kethnaab

Remember being a newb to the bodybuilding/weight training scene? Every day was a beautiful day. If you ate right, you knew darn well you could stick an extra 5-10 lbs on the bar, and get your reps.

Over time, however sad though it may be, you simply cannot maintain that consistent linear progression. Between 5x5, Westside, Smolov, and now DC, the concept of cruising/deloading is becoming quite "popular" among some of the more advanced trainees. If you don't know what it is or how it does what it does, hopefully this will explain the need for the periodic deload/cruise for many advanced trainees, and it can even be a good intro for someone who is at the intermediate stage and can no longer simply pile weight on, workout after workout.

It all hinges around what is known as "dual factor" training theory.

We have to define a few terms first as they relate specifically to this subject.

Fitness - the resultant physical ability of the body to adapt and respond positively to external stress

Fatigue - The decreased capacity or complete inability of an individual or a bodypart to function normally because of excessive stimulation or prolonged exertion - note fatigue can be very temporary as a result of acute stimulii (i.e. biceps get fatigued from a set of curls) or fatigue can be sytemic and cumulative (i.e. the body and its systems are fatigued from hard training over a period of weeks/months)

Performance - the degree of excellence resulting from physical activity, i.e. your ability to bench/squat/dead/chin/row, etc (remember, we're talking SPECIFIC to weight training here) or, for bodybuilders, the body's ability to demonstrate muscularity

Overtraining - The act of training too often/too heavy/too long, which causes the body's recuperative systems to become overwhelmed so that you can no longer recover from training. Performance is DRASTICALLY reduced, as a result, as the body cannot combat the excessive and chronic fatigue.

Overreaching - the planned art of inducing mild systemic overtraining followed by a planned period of systemic fatigue reduction, with the purpose of dramatically increasing performance

Now then, onward and forward...

Dual factor theory, simply put, involves planning your workouts with the knowledge that fatigue and fitness both affect performance. As you train, you build up your fitness level. Imagine if you were Wolverine...you could train several times a day, everyday, and get stronger and faster constantly. Your fitness level increases, and for some time, your performance level increases as well. You are more energetic, you don't get sore as often, you become stronger/leaner/faster/more muscular, etc. Life is good!

However, we AREN'T like Wolverine, and fatigue reduces our ability to train at peak performance. As a result, we train for a period of perhaps 1-2 hours, then we take a day (or more) to rest before training again. The purpose of the break is to reduce fatigue to a level which allows us to train again at (or near) peak performance (be it the ability to bench 5 more lbs or the resultant ability to demonstrate muscularity)

Over the course of weeks (and possibly, for beginners/intermediates/genetic misfits [Spytech, I'm talking to you here!] months) your training results in an increase in fitness, but it also results in the systemic accumulation of fatigue. Anyone with experience who has trained for a period of time and then begins sufferieng from the symptoms of "overtraining" can attest to this. After 10 weeks of hard, intense, consistent training, most people begin to suffer the classic symptoms of overtraining, i.e. loss of appetite, weakness, achy joints, extreme fatigue, problem sleeping, etc.

You are overtraining. Sounds pretty bad, doesn't it? Except, overtraining is a BEAUTIFUL thing...why?

An easy correlation can be made to a guy who runs

if dude runs 5 days per week, 10 miles per day for several weeks, he is going to become extremely fit, but he will get tired due to what we call overtraining. For awhile, he was able to train this way and continue to get faster (increase in fitness accompanied by an increase in performance). However, after several weeks of this, he simply cannot recover from his running, and he gets slower (fitness has increased, but has been overwhelmed by fatigue, resulting in REDUCED performance).

Now, imagine if, after 4-6 weeks of doing 50 miles per week running, he cut back to 3 runs per week at 5 miles per day. Essentially, he just went from 50 miles weekly to 15 miles weekly.

He's still running, and one could argue that, because he's running only 5 miles every other day during the week, he's probably running a lot faster than he was if he was still doing 10 miles. He lowered his overall volume and workload (miles ran) and frequency (days running per week) but upped the intensity (his running speed during the 5 mile is faster than his running speed during the 10 mile)

Because he spent weeks accumulating tons of fitness from his hard workouts, these 15-mile weeks where he runs 3x per week are like a walk (or cruise!) in the park for him. His fitness level was accustomed to handling 50 miles per week, but now he's only running 15 miles per week.

As a result, the fatigue that also accumulated during those 6 or so weeks of 50-mile running is now able to dissipate, even though he's still running each week. He cut back on volume and frequency, and now he sees increases in his athletic performance as fatigue dissipates and his fitness is allowed to "show through"

You can be in great shape, but if you're flippin' tired, you can't perform that well. Unfortunately, it takes ALOT OF HARD WORK to get in great shape, and that causes fatigue to accumulate.

Check the stupid picture/graph I drew. It represents "general fitness level" with a blue line and "general fatigue level" with a red line, with "performance" being the green arrow drawn between the difference. As you exercise, your general fitness level increases, as does your fatigue accumulation. Unless you are a Mentzer-drone, you train more often than 2 or 3 times per month. As a result, fatigue WILL accumulate (and this is a GOOD thing!)

The harder you work, the more your fitness goes up, but the more fatigue that accumulates (Loading/accumulation phase). How you perform is not based SOLELY on your fitness level, but it is based on a (very non-mathematical, but rather theoretical) equation that basically states:

"Performance = Fitness - Fatigue"

Put simply, your performance will be dictated by your level of physical fitness, coupled with how tired you are.

Your FITNESS might dictate that you can PERFORM a bench of 300 lbs, but because you're FATIGUED (tired), you can only PERFORM a bench of 250

Eventually, you get to the point where you are thoroughly busting your ass and you are starting to see that fatigue overtakes you (overreaching/overtraining phase). So at this point, fatigue has "won" (albeit temporarily) so many trainers will just quit for awhile (a week, sometimes weeks, sometimes several months). This is the ultimate in "missed opportunities"

The thinking man's trainer decides to take advantage of this by PLANNING to do this, using "Dual Factor theory". He increases his fitness levels using increasing levels of volume and/or weight and/or frequency and once he reads that fatigue has overtaken his body's recovery ability, he drastically cuts back on his frequency and/or volume and/or intensity. This allows for an active rest, so fatigue dissipates. however, he is STILL TRAINING, and his fitness levels continue to climb (or at least stay the same) while he 'rests'.

After a period of time...perhaps a "cruise" of 1 or 2 weeks, or perhaps an "active deload" of 3 weeks, or a "strategic deconditioning" period of 10 days, you are still "in shape" because you've been training, but you are well-rested, and you are ready to attack the weights again.

For more info and other explanations, check the following links:

Dual Factor Theory
Why planned overtraining is a good thing

Attached Images

Dual factor diagram.jpg (56.1 KB, 9 views)

kethnaab

HST is typically associated with what is known as "strategic deconditioning". The idea is that you don't need progressive resistance from cycle to cycle, only workout to workout. After 6-8 weeks of training under "classic HST", you take a week (or two) COMPLETELY off. As a result, your fitness level decreases (as does your performance), and fatigue is completely dissipated. The idea is that despite losing a good deal of strength and probably some muscle, the net gain from cycle to cycle will be in the positive.

The classic 5x5 using dual factor involves starting off with weights significantly below your present level of performance. After 3-5 weeks of consistent training and adding weight to the bar, you will begin hitting PRs. You will have accumulated a substantial amount of fitness as well as fatigue due to the consistent increase in volume and ESPECIALLY workload, as well as intensity. Then you use this increased fitness to increase performance by decreasing frequency and DRASTICALLY reducing volume.

Cruising, DC-style, and most of the deloads you will find in Westside and other programs is simply active rest in the weight room. Tons of different ways to do it...drop from 4 days per week to 2 days...lose all ME and DE work...do RE work with only 80%...lose ALL RE work, take 80% of your 10-RM and do 8 reps with it, drop all intensity techniques (i.e. no rest/pause or widowmakers), etc.

How you decide to "deload" is up to you, as it is a highly personal thing.

bigDman

overtraining is not an advnace athletes friend. Overreaching is. Planed overreaching is very useful

My voulme goes like this

Week 1: High
Week 2: Medium
Week 3: Very High(Overreach)
Week 4: Low (deload)

then i repeat

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kethnaab

of course. I worded the title as I did on purpose to attract viewership, since "overtraining" is typically a 4-letter word in the vocabularies of most trainees.

No ramp up time? i.e. you just hit it hard and heavy on week 1? Vewwwy intewesting...

EDIT - belay my last, I'm obviously blind

navarone

nice post. Twas a good read indeed.

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Stats:
Weight: Between 200-205 depending on the day
Bench: 265X5 atm.
Squat: 360X5 atm.. Higest Ever 435
Deadlift: 420X3
Waist: 34
Arms: 17.5 cold .
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powerman2000

Preach on brutha

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Best BP 507 lbs *competitive*
Best Squat 705 lbs *competitive*
Best DL 650 lbs *competitive*


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My workout log http://www.ironmass.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6247

DJSTARER

again... nice dual factor

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My philosophies on training:

"Extreme training yields extreme results"

"Just because you can, does not mean you should"

"The best program is the one you are not doing"





Penn State Powerlifting-181 lb weightclass

PGA Professional of America


Current Stats:
474 Squat
601 Deadlift
320 Bench


Goals for next training cycle:

500lbs squat and a total over 1400 in competition

A_N_91

ive been trying to incorporate this stuff into bodyweight moves...too hard to setup

Peaked_18

If you don't understand this, don't use it yet!

For a few examples of this check out supertraining.