Deload Weeks
What is a deload week? Why do we need them? And how do we implement them into our training?
What is a deload week?
A deload week is a week where we purposefully reduce training intensity and volume. It’s a planned period of extended rest and recovery. Consistently training week-in week-out is very fatiguing on the body, and this fatigue compounds over time. So, even if you have 2-3 rest days each week, your body will eventually need more than a couple of rest days to fully recover from a prolonged period of training.
Why do we need deload weeks?
The overall purpose of a deload week is to let your body fully recover and recharge after a period of intense training.
Deloads are important to prevent overtraining. Which in turn can lead to plateaus and declines in performance, burn out, and also increases your risk of injury.
Deload weeks give connective tissue (muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and joints) a chance to repair and strengthen, and also gives your nervous system a chance to recover and allows hormone to . Something that is often overlooked is the demand training places on our nervous system, and this system also needs time to chill out and recharge.
As well as the physiological benefits of deload weeks, there are also psychological benefits too. Taking a break from intense training can give you a chance to mentally recharge and can increase motivation and long term adherence.
When should you take a deload?
How frequently you deload depends on a few factors (training style, training age, goals, comps, etc.), but usually the will be planned anywhere between every 4-12 weeks.
The whole point in a deload week is to avoid overtraining and burnout. So the idea should be to schedule your deload before you hit breaking point, not after!
A well planned and structured training programme will have deloads built in. However, as mentioned above, how frequently you require deload is very individual. Generally, more experienced athletes will require more frequent deloads as training intensity is high. Whereas individuals who are new to training will require less frequent deloads (if any) as it’s unlikely their training intensity is high enough to need one.
It’s also worth remembering that there are lots of other external life stressors that can impact ability recover, increase stress levels, distrust sleep, etc. So if you are going through a period of time where life stressors are higher than normal, you may find that more frequent deloads are beneficial.
How do you deload?
A deload week doesn’t mean no training at all. It’s just a week where your overall training intensity and volume is much lower than normal.
For strength training this means reducing reps, sets and/or weight by up to 50%. And for conditioning pieces this usually means working at lower heart rate zones (<80%MHR) and staying out of the red zone!
Signs you need a deload:
Feeling weak
Failing lifts
Loss of motivation
Constantly sore
Fatigued
If you’re hitting training plateaus, injuries or burn out - maybe it’s time for a deload?
Remember - you don’t get stronger when you train. You get stronger when you recover from training.
For any help or advice on training, drop me a message.
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