Dynamic Effort, Deloads, and Technique

My boss and I have recently been batting around the idea of speed work as a deload vs. speed work as technique work. Or not exactly versus - is it effectively both? Is it really training spee? Or is it ingraining technique while provide just enough effort to maintain strength without being so heavy you outdo your ability to recover?

This isn't our idea.

Mike Robertson blogged about this back in mid-September:

"Instead of doing 5, 8 or even 10 sloppy reps, they're performing 1, 2 or 3 high quality, technically sound repetitions per set instead.

So its not necessarily the fact that they're training for speed, but the fact that they're really starting to dial their technique in that gives them the most carryover."

(bold in the original)

The idea is you aren't really training yourself to pull faster per se. You aren't increasing your rate of muscle contraction - that might not even be possible. But you are definitely training correct form, which makes for an improved lift, which in turn feeds improved strength. Mike Robertson also suggests that this might have been "Kind of like a forced deload" where the heavy lifters who first started using DE training got a nice physical break, too.

I tended to favor the first over the second - lift fast and groove the technique. But I also see the latter - if your "deload" is a weekly day of benching or squatting or deadlifting fast but light, you are still getting a deload. You are reinforcing patterns but not training hard enough to prevent full recovery.

Dave Tate just wrote Part 6 of his sprawling autobiographical articles on his evolution as a lifter. In it he discussed Dynamic Effort (Speed) training:

Let's face it, a max lift can be ugly. Really ugly. Technique often flies out the window when you're hopped up on ammonia with a grand on your back.

DE on the other hand, is all about reinforcing technique. Doing many, many sets of two or three reps is the most effective way to teach a skill, whether it's a squat, a snatch, or throwing a shot put. What you're really doing by performing 8 sets of 2 or 3 is mentally rehearsing perfect form.

So, again we see DE as technique training. Not training neuromuscular contraction speed, but training fast and hard but with perfect form.

He doesn't mention it as a deload, but the percentages he suggests are revealing:

"A bbeginner should use 70% of their 1RM, whereas a more experienced (raw) lifter should go with 50 or 60%."

Most programs with a deload have you working to - at most - a couple sets close to 70%. You do either reduced reps or reduced sets or reduced intensity. DE bumps up the sets (10 x 3 or 8 x 2, say) but the reps are low (that 3 or 2, instead of heavy sets of 5 or 3 or 1). You never approach more than 70% of your one-rep maximum. You bang the sets out fast, with "pop" on the reps. Technique is king.

I think it's interesting to see both of these lifters discussing this. Dave Tate is more interested in the technique effects (at least in this article), while Mike Robertson is suggesting the possibility of a blend. I think that blend is where you see DE training shine. You can recover from it, but you snap out perfect (or at least better) reps and improve your form. You handle heavier weights better and thus get stronger on your maximum effort days. And you get a day to handle lighter weights and not worry about the mental drain and physical exhaustion that comes with constantly handling maximum weights.

Deload

A deload is a light workout meant to allow for recovery time without taking a complete day off.

Generally, deloads are structured around maximum effort - you reduce the total number of sets and reps you do, plus some percentage of intensity (i.e. how heavy). But Dave Tate just wrote a new article that hits this from a different angle - deloading based on the type of work you are talking about - volume lifting for size, heavy lifting for strength, rehabilitation lifting for injuries, etc.

Take a look!



(Admin note: I'm not sure what happened to this draft - it looked fine when I wrote it and hit "publish" but it was just gone when I looked at it now. I've re-written it as I remember it.)

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Deload

This recent Diesel Crew post puts an interesting spin on a deload - not just reducing your load, but swapping out for a light workout and extra emphasis on recovery/rehab work.

Strength Training Deload

If you are doing a regular deload, this is a good article to mine for ideas (or just follow to the letter).

If you aren't doing a regular deload, why not? If you are working near your capacity, you'll need time off to rest and recover.

Training Terminology: Deload

You'll sometimes see a workout including a "deload" or "back off." You might hear of one having a "light week."

A deload is a planned reduction in the volume or intensity of your workout. This is in order to allow your body to recovery from heavier training earlier without going so long between training sessions that you begin to de-train and lose some of your gains.

Why do I want to do this? Can’t I just work hard week after week? Taking a deload allows the body to recover without de-training. It helps prevent you from overtraining.
Taking a regular deload, or otherwise cycling the intensity of your workout (see Bill Starr 5 x 5, below) allows you to train steadily for a long time. If you don’t, you will eventually plateau and be unable to progress through harder training. You may get injured from pushing too hard too long, as well. A deload acts as a safe way to let the body get ready for more heavy training without the effects a total layoff can have on your progress. Remember, the goal is steady progress.

How do I do it? There are many ways to deload. So many, in fact, Eric Cressey wrote an e-book on the subject! But generally, you reduce either the volume or the intensity of your workout to about 50-60% for a number of workouts - usually one week, if you are using a weekly rotation of exercises.

If you deload volume, you keep the same weights you'd use but reduce the number of reps. For example, if you do 3 sets of 5 squats at 225 pounds (100% intensity), a 60% deload would be 3 sets of 3 (5 x 0.6) at 225 pounds.

If you deload intensity, you keep the volume but lower the weights you use. Using the same example, 3 x 5 x 225 would become 3 x 5 x 135 pounds (225 x 0.6).

The first approach keeps your muscles working at the same intensity but you get a break; you don't have to do as much hard work. The second approach lets your muscles work less hard, but demands the same amount of work.


Where can I see this in action?

Some training plans that use deloads, and how:

Eric Cressey's "Maximum Strength" book uses 4 x 4 week cycles, each of which includes a deload week for the final week. Some exercises are dropped, the others remain at a high intensity but a very low volume.

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 workout has a planned 1-week deload every 4th week. Unlike the earlier weeks, in which you push your final set to the limit, you just get the reps in. The volume remains the same, but the weights used as significantly lower than the three preceding weeks.

The Texas Method (detailed in Practical Programming) and Bill Starr's 5 x 5 both use deload days - you have a medium, light, and heavy day each week. You do not need weekly deloads, because you are constantly varying the load. This forces your body to work very hard, and then gets enough of a respite to recover on the light days while still training enough to keep the benefits of the heavier days before and after.