In the world of weight lifting and physical fitness, it’s easy to become caught up in the idea of consistently pushing your limits in the gym.
While challenging workouts are what’s essential for progress, it’s just as critical to know when to take a step back and calm things down for some time.
A deload week can be just what you need to do that.
A deload week is a strategic pause that can become a game changer in achieving your long term fitness goals.
I actually decided to take a deload week myself this week, knwoing I needed the mental and physical rest and recovery.
I figured what better time to write a blog post about it than now!
In this blog post, I’m going to outline everything you should know about taking a deload week. And, why it’s a crucial part of a well-rounded, long-term fitness program.
What is a deload week?
To begin, let’s talk about what a deload week even is. A deload week is a planned period of reduced training intensity and/or volume.
This means it’s when you take a break from intense workouts to allow your body and central nervous system some time to recover.
There are a couple different ways you can go about taking a deload week.
You can either; one)
skip the gym entirely and focus on other ways to refresh your mind and body such as meditation and yoga, or two)
you can continue going to the gym but reduce the intensity of your workouts and the number of sets, reps, and exercises.
This is just a quick outline, but I’ll touch more on different ways you can take a deload week.
When should you take a deload week?
1. Scheduled deload weeks
One strategy for taking deload weeks is to schedule them.
Some people like to implement them into their workout program every 8-12 weeks. You can choose what works for you depending on your training intensity and experience.
Having planned breaks like this can help prevent over-training, reduce the risk of injury, and promote long-term progress.
2. Listen to your body
One of the best ways to know if you should take a deload week is by listening to your body.
Our bodies give away a lot about our internal health and by learning to be more in tune with that, we can learn a lot about ourselves.
It’s important to become in tune with our bodies and listen to them physically but also mentally.
There are some easy tells physically that might indicate you’re in need of a deload week. For example, you might notice you’re consistently fatigued, have a declining performance in the gym, or have nagging injuries.
Just like physical tells, there are also mental tells to look out for. For me, things like anxiety, increased stress, or irritability are all good indicators.
Of course, these can come from other life stressors, not just going to the gym. That’s why it’s a good idea to look for a combination of physical and mental signs you’re in need of a deload week.
3. You’ve hit a plateau
If you’ve hit a plateau in your training, you might want to consider a deload week.
This can mean you feel like you’re just not making the progress you should be or you used to even though you’re still putting in tremendous effort.
One reason you may have reached a plateau is because your body is exhausted.
You feel like you’re making your best effort, and really you are, but because your body is so exhausted, you’re unable to push yourself enough for growth.
Additionally, rest is when your muscles grow and recover. So, that additional rest you’d get from a deload week might actually allow your muscles to grow a little bit more.
4. During major life events
Sometimes, out of nowhere, life just happens and it’s completely out of our control.
Before you know it, your stress levels can suddenly be through the roof. In times like these, I’d say you should definitely look to take a deload week.
There’s no reason to push yourself way more than necessary and neglect your emotional health.
Remember, when you’re on a health and wellness journey, you need to prioritize all aspects of your health, not just the physical one.
Why should you take a deload week?
1. Recovery
Taking a deload week can be exponentially great for your recovery.
The extra time gives your muscles, tendons, and central nervous system time to relax, calm down, and recover.
This is essential for your overall performance in the gym.
2. Prevent injuries
By reducing the likelihood you overuse your muscles, you tremendously reduce the risk of overuse injuries.
Deload weeks can help you stay free of injuries by allowing your body to regain it’s full strength before you resume training to your full intensity.
3. Mental refreshment
I touched base on this earlier, but deload weeks not only benefit your body, but also benefit your mind.
We don’t usually realize it, but working out takes an extreme amount of mental strength, alongside physical strength.
There are a lot of mental battles we fight everyday in the gym and sometimes our mind can use a break from that.
Sometimes, being in the gym too often, without sufficient rest, can lead us to becoming burned out in other aspects of our lives.
For me personally, I know I’m becoming burned out if I find myself feeling much more stressed, overwhelmed, and irritable.
4. Performance enhancement
A well-timed and thought out deload weak can actually boost your performance in the gym.
This is because the extra rest gives your muscles enough time to recover, allowing them to regain their full strength.
Although it may not seem like it, a deload week can be essential to improving your overall performance.
Think about it, if your body is worn out, what good are you continually pushing yourself when it’s physically impossible for you to push to your limits.
Instead, invest in some time off so when you come back, you can push yourself all the way to your limits, as your body is now energized and recovered.
Once your muscles come back rejuvenated, you’ll most likely find yourself much stronger and having much greater endurance than before.
5. Long term progress
I believe that deload weeks are essential for anyone’s long term progress in the gym.
There’s no point in running yourself into the ground for so long, eventually you will become burned out.
And, in the long term, missing one week of workouts won’t matter as much as if you had pushed through it and continued working out feeling exhausted and weak.
I truly believe that when you’re so burned out, you may feel like you’re giving 100% to your workouts, and you are at the time, but you’re not giving 100% of your best self.
You aren’t giving 100% of what you’re capable of giving, when you’re rested and healthy.
So take the time to get back to being healthy and rested, it will pay off.
How to take a deload week?
Again I touched on a couple of these earlier, but there’s a few different ways you can take a deload week:
1. Reduce intensity
To reduce the intensity of your workouts, you could either not push yourself as hard, or as close to failure, or don’t lift as heavy.
2. Reduce volume
To reduce the volume of your workouts you should do less sets and/or less reps for each exercise. For me personally, I’ll usually reduce one or the other, not both. That way I feel as though my workouts are more organized.
For example, if I usually do 4 sets of 8-12 reps of an exercise, I’ll likely do just two sets of 8-12 reps.
3. Choose easier exercises
To choose exercises that you think are easier, pick exercises that you enjoy doing and don’t leave you feeling exhausted after your first couple of sets.
For example, I would look to do less compound lifts like squats or deadlifts.
This is because compound lifts are extremely demanding of our energy and require the work of multiple muscle groups.
4. Focus on mobility and recovery
A deload week is a great time to improve your flexibility and mobility.
I like to take this downtime as an opportunity to explore different ways of moving my body.
Things like yoga, stretching, and mobility exercises are all things I like to experiment with.
And, these are great ways to increase your mobility and flexibility, while also increasing blood flow to your muscles to promote healing.
What you can do now
The main thing you can takeaway from this post is to remember, your journey is a marathon, not a sprint.
You’ll need to be looking out for your long term health always and in all aspects.
Use these tips to evaluate yourself lately and your workouts lately. Don’t hesitate if you find that maybe it’s time you take a deload week for yourself.
[convertkit form=6036486]