Deloads

I am admittedly not a fan of what is commonly called a deload from resistance training. I think the concept came from sport specific training whereby one reduces the fatigue that comes along with building increased fitness to allow that fitness to then be displayed. I don’t doubt it has its place in preparing for a competition, but when it comes to lifting weights for the purpose of hypertrophy, I don’t think it has the same effect. While fatigue may be dissipated, one did not create any hypertrophic stimulus during the deloaded week, and once we begin training again in earnest, the goals are the same as they were before the deload. In other words, there’s no event we have reduced fatigue to now display. It’s essentially a week or so of maintenance training.

Having said all of that, I am currently contemplating a deload week anyway. The aches and pains in the shoulder, elbow and hip joints are starting to worry me and while my training has been extraordinarily productive, i.e. I can actually see the results,  when you spend a lot of time thinking about your injuries and whether you should try to back off some, it’s probably well past the time when you should have.

While optimal training volume for hypertrophy is a vague concept and probably not something one can actually know, through trial and error I can form the following loose conclusions for me personally:

• Good exercise selection, choosing lifts that are anatomically appropriate for each muscle group is critical.
• Intensiveness of the set–not intensity, but amount of effort–is critical. That is, taking each set close to muscular failure, or at least the point where any more reps will cause form breakdown, or having to shorten the range of motion to complete them.
• At least 12 sets per muscle group will deliver results, provided I train with a 2x per week frequency.

The main issue I have to contend with is how to organize the training to get all the work in. This remains a challenge if you really want to hit every muscle. For example, on an upper body workout, you need chest/front delt movements, lateral and rear delt movement, upper trap movements, middle and lower trap movements, lat movements, and bicep and tricep movements. That’s a lot of work. Some will argue that the beauty of compound movements is that you can train more muscle with one lift. But the reality is even the best compound movement will not train everything sufficiently. For example, an Overhead Press will train the front delts, the lateral delts, the triceps and the upper traps. Theoretically. But the limiting factor in the lift, along with the anatomic pattern will train each muscle in that group differently. For example, the upper trap fibers are horizontal. So while they elevate the scapula, they also hold your head up. To properly train the upper traps through their full range of motion, you need to abduct your arms around 30 degrees or so, lower your chin to keep your neck from interfering with the trap movement, and try to pull the traps toward each other as you shrug. That is not possible during an Overhead Press. The lateral delt abducts the shoulder, which is only partially happening in the OHP. Some of the triceps are being stimulated, but not all, and they will likely be the limiting factor in how much you can lift and how many reps you can get. So your triceps will likely bring the set to an end and you have not thoroughly stimulated any of the target muscles. So yes, compound movements are awesome and they should make up the bulk of one’s hypertrophy training, but to optimize growth in all muscles, you will need to add to them.

What I’m doing now based on my research, is limiting my sets to 5 per muscle group in each workout. But with a 2x per week frequency, that limits me to 10 sets per week, which is less than I’ve found will provide results. So I’m going the other way and using a 3x per week frequency and increasing total volume to 15 sets. I need to be careful with this as I’ve paid the tendonitis price before when increasing volume, but I think the last time I was at either 18 or 20 sets before the crisis hit. So hopefully 15 will let me remain really productive without wrecking my connective tissue.

I’ve got the split set up and I’m in the middle of my first week of 3x/15, however I came into it already pretty beat up. My left hip got a good tweak again from Sumo Deadlifting (a regular occurence), my ill advised venture into speed bench against bands flared up my medial epicondylitis, and the newest injury is to my right shoulder where the delts attach to the upper arm. I’ve had it nagging me a while, but increasing the lateral delt isolation lifts really fired it up. My delts have grown though, so at least the price I paid bought me something.

I have two workouts left of my first 3x/15 split and then Monday is a planned off day. Next week, I will lighten up the load, drop the intensiveness some, and reduce the volume. I won’t grow any muscle next week, but from everything I’ve learned, maintaining what you have requires significantly less work than trying to grow new muscle. So I’ll keep what I’ve got, and if the tendon gods hold me in high regard, I’ll get some much needed relief.

Going forward I will do my damndest to regularly deload. Maybe I’ll have to rename it a maintenance week vs. a deload week to break the mental barrier I’ve had all these years.