Fall Break is almost here and I’ve gotten a lot of “how should I train” or “how should I eat” on vacation questions.
My protocol (for most of my athletes) might surprise you.
Plan a DELOAD!!!!
All this means is that we’ve looked ahead, worked our tails off, adhered pretty darn well to protocols for our goals, and vacation is the “landing spot” that marks a shift of focus to the recovery of our central nervous and muscular system.
While there are many right ways to deload… for most lifestyle clients here’s the name of the game:
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Stay out of the gym. Let your muscles heal! Prevent burn out, feeling beat up, future injury, and rest will often bust ya outta plateaus.
- But if you simply wanna train cool, just make sure it feels like recess rather than an obligation. Lighten up the weights and reduce reps and sets.
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Go on walks. Move without stress.
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Chances are your job keeps you sedentary already. Walking is actually quite therapeutic mentally and physically. Go visit the outlets instead of Amazon 🙂
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Recover mentally.
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Don’t set an alarm. Sleep in. Take naps. Watch funny movies. Make memories with the fam. Your brain needs to chill as much as your body.
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On the food side, if you’ve been 75% consistent, I give my athletes a week of untracked eating. Keep your nutritional “anchors” in place, but don’t try to replicate your at-home routine while you’re at the beach or in the mountains.
If you do, you’ll just feel miserable, and worse—you’ll come back burned out.
Now, specifically for Fall Break: October through December is PRIME muscle growth season. Food is everywhere (and part of the fun), so embrace it.
Eat more AND move more.
The worst thing you can do is eat more and train less. Remember—your #1 goal right now isn’t dieting, it’s muscle progress. Tell the food where to go!
Want glutes? Train them.
Want capped shoulders in your tank top come May? Don’t let the holidays knock you off track. Build now so cutting later feels easy.
So eat well, rest up, and be ready to crush it when you’re back.
P.S. If you’ve never learned how to properly eat build lean muscle, consider working 1:1 with one of our expert coaches.
