The Deload Week

"The longer I train, the less and less shit I do. The less shit I do, the stronger I get. The more I emphasize recovery, the stronger I get." 

- Paul Carter

This is the first time I've done a deload week.  Read a lot about it but since I was a beginner, I figured I could skip it.  Over the weekend I knew this week was the deload week so I decided to do some research on it.  Found some good stuff which is why I am doing it this time around and will be going forward.

Jeff Barnett wrote an article giving the basics of a deload week and the reason for it. "Consistent training eventually builds a deficit that cannot be repaid in a single rest day. A deload week is a chance for your body to recover from that deficit. The deload week allows your body to catch up – to repair connective tissue and restore testosterone/cortisol ratios. Muscle can recover more quickly than connective tissue. A deload week keeps tendons and ligaments healthy. If you chronically develop tendonitis, then scheduled deload weeks are definitely part of the solution."

"I get asked a lot of questions about the deload and if it is necessary. Or 'Can I skip the deload? I’m a beginner.' Or if they can do dynamic barbell work in place of the normal training. I’d like to answer, 'If I didn’t believe in the deload, then I wouldn’t have written it.'" 

-Jim Wendler