weaker after deload weeks?

Hello all,

I've been following the mastery templates, and I find that after a deload week, I'm weaker than before. Even if I've completed the previous three weeks successfully, after a deload week I'll have to fall back to a previous week in order to complete the reps. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions?

Do you experience this on every skill or only some?

Are there any differences between what you do deload week vs regular weeks other than volume?

I experience this all of the progressions, but especially on FL/PE1 and SL/PE1, the long static holds. I don't really do anything different during deload weeks, just reduce volume.

Maybe slightly deconditioned for a workout or two. Consider adding some additional very short sets on off days throughout the day during the deload week to keep the groove.

I also just realized another potential explanation:  It could be that during the deload week your mobility weaknesses begin to creep back in.  I just took a long road trip during a deload, and coming back I've discovered that my compression and PTT had really suffered.  The results was poor tuck-up ROM and LBP during my front level holds.  Less a decline in strength than a backslide in mobility.  

With that in mind (and if mobility tends to be a limiting factor), you may consider emphasizing mobility maintenance and stretching during your deload downtown and see what happens.  Less chance of sacrificing recovery that way.  Also given it's the static holds that seem to be giving you trouble.  

Thanks, that's excellent advice. I'm going to give both ideas a try next week.

I found the same, I'd return weaker after a deload week. My way of fixing this is now I just don't deload.

Naturally throughout the year some deloads will happen, like holidays, but now I just base it on how I feel. If I feel like I need to back off and rest some more I will. If not, I'll stick to my workout schedule.

Not being a gymnast and practicing gymnastic strength I fully trust the program.  I feel one needs to be practicing this program several years before fully understanding deload.  Deloading helps the body restore and recover to prevent injury and promote gains.  Being injured is being weak.  Be careful.

It is also important to not consider the program a bible. Rather some very good guidelines to what could work. There is nothing as one size fits all. If you did something CORRECTLY and it did not work, then you should indeed try something else

The deload will work when you are overreaching and working really hard in the third week. You may need to up your volume. Alternatively if you recover really quick you could have a shorter deload of 4 days and start your new cycle. The seven days may be too much rest for you.

If you haven't been doing these exercises for very long or with high enough intensity there's a good chance you have not neurologically adapted to the movements.  To keep the neurological patterns developing you s/ grease the groove modestly in between workout sessions and even during your de-load week.  Don't over do it, just enough to keep learning the exercise, so maybe short static holds / low reps, depending on the exercise, once or a few times a day.  Remember you don't want to cut into your strength when it's time to gb it.

Are you still progressing on the 3rd weeks of your microcycles?

Also, on a scale of 1-10 how intense would you say your Deload weeks are? It could also be that you in fact aren't fully recovering during your deload week and thus when you attempt the next week's set/rep template your body has not yet had the time/rest it needs to supercompensate, especially if you are really pushing it and working close to your max capacity fairly regularly.

Maybe try significantly decreasing the intensity of your deload weeks to the point where they just feel like "practice" and not "work", or even reducing the intensity of your 1st and 2nd weeks of your microcycle (if you are working close to max capacity on those as well as your 3rd week). Also pay attention to your nutrition, rest, and recovery modalities as a weakness there could be inhibiting your body's ability to adapt.

Hope this helps and you can figure this out.

Keegan said:

Are you still progressing on the 3rd weeks of your microcycles?

Also, on a scale of 1-10 how intense would you say your Deload weeks are? It could also be that you in fact aren't fully recovering during your deload week and thus when you attempt the next week's set/rep template your body has not yet had the time/rest it needs to supercompensate, especially if you are really pushing it and working close to your max capacity fairly regularly.

Maybe try significantly decreasing the intensity of your deload weeks to the point where they just feel like "practice" and not "work", or even reducing the intensity of your 1st and 2nd weeks of your microcycle (if you are working close to max capacity on those as well as your 3rd week). Also pay attention to your nutrition, rest, and recovery modalities as a weakness there could be inhibiting your body's ability to adapt.

Hope this helps and you can figure this out.

Progress in the third week on some of the movements stalls, but is improving over the repeated microcycles. I've been stuck on the last week of FL/PE1 for a while, but at this point I can complete the 5 sets of 60 sec with just 15 seconds of extra rest over what is needed to complete the IM. What's been bothering me is when after a deload week, the next week (back at the beginning of the microcycle) feels hard, and often in that first week I'll fail to complete the sets.