Is it okay to take a week off of powerlifting?
Firstly, powerlifting isn’t mandatory. Most of us don’t make our living from powerlifting (or at least not from our own training), and no one is forcing you to train, besides maybe a coach that you pay. That said, consistency is key for most things in life, especially powerlifting. This is a sport that you choose to do. A voluntary pursuit to better yourself. While training often can feel like a chore or responsibility, it truly is a privilege that should be enjoyed. As I dive into taking time off, please be aware that this is the perspective I am coming from. I am assuming that you are someone who takes this seriously and wants to continue to improve. Frankly, that improvement does not happen without effort. I am aware however, that training 4+ times per week requires sacrifice in other areas of your life be it family, social, professional, or otherwise. Sometimes taking some time off is unavoidable due to factors outside of the gym. I don’t know your specific situation and I don’t pretend to, so I’ll be limiting the scope of this article to variables within the gym, as these are the most consistent across all lifters.
So, other than a busy schedule why would you consider taking a week off? Let’s start with the most common answer: recovery.
Personally, I call bullshit on this one. While this answer frames taking a week off as a potential strategy to improve your performance, you simply cannot convince me that doing nothing for a week is better than doing something. Is it better than training at maximum intensity when you’re already run down? Yes, it probably is. But you are simply stopping yourself from getting worse, you are not getting better. Instead, active recovery strategies like a deload week or a pivot week are far superior options. Traditional deloads feature a reduction in volume and/or intensity to allow athletes to maintain their strength and fitness while continuing to technique and skill, all while allowing for improved recovery. I’m a huge fan of this approach, and here at SoCal Powerlifting we use deload weeks for a vast majority of our athletes to end most training blocks.
Pivot weeks are a strategy popularized by Mike Tuchscherer of Reactive Training Systems. They function similarly to deload weeks, but instead of simply maintaining exercise selection and reducing load and volume, pivot weeks aim to reduce stress and fatigue primarily by changing exercises to emphasize movements, muscles, and energy systems that are not as fatigued from the prior block. Exercises that are more self-limiting are a fantastic choice for these weeks. Common examples would be forcing a powerlifter such as yourself to do a movement they are much less proficient at such as a front squat over a back squat, or incline bench press over a flat bench. This can be applied more broadly as well by introducing an entirely new exercise category to powerlifters: cardio. Supersets, circuit training, or even the dreaded assault bike sprints are all great ways to get in beneficial work and improve metabolic conditioning while still allowing recovery of the systems and muscles that were heavily utilized during the previous block of traditional training that often focuses on lower volume, higher intensity, powerlifting movements.
These strategies allow you to improve your recovery just like that elusive “rest week” would, but with the added benefits of possibly improving (or at least better maintaining) technical skill acquisition, metabolic conditioning, strength, and overall fitness levels. While it’s true that muscle repair and growth take time after training to occur, this often occurs within 24-48 hours, making the remainder of the week wasted time.
Injury prevention is the other aspect of recovery that is often mentioned when arguing for the value of taking a week off. This has merit for sure, I simply believe there are better strategies to address it than a full rest week. Unless you are suffering from a mysterious full-body injury (which is unlikely to occur from training), there is some kind of training that can be done. Shoulder injury? Try using the safety squat bar instead of a straight bar. Back hurting? Belt squat. We’ll dive into training around specific injuries in future blog posts, but there is almost always something you can do to get better.
The true reason most want to skip a week of training is mental burnout. To be honest, I get it. I’ve dedicated my life to this sport. My employment, social circle, and a majority of my hobbies all relate to powerlifting in some way and even I will admit that it is boring as shit. Unlike many popular sports where “you never know what could happen,” powerlifters compete in the exact same three lifts in the exact same order on the exact same equipment over and over again… And that’s the fun part! The training is even more monotonous. So yeah, mental burnout is real and I understand it. However, more often than not this burnout simply comes from the monotony of the training. The good news is that this is an easy fix! Change it up! Try introducing some more variation. Use accommodating resistance like bands and chains, throw some specialty bars in there, do more bodybuilding movements! Hell even other forms of activity outside of the gym like rock climbing, swimming, or running are probably going to help you more than sitting on your ass for a week. It’s okay, and even advised, to acknowledge when you’re burnt out. Keeping your head down and grinding away will eventually lead you to hit a wall. However, you can address this simply by changing up your activity.
If this doesn’t help the burnout at all it may be time to look yourself in the mirror and ask what the real issue is. If you’ve dedicated any significant portion of time to training, you are by no means a lazy person. However, at times you may find yourself desperately looking for a reason not to train. Sometimes life beats us down to where being lazy is all we can do. I’ve been there myself before. My point is that this is a result of external factors other than training. Improve what you can outside of the gym regarding your mental health, nutrition, sleep, etc. and I can almost guarantee that burnout will begin to dissipate. And if it doesn’t? Hey, take the week off. Despite my long-winded rant against skipping a week of training, I promise it won’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. My goal isn’t to shame anyone for taking it easy for a week or to say you’re never allowed to take time off. I believe that doing what you can is better than doing nothing, but if you have nothing left to give, enjoy your break. When planned thoughtfully and approached with the right mindset, a short break can enhance long-term performance and help you return to your training with renewed energy. However, if you have a little left to give and just need to let off the gas a little bit, deload or pivot weeks are far superior ways to keep improving while allowing yourself to recover.
