Quick Tip: How to program a DELOAD Week

Deloads are a necessary part of training. The truth is that fatigue masks fitness, and you will eventually need to deload in order for fatigue accumulated through a training cycle to dissipate. 

What exactly is a deload? Well, as the name suggests, a deload is a period in the training cycle in which an athlete either reduces their volume and/or intensity of training in order for their body to dissipate fatigue. Typically, you should deload after a peaking block or every 9-12 weeks as a beginner to intermediate lifter. The guidelines I provide here are not really suitable for advanced lifters as deloading type and frequency would vary on a case-by-case basis.

How should you deload? Well, I don't think your deload should last 1 week. Many people, especially on Youtube, say that your deload should be a full week. For almost all beginnner to intermediate lifters, this will be overkill. Your body does not need a full 7 days to recover (it only really need 2-3 days), and taking one week off every 9-12 weeks can actually take away from total training time, which could lead to slower long-term progress. 

I think you should train during your deload week with the same frequency that you train in a normal cycle. However, I think that during this week you should reduce the INTENSITY of work. So instead of doing lifts in the 80-90% range, I would usually recommend doing lifts in the 50-70% range. Also, your sets should not be pushed very hard (ideally 5 RIR [reps in reserve] on all compound lift sets). However, you should keep your volume of work roughly the same in the deload week as during a normal training week. I like this since it allows us to get in some low intensity work capacity development which can prepare to hit the ground running for our next training cycle. 

What does this look like? So a lifter training for powerlifting would do a deload after a peaking cycle. They would spend 1 week training with the same frequency as usual, but would train their squat, bench and deadlift in the 50-70% range for some higher rep sets at lower RIRs. If they do 20 sets per session during a normal workout, they would still do 20 sets per session during the deload, but they may choose to use lighter weight or not go to complete failure. Once they begin their next proper training cycle, they can be prepared and mentally ready to train hard again.

If you really don't want to be in the gym during your deload, you can spend 2-4 days doing some hiking, swimming or other active hobby to let your body recover. Just don't sit at home for a whole week. Remember, movement is medicine!