What Is D-Loading?

Hey all, this entry is going to be about d-loading. So what exactly is d-loading? When you are training hard year round, your body is inevitably going to encounter numerous aches and pains. While it's a good idea to try to work around them, sometimes you need to take a weak to "d-load." First off, I am not a huge advocate of taking a week off of training. I think maybe once a year is okay, but otherwise, if healthy, I don't feel taking a week off of training is all that necessary. So I do like the idea of a "d-load" week. D-loading is, in theory, training your body as you typically would, however, with much less intensity. For instance, if you typically do working sets with 225 on the bench press, do sets of 135. If you typically do 100 pushups, do 50. With the decrease in intensity, your body gets a chance to heal up and recover, without losing much of that progress that you have made. With a d-load, you are taking your muscles through the same ranges of motion, still taxing the nervous system, but not further causing any muscle tears or strains. So try a d-load week. It can be applied to any form of exercise, anaerobic or aerobic and is always a good idea when you feel your body is in a broken down state.