Help/advice for deload week programming

[Martin Schap]

I'm starting a 3 weeks hard, 1 week easy training schedule and don't really know what to do for my easy week next week. I'm mostly going pretty heavy, so I'm thinking of drilling the snatch a bit, maybe some box squats, but I was wondering what others do to deload.
My rough training outline is like this:

Monday:
-Fighter pull-up program
-5-5 deads
-Barbell TGU (usually 5 singles each side, alternating sides)
-Weighted pistols (usually 5 singles each leg, alternating legs)
-KB swings and snatches

Tuesday:
-Some pull-ups, no set and rep scheme
-5-5 deads
-C&J (singles)
-push drag or carry

Wednesday:
-5-5 deads
-Back squats or front squats with chains (5x5)
-Weighted pull-ups (doubles)
-Overhead press (doubles)
-KB snatches and swings

Friday:
-Fighter pull-up program
-5-5 deads
-Power snatch + OHS for reps combo
-Power cleans (5x5)
-KB snatches and swings

Saturday:
-Fairly high volume pull-up day, though not on any plan
-5-5 deads
-HSPUs
-Sprinting, or if the weather is bad, unweighted pistols

So far this programming feels pretty good. It's a variation of some programming that worked well for me in the past, and I've already done some tweaking here and there to make it more realistic, etc. At the end of each deload week I'm planning a Saturday testing day of standing broad jump, max dead, max deadhang pull-ups, and 1200m run or 5 minute snatch test.

[Garrett Smith]

Cressey recently wrote an article on deload weeks.

The important thing for me is to really make it a deload week, erring on the side of doing too little than too much.

[Martin Schap]

Thanks. I will check that out later when I'm not at work... If anybody else knows of good articles on this topic I love to read articles.

[Garrett Smith]

Heck, any of Cressey's articles on T-Nation are pretty good.

I think a great deload week would involve a lot of joint mobility work, foam rolling, and stretching (yoga if you're into that). If you OL, maybe a bit of dowel work to keep the patterns fresh. Oh yeah, some relaxation training (meditation) or whatever you like.

Basically all the stuff we should do on a regular basis but can't seem to make time for...

[Gant Grimes]

Ride a bike, play with your kids, play pickup basketball...anything but getting my ass whipped in the gym.

[Martin Schap]

I'll check out Cressey's stuff when I get a chance. I may just do a week of completely different stuff, like hiking and messing around, with maybe two sessions of drilling the snatch and a couple sessions of practicing my kb juggling with the 16kg. If I have to do a little more to ensure a good night's sleep I will gtg with push-ups and pull-ups.