I find the week before my period I naturally do a deload week cause I feel so exhausted that week that getting to the gym is a big enough win vs lifting heavy
@@s0phs_x That! I eat like there is a black hole in my stomach. The issue is, there really isn't and I put weight on easily (like, breathing near a cake) so lowering training intensety isn't an option🥲
Great message - deload if you feel like you need to, not just because it’s a thing you’re told you MUST do (just a further extension of listening to your body). Also loved the hilarious tour of closed, repurposed, dilapidated or just no longer there buildings!😂 Sign me up for the map and all the other merch you’re going to produce for it 😀
So glad I watched this as was feeling guilty I wasn't doing my weights as often as I should this week due to headache and fatigue. But then again i guess that's what the luteal phase can do to you. Thanks so much for this helps a ton😊
Wow thank you for talking about this! I've had to think about this a lot. I'm a woman in my 40s, and a heavy lifter. I used to think I had to do deloads because all the men were doing them. But after Covid, I found that I was getting sick a lot (flu, colds, tonsillitis etc) and programming in a deload would inevitably lead to too much time off because I was also constantly having to take a week or more off to deal with whatever new stupid illness I was getting. Finally at Christmas 2023 I said enough, I'm not doing this anymore, I'll work out with no breaks until I get sick next and that will be my deload. And then suddenly it was September 2024, I had never gotten sick (I guess my immune system finally caught up after all the post-covid illnesses had their turn), and I had been lifting heavy 5-6 days/week for nine months, and I hit a wall. I had also been running 4 days/week for the first 5 months of the year but stopped and increased my training volume over the summer. I took 4 days off from the gym and held my breath expecting to get sick, but I didn't. I've heard that deloads are more necessary for men than for women. I still believe that I don't need to program them in, because life happens. In 2024, life strangely didn't happen to me, I never had a vacation, I never got sick, I never felt like poop, until one day nine months later I suddenly felt like I need a break so I took one. I've been back to the gym now and I hit my 2024 goal of a set of 10 chin ups, now shooting for 3 sets of 10 in the same workout. Let the men take deloads every month since apparently they need it, I'll keep going until my body lets me know.
I'm Italian and I spent a wonderful week in nyc a few years ago. I loved everything and newyorkers were so friendly and welcoming! Thank you so much for the tour! ❤❤
I loved this video - thank you! Highlight - walking tour of a small part of NY - I went to NY years ago - loved it and would love to go back! I’m living vicariously through you!
Love a vlog moment! I naturally take a dload between programs when i have to switch it up. Ive realized 6 weeks is about my max adherance to a lifting routine so the first week of a new plan always feels great!
I tend to just naturally do a de-load week every month during my period. I'm already pretty exhausted in the week leading up to it, so when my period rolls around I just simply do not want to do anything but maybe some stretches or walking.
I needed to hear this today! My week has been just exhausting work wise, and I felt guilty for not doing much working out, but I just needed the break 👍🏻💕
This summer, I did a deload month. Hiked 170 kms with a rucksack in the fjords for 11 days. 😄 No lie, had some of the best and longest sleep and recovery data show up on those days, cause there's 8 hours of hiking, 4 hours of meals/setting up camp, and 12 hours horizontal! The return to the gym for training, however... 😵💫
I don't plan deloads in my program but I do expect them to happen. Usually when I notice my progress stalling after 2 sessions in a row, I decide to deload on that muscle group to give it a break. Of course as you mentioned, vacations and sick days are also natural deloads, although I wouldn't recommend deliberately doing too high volume that you get sick/injured more easily 😅
This was great!!! I watched my husband think 2hr gym sessions were doing him justice 😮 i am 10yrs younger than him but he developed tons of overuse injuries....i like you, love having more mobility sessions on occasion feels amazing and beneficial. Great video always so cute n informative
@@JustinaErcole haha don’t worry that would be great! Ive been to NYC twice and done the official hop on hop off bus tour ( where I stayed on the bus the whole time to get an idea where things were ) , I’ve had a friend also show me his favourite New York hang outs a few times and taken a trip to New Rochelle and also stayed in south Hampton for a few days . I’ve done the SATC bus tour and Sopranos bus tour so covered a bit of ground . Then I also covered a lot of ground on foot which resulted in some of the worst blisters I’ve ever had in my life … and from that I discovered where all the pharmacies were ! 😂😂😂
I include a deload week for when I am on my period (on birth control so I always know when it's coming). I find it helpful since I still get my workout in but can modify weight or do 3 sets rather than 4. Since implementing this, I noticed I can lift more the following weeks.
I typically do a deload couple of days. My body seems to be happy with that. Always wondered whether I need a whole week. Glad to learn I'm probably doing just fine.
I have autoimmune issues and a junk lower back too and I generally take a week a month to just do dynamic stretching or walking or nothing at all. it gives my body time to rest. Ill just call it my deload week from now on :)
I am with the rest of the commenters here that naturally de-load around period time. When I feel energetic I lift heavy, when I am off balance or tired I do light weighted Pilates or steady state cardio--kick boxing really helps with the mood during that time of the month!
I gently disagree with the title of this video, though obviously the video itself had more nuance :) . For a long time, I didn't deload because I thought I felt fine. I'd take a few days of (intense) bodyweight workouts on vacation and call it a day or wait until I got sick. As soon as I started planning deloads in my training -- a result of starting MegSquats' Stronger By the Day, a structured program with planned deload weeks -- my lifts improved, my sleep improved, I felt more energetic and made more progress. Before, I was super slowly progressing, but the progression moved a lot faster after deloading BEFORE I hit that exhaustion breaking point. I don't think people should wait until they're 10000% burnt out to deload, esp since many of us are just used to grinding through it and might not know what "super fatigued" feels like (thinking it's just "normal")... At least for me, I was gaslighting myself into thinking I felt energetic and fine when actually my ceiling for that was much higher!
Hey! I’m glad you figured out a system for you. Remember that the titles of my videos are simply so people actually click on them. Something like “What is a deload week” won’t get any clicks.
Overly fatigued is the key for my Trainer and I! We integrate a deload when I hit that fatigue wall and push it out when I am really dialed in on my lifts. It has helped me grow how much I can lift. My trainer and I have been working together for 3 years though so he can tell when I am ready for a deload.
I personally think the video matches the vibe of deload. Perfect! Maybe im just lazy / good at procrastinating... but I've never planned a deload. I am good at being like "nope... im tired. This doesnt sound good" but incould be better at just dping lower weights and reps.
Releasing this in the middle of my deload week is neat lmao. I compete in powerlifting, though, and my next meet is 10.5 weeks away so deloads are needed for me. I like that you mention it can vary by exercise instead of it having to be a huge reduction across the board. My squat and deadlift are super fatigued, so working weight on tempo/pause squats are dropped 15% and heavy deadlifts dropped 20%. Meanwhile, bench press is just chilling out some, only dropped 5% from the bar. But the week continues!
Thank you, this was so relatable!!! I don’t Take structural delude weeks… But I do travel a lot so sometimes there is like a week or a few days that I cannot workout So I normally focus on walking and my nutrition as much as I can. I’m not gonna be loading my dumbbells and lugging them throughout the states!!!😂 And I am very consistent with my workouts at home so I don’t mind taking a few days to a week off when I am on a trip.
Exactly what I do! I travel for work and I also work a weekend once a month - I never work out then - concentrate on walking and maybe some mobility drills.
What I like about the deload idea coupled with the Whoop personal tracking device that will help you predict a good day versus a bad day and advise what kind of stress level will give you the best results for that day.
Lol what timing! I was planning to go all out next week (all sets to failure and beyond failure) and then immediately take a deload (half sessions, half reps, half sets) to recover, but noticed this week my appetite was suppressed and energy levels are down which are my first two symptoms of systemic fatigue. If I keep going, then I find that my sleep quality suffers (waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to go back to sleep). So plans have to change and I need to deload next week and push for all-out training the remainder of this week 😭
I unwillingly took a deload month in September. 😢 I had to travel for work and family trips and couldn’t bring myself to workout so I read like 3 books instead.. lol
Hi Justina! I am amazed to know I can do the kickstand deadlift with different weights. Sometimes I wanna go heavier but I don’t have double kettlebells for all weights. 10 lbs difference is okay? Have a nice day!
I prefer deloading with a scalpel, not a machete. I ask myself: what am I recovering from? Burning out on deadlift and squats doesn't mean you need to deload OHP and pullups.
I’ve been thinking I need a week of yoga and light cardio. I feel kind of tight and not tired, but also not very motivated to strength train. Maybe I should do it?
