Below are the first three weeks of our wrestlers' training in the beginning of the fall semester. Most of the time in my coaching log when we go through training blocks I highlight the first three weeks so everyone can see the progressions in volume, movements, intensity, etc. For this article, I'm going show how we go from the third week to the fourth week and build in a deload. Early on in my coaching career, I would force the athletes to take a deload every fourth week of training. This is good in theory and what many coaches think you are supposed to do. The issue is that, in reality, it doesn’t always work best.
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For one, when these athletes are home, the majority of them don’t train very hard. This is a problem because it lessens the time we have them training. If they were home just four weeks ago and not training very hard, do they really need a deload four weeks into the semester? Another problem we run into is disappointment with the athletes' performance in the weight room during deloads. They get the idea that it is "supposed" to be an easy week, and they perform poorly most of the time, both mentally and physically. They also tend to feel like shit once they come back from the deload.
If you have some momentum going, a misplaced deload can kill it real quick. Over the years I've found it’s better to build a deload into the training, not tell them about it, and keep things rolling. It is also more productive to rely on your indicator athletes to let you know when to scale things back. Indicator athletes are the ones who do everything you ask and then some. They are typically more mature and more on-task than the rest of the group. These athletes have earned the right to give feedback. They’re the ones that make your job great.
When I talk about my more recent "deloads", all we’re doing is lessening some aspect of training to let the body adapt to the stress we've put it through over the previous three weeks. You can deload volume, intensity, or difficulty of movements.
Before we talk about the deload in the fourth week, take a few minutes to review the first three weeks below. The layout is designed as such:
- Week 1: Listed in regular font
- Week 2: Changes listed in bold
- Week 3: Changes listed in bold
Program Details
This begins the first week of September, roughly 10 weeks until the first competition. This post will only address the athletes experienced in conjugate training. “Experienced” just means they are not complete new to the system — not that they are truly experienced. We’ll also assume the athletes have trained over the summer, meaning we don’t have to do remedial training. The summer program would have been a progression starting in May to prep them for these loads and demands. We will also assume no outside meddling in the program.
Training occurs four days per week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Training is early in the morning and practice is in the afternoon after 3 PM. You may start to see some signs of overreaching at this point. The kids are three weeks into the semester and that's usually about the point everything starts to catch up to them. Similar to peaking for a meet, fatigue and overreaching seem to be on the same schedule. Next week (Week 4) we'll give them a bit of a break to let them get their feet under them again.
Weeks 1-3
Monday – Max Effort Upper
1. Lacrosse Ball — Pecs and Front Delt
2. Modified Push-Up superset with Banded Facepull — 4 x 25
3. Two-Board Press — 1RM; Close Grip Fat Bar Bench with Mini Bands — 1RM; Wide Grip Bench with Chains — Near 5RM
4. Two-Board Press — 80%, 2 x Failure; Close Grip Fat Bar Bench with Mini Bands — 80%, 2 x Failure; Banded Push-Up — 3 x Failure
5. One-Arm Dumbbell Row on Bench — 3x8; 4x8; 5x8
6. Skull Crusher Push-Up on Bench — 3 x Failure; 4x8, 5x8
7. Banded Side Bend — 4x25
8. Banded Shoulder Traction — 30 Rotations/Position
9. Neck — 3x20
Exercises four through seven can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Tuesday – Dynamic Effort Lower
1. Lacrosse Ball — Glutes and Psoas
2. Bodyweight Back Extensions (15) superset with Groiners (30) — 2 Sets; 3 Sets; 4 Sets
3. Seated Weighted Footslam Box Jump — 3x5; 4x5; 5x5
4. SS Yoke Bar Speed Squat with 3 Chains — 10x2; Cambered Bar Squat with Bands — 8x2 with 50% of Week 1; SS Yoke Bar Squat with Bands — 6x2 with 50% of Week 1
5. Kettlebell Swing — 4x20; 5x20; 6x20
6. Single-Leg Back Extensions — 4x10
7. Prone Banded Curls — 150 Rep; 200 Reps; 250 Reps
8. Spread Eagle Sit-Ups — 4x25
9. Chain Knee Raise — 3x30; 4x30
10. Banded Hip Mobility — 30/Position
Exercises five through eight can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams. Use strength of the squatter to determine which bands to use. If the athlete can squat over 350 pounds, use light bands. If the athlete can squat less than 350 pounds, use mini bands.
Thursday – Dynamic Effort Upper
1. Lacrosse Ball — Pecs and Front Delt
2. Mini Band Pull-Apart superset with Barbell Skull Crusher (No Added Weight) — 4 x 25
3. Speed Bench with Bands — 30%, 10x3; Add 10 Pounds, 8x3; Add 10 Pounds, 6x3
4. Dumbbell Floor Press — 3x15; Incline Dumbbell Bench — 4x15; Dumbbell Bench — 4x15
5. Inverted Row with Blast Straps — 4 x Failure; Add Chain, 4 x Failure
6. Shrug Death — 1 Round; 2 Rounds
7. Fat Bar Curls — 3x15; 4x15
8. Banded Triceps — 200 Reps; 250 Reps; 300 Reps
9. One-Arm Dumbbell Farmers Walks — 4 Trips
Exercises five through nine can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Friday — Max Effort Lower
1. Lacrosse Ball — Glutes and Psoas
2. Seated Abductions (25) superset with Groiners (30) — 2 Sets, 3 Sets
3. Weighted Kneeling Jumps — 3x5; 4x5; 5x5
4. SS Yoke Bar Squat with 3-5 Chains — 1RM; Close Stance Cambered Bar with Bands — 1RM; Wide Stance SS Yoke Bar with Bands — 1RM
5. SS Yoke Bar Squat with 3-5 Chains — 80%, 2 x Near Failure; Cambered Bar Good Morning — 3x6; Close Stance Cambered Bar Good Morning with Bands — 3x5
6. SS Yoke Bar with Chains Marching — 3x45 Seconds, Knees to Waist; Pistol Squat — 3x10; Slow Eccentric Pistol Squat — 3x10
7. Reverse Hyper — 4x30; 4x40; 4x50
8. Glute Ham Raises — 3 x Failure; 4 x Failure
9. Weighted Sit-Ups — 4x25
10. Close Grip Neutral Grip Pull-Ups — 3x8; Pull-Ups — 4x8; Towel Grip Pull-Ups — 4 x Failure
11. Banded Hip Mobility
Exercises six through ten can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Week 4 — Deload Week
Pay attention to volume and difficulty of movements from Week 3 to Week 4. By decreasing one of these factors we are lessening the training stress, not eliminating it, and deloading the athlete.
Monday – Max Effort Upper
1. Lacrosse Ball — Pecs and Front Delts
2. Close Grip Modified Push-Up (15) superset with Mini Band Pull-Apart (25) — 4 Rounds
3. Floor Press with Chains — 1, 2, and 3 Chains Per Side
4. Floor Press with Chains — 1 x Failure, 80% of Exercise 3
5. JM Press with Chains on Floor — 3 x Failure
6. Inverted Row with Blast Straps — 3x10
7. Side Planks — 4x25
8. Banded Shoulder Traction — 30 Rotations/Position
9. Neck — 3x20
Exercises five through seven can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Tuesday – Dynamic Effort Lower
1. Lacrosse Ball — Glutes and Psoas
2. Reverse Hypers (15) superset with Seated Abduction (30) — 2 Sets
3. Weighted Box Jump — 3x5
4. SS Yoke Bar Speed Squat with 2-3 Chains — 10x2, 50%
5. Close Stance Kettlebell Swing — 4x15
6. Wide Stance Back Extensions — 4x20
7. GHR — 3x20
8. Hanging Leg Raises (Dumbbell Between Feet) — 4x25
9. Thompson Hips (No Rest) — 3x20
10. Banded Hip Mobility — 30/Position
Exercises six through eight can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Thursday – Dynamic Effort Upper
1. Lacrosse Ball — Pecs and Front Delts
2. Group Blackburns — 30 Seconds/Position
3. Barbell Skullcrusher (No Added Weight) — 3x25
4. Speed Bench with Chains — 10x3, 30%
5. Dumbbell Floor Press — 3x15
6. Row to Stomach (Athlete’s Choice) — 3x15
7. Snatch Grip Shrug — 3x20
8. Reverse Grip Curls — 3x15
9. Banded Piston Triceps — 3x20
10. Dumbbell Side Bend — 4x25
11. Banded Shoulder Traction — 30 Rotations/Position
Exercises five through nine can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Friday – Max Effort Lower
1. Lacrosse Ball — Glutes and Psoas
2. Single-Leg Hip Lift (20) superset with Chain Knee Raise (15) — 2 Sets
3. Kneeling Jumps — 3x5
4. Close Stance SS Yoke Bar Squats — 1RM
5. Close Stance SS Yoke Bar Squats — 4 x Failure, 80% of Exercise 4
6. Stepped-Out Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift — 3x6
7. Reverse Hyper — 4x20
8. Banded Glute Ham Raise — 3x8
9. Wide Stance Banded Pulldown Abs to Knee (Side Crunch) — 4x25
10. Weighted CGNG — 3x8
11. Banded Hip Mobility
Exercises six through ten can be done in any order to avoid traffic jams.
Deloads are great to keep the momentum going in your athletes' training and allow the body to adapt to the stress we’ve been putting on it. This was the most optimal way I’ve found to implement it in the off-season. Keep in mind that deloading during the season one week out from a big competition will look different, but it will still follow the same concept. Stimulate, don’t annihilate. It’s just like any other good training concept: if you overdo it, it can slow your progress instead of accelerating it.
