Hurray for deload week!

Today starts week 4 of the 5/3/1 routine (Triumvirate). It's the last week of cycle one, which means, gasp!, it's deload week. And when Wendler says "deload," he means deload. I hadn't peeked at today's workout until I was standing in my home gym, and I was shocked at how much weight I was pulling off the barbell.

Yes, I breezed easily through those sets of OHP at a maximum weight of 65 lbs. I confess I did more reps than the five recommended. It was just too easy, so why not? I'm not going to be doing OHP again for a week anyway.

My body seriously needs a break after last week. I worked out six days in a row, with Sunday being my only rest day. So week 4 arrived at just the right time. On the assistance exercises, I'm really not backing off, though. I added more weight for the dips, mixed pull-ups and chins, trying to squeeze out a couple more reps, and even supersetted between the dips and pull-ups/chins (alternating between the two after each set of dips).

The full workout is recorded on my Fitocracy page.

The oddest thing about following periodization plans is that it actually takes some discipline to decrease the weights when it's time to cycle back. Yes, there's a part of me that's screaming, "Yes! Thank you!" But the other part wants to forge full speed ahead.

All last week I debated with myself whether I was really going to follow the plan and drop down on everything. When it dawned on me that Sunday was the only rest day I'd taken in a week, I figured it was probably a good idea to trust to the Wendler wisdom.

I've dabbled in periodization plans before like a burgeoning artist experiments with oils, and, frankly, I either lacked the discipline to follow them strictly or worried that not pushing myself each workout would result in a loss of strength. Linear. My mind was trained to think linear when it comes to weight training. That thinking is probably also what has led to much of my discouragement.

Throwing myself into Wendler's 5/3/1 is as much retraining the way I think about weight training as it is about performing the lifts themselves. I get the idea that heavy barbell training is the way to go. I get the idea that splitting the big lifts out on their own days makes sense, especially for the hardgainer like me. What's hard for me to swallow is that I make progress when I consciously decide to decrease the amount I'm lifting instead of increasing it.

And, yes, if you know 5/3/1, then you're no doubt wondering what I was doing working out six straight days. The simple answer is, I went off script to try improve my standing in the challenge in the 5/3/1 Raw Strength group. It was in fact the challenge that led me to question whether I should be deloading in the middle of competition. I did more sets than I was supposed to, lifted more weight, even performed lifts that were nowhere in the plan. All to stay out of the basement of the challenge standings.

In the end, my commitment to the Wendler plan has won out. I will likely finish in the bottom of the challenge, but it's the right thing to do for the routine and for my body. So, hurray for deload week!