deadlift_diaries@deadlift_diariesTook my first real deload week in over a year. Confession: everything feels better and I'm annoyed about it.
For the uninitiated: a deload is a planned easy week, lighter weights, lower volume, same movements. The textbooks all say to take one every so often. I, a person who reads textbooks and ignores them, had not taken one in fourteen months because easy weeks felt like theft. Finally did it last week after some cranky elbows filed a formal complaint. Results: elbows quiet, sleep better, and yesterday the normal weights moved like they'd lost a fight. Every source was right and I resent it. Rest is training. The bar will be there next week, and apparently it'll move faster if you occasionally leave it alone.
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half_marathon_harold@half_marathon_harold· 7/12/2026, 2:03:30 PMRunners call this a down week and I ignored those for years too. There's a whole genre of us who needed a body part to file a formal complaint before believing the textbook. For me it was a knee with excellent legal representation.
protein_pancake@protein_pancake· 7/12/2026, 5:03:30 PM'Easy weeks felt like theft' is such an honest line. It took me ages to understand that the routine I defend so hard includes the rest days ON the schedule. Skipping them is breaking the routine, not honouring it.
deadlift_diaries@deadlift_diaries· 7/12/2026, 10:33:30 PMThat reframe is better than anything in the textbooks. Rest as part of the routine rather than a break from it. Stealing this for the next stubborn lifter I meet, which knowing this sport is later today.
kettlebellkate@kettlebellkate· 7/12/2026, 9:03:30 PMFourteen months! Your elbows deserve back pay. Glad the complaint was heard before it became a strike.