Have you ever hit a wall in your training that seemed to stop your progress in its tracks? Did it seem like no matter what you did, you would spin your wheels at best?
Well, if you’re stubborn like me, you probably decided to dig deeper and work even harder. I applaud your tenacity, but unfortunately (and I learned this the hard way), forcing yourself through a plateau never works. To the contrary, this tactic is usually counterproductive.
If working harder isn’t the answer, then what can you do? The answer is simple yet completely counterintuitive.
Here’s your solution: Take a step back in order to take two steps forward. In other words, lighten up your training for a short period of time. Believe me, I realize how psychologically difficult this can be. But in reality, you have two options. The choice is yours:
Option A- Continue to push towards your goal and get nowhere, or worse yet, get injured and burned out.
Option B- Back off only to come back stronger, more motivated and more physically primed to move towards your goal.
When you take a step back and view the scenario objectively, making the right choice is a no brainer. But going with “Option B” will challenge your intuition. This is when a good and trustworthy training coach can help.
To better demonstrate this point, I will use my friend and client, John “Giant” McGrath as an example. For years, John’s goal was to get ripped. He actually got down to six percent body fat and had a set of abs resembling an anatomy chart. I think it’s safe to say he realized his goal—and then some!
But recently, he decided to focus on a different yet congruent objective. His new goal was to reach strength levels he had never achieved before. Note: The Giant is in his 50’s, suffered shoulder separation from a skiing accident and has been training for 30 years.
Needless to say, the above factors make hitting personal strength records more than a little tricky. This would definitely take some clever programming (this is where I came in 
) So I designed his routine and we began to work towards his goals.
This was the look I got after making my unpopular suggestion
After 8 weeks, we were right at his all time best strength levels. This was a great feat, and we were definitely encouraged, but I noticed the weights were moving more slowly than I would like them to. I sensed that a back off would be necessary—and soon.
When I suggested to the Giant that he back off for a bit, I could see the look of disappointment in his eyes. “In just one more week, I can break my records”, he implored. But I knew it would be best for him to back off and I insisted upon it.
For the next two weeks, we continued to train but with very different goals. The rules for the back off period were:
1) No movements were to be goal-oriented.
2) The most physically stressful exercises where completely removed and replaced with more joint friendly movements.
3) Any major lift that remained in the back off routine was not to exceed 70% of max weight. Furthermore, the focus was to be purely on technique.
4) A lot of time was spent on mobility and prehab protocols during each and every workout.
After the two weeks of backing off, The Giant was salivating to get back after it. Additionally, his body felt better than it had felt in weeks. It was now time to smash his old records and do it in style.
It took us only four weeks to dominate his old maxes! His new maxes include:
Trap Bar Deadlift- Old Max 455/ New Max 500
Chin Ups- Old Max +90 lbs/ New Max +115 lbs
Squats- Old Max 295/ New Max 335 lbs
Strap Push Ups- Old Max +40 lbs for 12 reps New Max +40 lbs for 20 reps
I know for sure that if he had continued without the back off period, he would have never achieved these numbers.
Here is a short video of the Giant training:
Well, there you have it. I appreciate someone’s heart and will to train hard, but you’ve got to train smart as well. Listen to your body and don’t be afraid to take one step back. If you back off in the right way at the right time, it will be the quickest and surest way to take two steps forward.
Dedicated to your success,
John Alvino
Great work Giant!
How often should you back off?
Would it be better to schedule it into your program (ie. after 8 weeks of heavy training, do 2 weeks of lighter training) or just go by feel?
BTW, I watched the video 2x and the Giant doesn’t look like he’s in his 50′s at all…I thought he was 30 something!
@John Phung: Hey John, If you are experienced, you’ll know when to back off. Definitely listen to your body. If you are not so dialed in, I actually like your suggestion- Every 8 weeks do 1-2 weeks of lighter training.
The Giant will be happy to hear your presumption of his age! Eating clean, training hard (and smart!), and limiting his exposure to the beer pong table has paid off
What are your thoughts on taking a week completely off as your back off week?
Great post and vid!
@Gina: Hi G, I do recommend taking a week off from time to time. Most people take advantage of this complete week while on vacation or if they are forced due to illness or obligation.
Awesome Post and Awesome Montage. Do you think I can apply this to the how to get ripped abs prgram? Or would you not recommend that?
@Greg Teeter: Hi Greg, I would recommend starting that program after a back off week and doing one immediately after it. Taking one in the middle of the program is optional and should be determined by how you feel
Backing off is essential a lot of people cannot just accept that no matter what you do sometimes the only way to learn that is the hard way…
Anyway I just wanted to say that this (video+story) is Inspirational stuff
PS Your client looks familiar I don’t know where I saw him though
@Abdulaziz AKA The_Lazy_Nerd: Hey Abdulaziz, I agree with you. Most people only start backing off after they learn the hard way.
Glad you enjoy the post!
BTw the pic is awesome I don’t know where you get that stuff but its so funny its crazy hahaha
@Abdulaziz AKA The_Lazy_Nerd: I guess I have too much time on my hands hahahaha
The psychological part is what always messes me up. Getting the ego out of the way and listening to the messages your body gives you is a tricky thing. It’s so subtle, yet failure to do so usually ends in a “unplanned” and often times extended back off period.
Good message and inspirational story! Great job on achieving your goals Giant.
@Brandon Cook: Hey Brandon, I used to be the same way but after years of frying myself, I have finally learned.
I hope you learn from my mistakes
@John Alvino: Definitely agree with you 100% on this… I hope I can FINALLY learn this lesson as I’m tired of burning myself out and being injured. I think my mind is stronger than my body. haha
I was forced to stop completely for a week due to health issues, and started dead lifting again today, it felt so lighter and easy and we increased the weights by 10% and i could have done 20% but i was in a hurry
@Albaraa Mehdar: Sounds great Albaraa, the fact that you felt stronger was definitely an indication that you really needed to back off. Be sure to ease your way back into it. Good luck!
Thanks John for putting the montage together and posting it.
I’ve been training with John for about 15 years and feel better than in did in my 30′s.
I’m lucky to be training with him.
The back off routine was a bit of a hard sell by John, but I listened, and again John’s advice
was spot on, and I was able to hit the goals we set.
John is the best.
@John McGrath: You got it Giant. You deserve the credit- a lot of hard work and dedication went into your transformation. Thanks
Awesome video! And something I need to be doing . I am currently having shoulder problems so this is a good thing for me to be reading.
John
@John Cintron: Hey John, definitely follow this advice. It can literally save your shoulders
John, this is Tony the 61 year old . Yes you are again 100% correct. I found out years ago by trial and error, to increase strength, and or muscle size, you need to back off. Usually 2-4 weeks to let body recover,and focus on form and muscle mind connection. when you come back hit it hard, and smart, and toy numbers and size move up. Thanks John. Tony
@Tony Caminero: Hey Tony, I too learned the hard way
Listen to your body,don’t get burned out,don’t push your limits all the time..
Simple yet so complicated to do,especially whe your an overachiever…
@Alex: Well said Alex
I am still at loss as to why so many people think training more is better.A lot of top athletes train a lot but even they have time off and lighter training periods.
I know of people who train the same muscle groups (for size) 3 times a week and then wonder why they have stopped growing.
Some people believe you have to take your body to breaking point for the best results- would it not be better to push your body hard but not break it?
Training all out all the time will give you less gains, less strength, more injuries, constant tired flu like feeling and you will start to hate your training program. Train smart as John says,some times less is more.
Also I would have to say that I know the value of taking a week or more off every 6-12 weeks from training all together.If like many of those traing hard and you get joint problems ease off, if you still get joint problems (after medical treatment) think of switching to body weight training and or high quality band training (like Bodylastics – best I have used) for a while.
Training should never damage your health , if anything the opposite should be true.
John has some excellent advice here.
@Andrew Morris: Hey Andrew, thanks for sharing your experience with us. Great points
John is this a deload week? If it isn’t whats the difference?
@Jesse: Hey Jesse, this is a deload. Most deload recommendations involve just going lighter (often 50%) on the min lifts. This version just has a few more guidelines to follow.
Great article and totally inspiring video John!
I love to see stuff like this because it really shows me that as I get older I can get better and better as long as I stay focused and driven.
What type of progression did you use for John’s training (linear, undulating, conjugate)?
What are your thoughts about types of progressions and the need for back off periods. By that I mean If I follow a progression for handstand push ups where I try to increase total reps for a month (over as many sets as needed), and then switch to trying to get as many reps as possible in 2 or 3 sets, how would you incorporate you unloading in terms of volume or intensity when progress starts to slow in one avenue?
Thanks and keep up the great work!
-Chris
@Chris S: Hey Chris, yo can definitely continue to improve as you get older but for that to happen, you must train smarter.
For this particular phase, the Giant did old school linear progressions.
And I apologize but I don’t quite understand the last question regarding handstand push ups