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Deload: Insomnia and Anxiety

Just trying to get some extra pointers/comments on my deload plans

jorgeegroj
jorgeegroj g Jorge Villarreal
106 Post(s)
106 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: January 1, 2017
Posted

Hey Guys and Girls,

Been lifting for a while. Started a Strength Phase to fix my poverty bench (was lagging behind all my other lifts)
Essentially spliced together a 5x5 rep/set scheme with a PPL type workout:

Monday - DL + BBRow (pull - back day)
Tuesday - Bench + Incline (push - chest day)
Wednesday - Basketball (active rest)
Thursday - Squat (leg day)
Friday - OHP (push - shoulder day)

I do assistance exercises and other lifts pertaining to the PPL schedule, but the lifts above are my main focus and I do them 5x5 with progressive overload. Even added a Saturday - arm day for the pump. I've already added 20 lbs to all the lifts mentioned above over the course of 4 weeks, but my CNS is giving me some fatigue, insomnia, mood swings and anxiety. I don't know how much of it is actually CNS fatigue/overtraining syndrome and how much it might just be a relapse to my mental health issues.

I know my routine isn't the most standard thing in the world, but I like switching it up every ~2 months and find it fun to make new routines, so I play around with a lot of factors.

My current plans are: taking today/tomorrow (Monday/Tuesday) as deload days and Wednesday fully off, and see where I'm at for Thursday. I'll update you guys with this.

 

Have any of you been through something similar? Do you have any tips?

Additionally, if any of you know where I can get 2.5 lb plates in Mexico or in TX (or online from either of those), I could use them too! haha

Looking forward to hearing from you guys and reading your responses!

Jorgeegroj

Frat bro turned barbell boss. Two black belts. (Tae-Kwon-Do and Ai-Ki-Do)
jorgeegroj
jorgeegroj g Jorge Villarreal
106 Post(s)
106 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: January 1, 2017
Posted

UPDATE TIME!

 

 

Here's what I've done.

Monday:

instead of DLs: 4x8-10 sumo deficit DLs at 60% of my last working weight for the 5x5 portion.

instead of BBRow: 4x10-15 One Arm DB Row at 60% of my last working weight for the 5x5.

 

Tuesday:

instead of Bench: 4x8-10 DB bench at 60%

instead of Incline: 4x8-10 decline bench at 60% (of my last working weight for incline bench for the 5x5)

 

I'm feeling much better although I'm still a little bit over-tired and had some insomnia last night. It was raining and I had a heavy work day so I'm gonna chalk it up to that. However, I'm feeling a LOT better. I'm gonna cut today out of all workouts (except martial arts).

 

 

I've also been bulking (because it makes no sense to work on strength without some sort of calory surplus or at least meeting up at maintenance. I'm now 183 lbs (up from 175 about a month ago) but my abs still show and I feel pretty good. I'm gonna keep up my 3200 cal/day diet and see where I end up.

 

 

Any tips/questions/anything is appreciated.

Also, feel free to ask about my routine or anything like that, I'm happy to share if there's interest. No trade secrets or anything, just a guy who loves barbell training and wants to get WAY better at it

Frat bro turned barbell boss. Two black belts. (Tae-Kwon-Do and Ai-Ki-Do)
jorgeegroj
jorgeegroj g Jorge Villarreal
106 Post(s)
106 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: January 1, 2017
Posted

Thursday has come around and I'm torn. On the one hand I'm feeling better but on the other I'm not feeling 100% just yet (no more Overtraining Syndrome, but I am still kinda sick). I'm going to take the rest of the week as a deload at 60% of my 5x5 working weights and come into it Monday guns ablazing.

 

Another huge factor is that I ordered 2.5 lb plates online and they're showing up over the weekend, so I can assess strength loss and start progressive overload back up with a smaller increase because I was doing 10 lbs/week and that was a LOT to deal with.

Frat bro turned barbell boss. Two black belts. (Tae-Kwon-Do and Ai-Ki-Do)
jorgeegroj
jorgeegroj g Jorge Villarreal
106 Post(s)
106 Post(s) Gender: Male Goal: Gain Muscle Date Joined: January 1, 2017
Posted

Update time! (in case anyone is still reading this)

 

I came in on Thursday and was feeling amazing. I went for my +10 lbs squat 5x5 and nailed it. Did the rest of my workout, all good. Friday I hit OHP at +10 lbs as well. Rested over the weekend again.

 

This week has been great, I got +10 on my bench no problem and +10 on my DL as well. (also felt way stronger on my BBRows, but did not go up in weight)


Overall: great decision to take a half deload week. Maybe I should've done a little more time off, but it was still fine. I have also reduced my squat/DL volume at high intensity, switching them out for 3x5 + volume sets instead of 5x5, because it just takes too long and those two give me a LOT of CNS fatigue (to an extent that bench/rows/ohp don't), and I'm trying to get way better before I have to deload again instead of doing it every 3 weeks, I'd love to be able to go 5-6 weeks.


If anyone has any similar issues or wants to talk about this at all, I'll be around the forums, or feel free to IM me!

Frat bro turned barbell boss. Two black belts. (Tae-Kwon-Do and Ai-Ki-Do)
muscular strength
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