I’ve read other posts about this topics but they don’t seem to answer my question which is, is it common for people to feel a drastic difference in training capacity/strength after taking a full week off. I took a full week off and now that I’m back on my program (5/3/1), I failed every single workout on the 5s week. Missing each weight by 1-2 reps.
Do I just have to take some time to get the groove back or is it something that I’ve done? During the week off, I ate at a caloric maintenance and I made it a priority to not enter the gym, thinking that this “full deload week” would help but so far it has proven to be counter productive.
Did you do the deload week of 5/3/1 and then take a full week off, or did you skip the deload week and instead take a full week off during that time?
I skipped the deload week and took a full week off instead during that time.
I did feel sluggish when doing nothing instead of light work but never had a huge drop in performance. How did you do for the top sets in the previous month? Were you easily hitting the required reps? Did you make any major changes between the last two training cycles?
Depends on how you define drastic. I always feel a little weaker if I take a full week off, but never so weak that I would fail a 5+ week on 5/3/1. You may just need to reset you TM. How many cycles in a row have you increased the TM? Have you tried the 5 steps forward 3 steps back approach?
You weren’t able to get 5 reps on any of your exercises? How many reps did you get the previous month? If it was 5-6, then upping 5 or 10lbs may have put you over the edge to lose a rep. Need more information.
The previous month, I managed to get all my required reps, eg: 6 out of 5, 4 out of 3 and 1 out of 1 for squats. I’ve been on 5/3/1 for about 6 cycles now. If it helps, everything just feels off. When I was doing warm ups for bench with the empty bar, it just felt, unnatural and the movement just felt off to me. It feels as if I was just learning the movements for the first time in my life.
[quote]Benanything wrote:
The previous month, I managed to get all my required reps, eg: 6 out of 5, 4 out of 3 and 1 out of 1 for squats. I’ve been on 5/3/1 for about 6 cycles now. If it helps, everything just feels off. When I was doing warm ups for bench with the empty bar, it just felt, unnatural and the movement just felt off to me. It feels as if I was just learning the movements for the first time in my life.[/quote]
Ah, ok. So your drop wasn’t really that drastic.
I wouldn’t even bother with the deload, to be honest. I don’t think it’s necessary, and I’ve done better not deloading. 5/3/1 is fairly low volume already. Taking off seems to affect my rep ability more than absolute strength, also.
If you want to still deload, maybe just try dropping all accessory work, or cut it it in half, or otherwise make it much easier.
Right now you should probably reset your weights, as you’re at the limit. Take a few steps back, so you can take many more forward.
[quote]Benanything wrote:
I’ve read other posts about this topics but they don’t seem to answer my question which is, is it common for people to feel a drastic difference in training capacity/strength after taking a full week off. I took a full week off and now that I’m back on my program (5/3/1), I failed every single workout on the 5s week. Missing each weight by 1-2 reps.
Do I just have to take some time to get the groove back or is it something that I’ve done? During the week off, I ate at a caloric maintenance and I made it a priority to not enter the gym, thinking that this “full deload week” would help but so far it has proven to be counter productive.[/quote]
I recommend doing the program as shown in the book. There are more than a half dozen deloads to choose from - done after every six week cycle.