get tired or I wouldn't push myself during workouts, negating results. Now, I push myself as hard as I can knowing that the week off is coming. When it's time to deload, I'm tired and need the time to mentally reset more than recovery.
I tend to take deloads in response to injuries. The idea of taking deloads for specific muscle groups is a fascinating idea, though. That’s something I’m going o try.
I have my deload week right now! So, I will cancel the rest of it and go to gym to test it out :D
I take a week off at times just to reload, not because my body is overly tired or anything sometimes yes but mostly just to relax gather energy, not stressing about going to the gym etc, and when i get back i have new energy. But then my goal is to just be healthy, im on this channel to learn tecniques, not like to become a hulk like our dear dr mike ^^
Interesting. Recently I took the only deload week I have ever needed in my life due to my new training regiment and knowing what actual hard work in the gym feels like... and it was hard to not really push myself or take a little time off. Good to know that we can just basically deload in that day when we are feeling week and that should recover us enough to get to the next workout and start pushing hard again. Or a partial deload week sounds way better to me.
Baking in a deload is more practical than waiting til the wheels start to derail. Especially if lifting is supplemental to other sports training.
Maybe not scientifically efficient but it absolutely is in a holistic sense. Can plan and psychologically prep around it.
I love when dr Mike fills me with his content
I actually switched up my training due to an overtraining injury (golfer's elbow), but it would probably be better if I took a week off (which I might end up doing if I don't see any improvement). I don't normally take a week off, but with injuries I think it's needed.
I usually do a deload once after a four week cycle where I basically simulate a peak week in the fourth week, reaching an rir of 0. Taking 2 deload weeks per mesocycle may seem excessive but I have seen tremendous results and my joints feel great!
The only time I’ve taken off a week was this month. I was suffering from constant lower back pain, tendon pain in my forearm, and shin splints. Took a week off, the back pain and shin pain has gone away by about 80-90% and the first week back I switched out heavy squats for leg press to prevent spinal loading.
The only pain I still have is upper forearm pain, which is doing another week rest for (limiting my grip intensive/Pull movements that inflame it)
I believe in only taking +1 week off when it’s absolutely required, or if you’re on holiday and can’t get away from the piles of ladies that you’ve now attracted from never taking any extended rest periods beforehand
No days off is moronic. Not only do your muscles need time to rest and heal but so does your nervous system. Just gonna burn yourself out
I'm always trying new combinations of intensity and recovery to see what works best for me. Next cycle, I'm going to do upper/upper, lower/lower, with a long recovery before repeating. I'm curious to see if training while sore and fatigued will send my body a stronger message to build muscle/strength. My running and cycling is probably always interfering with the signaling.
I'm training 5 days a week (resting on Thursday and Sunday) and because of that, I rarely NEED to deload
Never deloaded til I found this channel and have to say it has really helped. Also with family holidays, which have no gym, it’s forced on me a couple times a year anyways. Monica Bellucci is a great shout. Lizzo? 😂
The only time I deload is when I feel overall exhausted, call it, CNS fatigue, or whatever, but I have learned to listen to my body and I don’t take deloads often but when I do, I feel much better coming back
I agree with both. I usually take the rest of a given exercise off for the day if I'm not feeling it.
But it's also nice to have that week off after 6-8 weeks of training. To escape the crushing weight of squats, catch up on life and have time to just rest.
I deload sometimes and that is not because of muscle recovery, but to heal my joints. I'm an older guy (44) and my joints starts to hurt after a while. If I deload for a week sometimes I feel sooo much better and stronger.
I know when it’s time to take some days off, when I drive to the gym to workout, and I just sit there in the gym parking lot, not even getting out for like 20 minutes just scrolling through my phone, THATS when it’s time to deload lol… sometimes I’ll literally just say fuck it, and drive away
i'm wearing headphones. That new intro slaps.
I am 46 years old and train five times a week, always to failure and beyond. What has helped me is a 4 split, doing quads and hamstrings on two different days. I accumulate less fatigue than before and need a deload less often. Mostly because of the joints and to have a week of complete rest. Where a deload never helps me is with my legs. I don't come back stronger after a week, but need two or three weeks to get back to my previous level. My legs are my weakness and I've tried a lot of different things.
Love Dr. Milky x Menno contents
I watched a video from another channel where he said do a light week instead of a complete deload. But for me personally, I always came back extra strong after a full deload week.
This is great
mike's world crumbled like my knees crumbles after session with the homies
I'd really like to see a more detailed study of this for older people. I'm turning 62 soon, and I found that I needed to tweak things a lot as I got older. I now only do two types of workouts per week, which I'll call A and B. I do A (heavy), B (light), rest, A (light), and B (heavy), rest, rest. I seem to be able to sustain that schedule pretty well, just taking off a half-week every 12 weeks or so. Simply can't do the psycho stuff (triathlons, 1,000 burpees, etc.) that I did when I was younger. But a 60-year-old body definitely responds differently to training than one that's only 25.