Muscle for Life

In many ways, building the body of your dreams is just like building anything else worthwhile. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it . . . to a point. You’ll have to train hard to get the body you want, but you can’t only rely on your afterburners. Punish your body with intense workouts week in, week out, without taking breaks or deloads, and your journey will be marred by . . . - Regular plateaus - Overuse injuries - Lack of motivation - Lackluster workouts This is why top level athletes of all stripes—from hockey players to cyclists to powerlifters—include planned periods of rest and recovery in their training. In fact, the highest level athletes place tremendous importance on this because the consequences of overlooking it are so severe (chronic underperformance, career-ending injuries, and so on). When it comes to gaining muscle and strength, one of the best recovery tools at your disposal is the deload. If you’re reading this, you’ve likely heard of deloads before, but you probably are