So this week has seen me do very little in the way of rugby training. Most days I have walked for 30-40 minutes. No weights, conditioning, speed, nothing. And to be honest I feel better for it.
You know sometimes you have to step away and look at the bigger picture, give yourself a pat on the back and then reassess your progress from time to time.
This year alone I have gone through one major surgery, trained ass off for weeks on end (deliberately overtraining to see the effects), moved an entire business up the other end of town, had my young fella start school alongside juggling my role as a father and husband, manage a corporate fitness business that is working across 2 countries now and try to inspire a hundred or so athletes and joe public to reach their goals.
So do you think a week off training is going to do me any harm?
I don’t think so. In fact I would argue it is just what the Doctor ordered. Would I do this all the time? No. Sometimes it is an excuse for laziness. You almost have to earn a week like that.
Here are some other thoughts on the de-load or taking time back from your training schedule.
1) Plan them. If I know that there is a planned ‘de-load’ week coming up the intensity inevetiably increases. I have seen that with my rugby players. There is light at the end of the tunnel so to speak!
2) I like to follow a 3 weeks on, 1 week off mode with every training phase. Week 1 – Introduction and find your training weight Week 2 – Build it up Week 3 – Go nuts Week 4 – Deload
3) In the deload week I would drop the big bang exercise. Why? To give the nervous system a rest. The nervous system takes longer to recover than the muscles ever will, least that is what I have found and there is a body of research to support this; not only in a de-load week but also during a training session. if you have been following me for some time you will know that I like the big bang movements and very rarely will I prescribe more than 4 exercises in a session.
4) With the assistance work I would knock a set off these too. So if you are doing 4 sets of GH raises or 4 sets of chins, do 3 sets in your de-load week. Mentally it keeps the volume low but the intensity is still high.
5) If you are using track work as your conditioning methods then keep doing it but keep the volume the same but use a descending order. So if your last session in week 3 was 6 x 200 for a total of 800m in week 4 use a total of 800m but go 300,200,200,100m as your progression.
6) Find a cheap massage somewhere. I will leave that up to your imagination.
7) Use this time to eat more quality foods. Not pig out on crap but bunk up your nutrients. You won’t be so depleted this time with all the training stress so build up your nutrient reserves and watch your energy levels, sleep and body fat levels improve provided you don’t pig out on the carbs. This could be as simple as keeping your hydration levels up every day and eating a little more at each meal in the form of more veggies and good fats. Your testosterone will thank you as you do!
So there you go – a few ideas to get you going!
P.s. Don’t forget the critical importance of nutrition in rugby. Here are my thoughts and a concrete plan to take your game from zero to hero!
