best use of a squat rack as ive ever seen

solid advice

Wish I knew about this back in the day. There was a point between ages 21-24 where I was literally lifting more weight every single workout. I felt unstoppable. Then I hit a wall and plateaued and just couldn't get over. Instead of taking a step back, I just pushed harder and harder. My form started to suffer and I ended up hurting myself (torn rotator, bulging discs, tendonitis all over). That kept me out of the gym for a few years. Now I'm 37 and the way I train is much smarter, partly due to people such as yourself.

Never knew i could miss someone so much that ive never met before, rest easy legend

Take one step back to take two steps forward. Great advice

Love this. Listen to your body, and when you deload: 1) reduce sets by ~20% 2) don’t take anything to failure

My god it sucks not knowing we’ll ever get this quality content. RIP🙏🏿

You've confirmed I need a deload week. I've been pushing myself, but last work out did not feel great and did not have a good pump. Been feeling really fatigued in my last resting days.

I needed help and of course I came to this. You will be missed Mountain dog.

John’s wisdom and impact lives on. RIP brother in iron. They should write a book capturing all his wisdom from KZfaq and his friends.

like John says....listen to your body....as everyone is different and it tells you to have a break

Been deloading for a week now, first deload ever, since I only started training like 13 weeks ago. Gotta say I needed it... but damn IS IT BORING! hahaha

Great video, just did 3 months going hard lifting and have seen great results, but I now just feel like absolute shit. Took every set to failure 75% of the time. Haven’t lost the motivation, far from it. I would feel like shit when I didn’t workout and couldn’t wait to get back in the next day. Gonna take it easy for a week and take the 20% de-load week advice. It’s just kinda shocking how everything was going so great and then bam, your body says nope, you had enough. I’m guessing the adrenal glands need a serious reboot.

Thank you so much, this was so helpful. I’ve been hitting it hard for 10 months now, I took a couple of prescribed deload weeks during that time where I reduced my weight but I was feeling overall pretty good. This last week it really hit me. Just like you explained, my passion to go to the gym let up, my weights feel heavier, I just feel blah. It was so comforting to hear the science behind it!

This is super helpful! I’ve been training for 4 solid weeks, maxed out on everything, weights are feeling heavier, nervous system is shot 🙈 was embarrassed because it’s only been a month, but your insight makes me feel better about it, body just needs some rest, everything is good!

I do like John's explanation of things. I don't do bodybuilding, I do bodyweight and boxing training, and I've been really going for it for 7 months, but I got a signal from my body this week, in 2 parts: 1. I felt angry - emotional - for no reason before my workout. Sometimes I have to work myself up to get motivated, but I never feel angry about it 2. Afterwards I had no appetite. That is quite unusual So I took a deload week this week. I'm pretty sure I got it right, I pushed myself until something wasn't quite right, then I paid attention. I'm sure I could have pushed through it, but something didn't seem right.

Totally agree that it should be instinctive, by the time you can train hard enough to need it you should really be adept at spotting the signs

Thank you man I really needed this. My bench went down 10 pounds in less than a week and I was wondering what I was doing wrong.

I never thought I would be here. First time I’ve consistently pushed myself so hard for so long

Is it weird this video made me tear up with relief? I thought I was losing my mind, but I think I just need to deload for a week or two. Thanks for the great advice!

Superb...everything answered without digressing all the time as so many people on here do... Using 10,000 words when 2000 will do.

Excellent recommendation - Much appreciated!

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge with us John! Bless you and your Family!

hit the nail on the head with this one. in my experience there is no way to precisely program a dload because there is so many variables and so much time gets wasted in trying to approximate this

Awesome videos, John. Always straight to the point. No BS

This is one of the best advices i've ever heard!! Thnxs!!!!!!

The Greatest Of All Times

Straight to the point, no extra bs, explained in easy to understand way, talking from experience.. this channel is gold. Subscribed! Thanks for the awesome content!

I love how he gave intuitive guidance. Too many of us want a protocol based on exact times etc.

great video, I've never heard of deloading, I remember Tom platz at a seminar once saying take time off when you feel overtrained and that's what I've done all these years, I'm going to try the 2 rules of deloading now and see how it feels

Solid advice. Was feeling very off in the gym and overall just depressed. Felt zero pumps anywhere. Took 2 days off because I got the flu and when I came back, I felt amazing. Everyone should deload every 6 weeks or so if they need to.

Thanks again for the info. Great understanding and simplified for for us. 💎

When he said “now we know how to deload” and then “so how do you deload” right after😂

At first you scared me, but through the consistent educational wisdom you have taught me many things. Thank you for the lessons senpai.

Helped so much. Described my situation perfectly, and helped me understand what to do.

I’m so happy you made a video about this I’m trying a new workout plan

Awesome advice JM.. actually I thought it was spot on.. especially with decreasing intensity and stopping short of failure and lowering the volume... keep passing on that veteran knowledge. Love it brother!!💪🏾

Always the right info from John, thanks. I'm in my 2nd year of pushing/pulling weights and I'm 56, never too late. Cut my sessions down to full body twice a week as I was nearly always feeling tired from 3 times. Good balance now, time to recover and can push hard each session. Kyjak on my off days so keep fairly active still. The lockdown felt like a deload session this year :) Was hard to stay motivated and workout from home.

Super Awsome tip Im a 20 yr vet and I always go never give rest so great to know I've been doing more harm than good jus now started learning diet and supplements now this great tip thanks.

Hope these great videos are with us forever. RIP John.

I’ve trained 6 days a week for the past 6 months at maximum intensity. I’m excited to see what type of strength and energy I gain from my deload week during my February break

I just deload for 3 weeks for Christmas and New Year's. Hit the gym today, I am about 10 lbs weaker on my lifts. Granted I was also off the creatine, EAA, and I had a lower protein intake.

Sound advice 👌. I'm on day 4 of my deload. Still sore but just itching to get back to working out. I'll wait the full week though been at it for 6 months

You always give good advice Thanks!

Thank you for this awesome tip!

Thank you, for explaining to me who this meant! I noticed that I was eating well, but my sleep, my body and my mind was all out of wack. I took a day off and that didn’t work, so I was confused; however, when I lowered the weights, pulled back, I noticed that my strength came back in two weeks. I appreciate the knowledge

Dam, talk about using the least words to explain a topic in massive depth. Such good advice.

Really appreciate you touching this topic. I've been feeling run down for a few weeks and needed to hear this. Thank you.

this video and the comments are a godsend. i had no idea i needed this. went hard for 8 weeks straight

Good advice / perspective, thanks.

Thank you. Needed to hear it from a trusted pro/ trainer. Taken 1 week off after 10 months of training.

Thank you Mr John advice

This is the video I share with my clients. It’s so well said that I don’t have to add anything to it.

Much needed topic to discuss. Good to hear your take! Thanks!

So much good info. Thanks, MountainDog ❤️

Great advice 🌟 I’ve been training hard for a good few months now and have been progressing like nothing I’ve seen before, both in strength and size. But last weekend I woke up and just did not want to move. Hard training coupled with a very physical job has finally taken its toll, and it’s such a crossroads when you love training but just can’t physically go for it! The motivation is there but the strength isn’t My biggest anxiety has been losing my progress, however one step back and two forward 😎 and over the long term nothing will be lost! Just got to keep active and allow it to pass 😁 Cheers John 🙌🏼🕊

Thank you!! Exactly what I needed.

Best possible things you could do is 1. Take a 1 week to a month off 2. My favorite is going light-mid weight and sets are much shorter focusing on form and pumps, and no failure reps or sets so your CNS can cruise control and recover while not losing or barley strength when coming back to do mid-heavy weights

A few months ago I hit this. I was in the final 3-4 weeks of my program, doing my heaviest sets and I just dreaded going to the gym. I’d force myself to go, and after 1 heavy set I just felt exhausted. Putting weights on the bar and taking them off again was exhausting. I thought I was getting sick because I was just tired and exhausted all the time. My strength was depleting drastically, I’m talking like my 1RM on bench was 20lbs down from my 1RM Bench at the start of my program. Once I finished that last month I felt accomplished enough that I just took 2 weeks off. Did a lot of walking and stretching and cheated on my diet a bit. Now I feel like a fucking tank and seeing strength gains again. No shame in giving your body a rest when you need it.

Thank you for this. More blessings peace and prosperity 🙏

The man is a legend. RIP

Very good advice, and easy to follow.

Great vid. I lost performance and feel tired was looking how to deload while i can.

hornestly I need to deload, thanks for the advice John..

I dialed back a few weeks ago, and I was surprised that I got a benefit from it.

Thank you for this. I definitely have to take it easier next week.

Solid advise man.🔥.Thank You

Thanks man I needed this

Everything in this video nailed my situation right now

Thanks for the good advice jacked Mark Hamill !

Great and easy explanation

Thanks bro the exact video I was searching for thanks

Thanks. I needed this.

Ismashed 12 weeks straight and I’m working 2 jobs. I need to go to the gym at 5am to squeeze it in. I was shattered, I was ratty my weights not going up, I’ve hit a plateau. That’s when you need to take a break. I took 2 about 10 days off. Having that extra couple of hours sleep in morning. Went back to the gym and my bodies stronger, and I feel much better to lift. Going to smash another 12 weeks out.

Excellent Video

If you have enough years under your belt youll feel it when its the right time: start to feel sluggish all the time,mental focus is off,maybe an ache here or there.if its been months since youve taken a deload then you can take even 2 weeks off

My training program is so good, I'm deloading every week.

Thank you alot.

RIP 🕊️ that was really helpful

I really hope He is with the Lord feeling nothing but love and complete health and peace, living forever, I just see love in that man. Hope i meet you one day Mr. Meadows.

As expected of John. Really great advice as always.

Very helpful. ...thanks bro

I lifted for years without much of a break trying to do powerlifting style workouts…finally after many pulled muscles, lost strength, energy issues and needed some physical therapy for some muscle issues I finally added a de load…a little late to the party but I feel a lot better

Day 4 of deload week and I’m BORED. Been pushing myself and cutting and I was FATIGUED out. Realized I needed to deload when I couldn’t focus on my workouts and wasn’t enjoying it.

Gold stuff John ! Thanks

I just want to punch the people that give a thumbs down to Johns videos. They obviously don't body build! IMO, his videos make the most sense and explain things in laments terms or way the way most of us need and want to hear. Without getting too scientific and complicated to understand, because then you just say screw it I'll figure it out on my own and end up getting hurt or not achieving your goals because you get frustrated. Thanks John

RIP BIG DOG

Some great advice on deload! I've fiddled around with those deload structures for strength athletes with mixed results, and I've also come to the conclusion that strength protocols don't transfer over all that well. Oh, and if I remember most of those studies come from track athletes, if I remember zoudos correctly, so there's a huge question of applicability to strength training, let alone physique.

As always , very informative 👍

Thanks again john!

Funny thing is I'm in Houston where the gyms are closed because of the floods. I was going to do some at-home workouts but I decided since I had been squatting 5 days a week for two months and I had a nagging little job-related forearm injury that was limiting my upper body work that I would just do a full de-load and low and behold, this video comes up.

Bro I needed the info.This Is AWESOME site. 10weeks out

Had to come back to this video. My CNS is shot and needed advice.

Well said. Great video as usual

good stuff

subbed cos of this video !! cheers mountaindog !!!

I think it’s time for me to deload I feel pretty much how he described

It's hard for some people to understand the importance of a deload week/off week to allow the CNS to recover. So many things can be off when you are bordering over training. like John says sleep is a big one, libido, loss of appetite, weird things like sensitivity to light in extreme cases. these are serious signs that our body gives us to let us know it's time to back off for a bit. Great vid

great channel,great teacher

You will be missed