Working out every single day for weeks and months going full tilt can really start to take a toll on your body. If you do any specific working out like power lifting, weightlifting, cross fit, etc., it can have a huge effect on your performance and not only because you remain stuck at plateaus but it can even cause you to regress. Having deload training built into your training will help you break through those plateaus and keep you performing at your best. What is a deload, you might ask? A deload is a short planned period of recovery (Samuels). Deloading allows you to continue training, but at a lighter intensity to allow your body and mind to heal itself and recharge so that you are ready to get back after it when your deload is over.
There are several different ways to complete a deload week of training. Obviously, you could take a week off for training and do other things like going for a walk, getting massages for recovery or going to yoga to work on flexibility. As an Olympic weightlifter, I normally have built-in deload weeks in my lifting cycles every 5 to 6 weeks. During those deload weeks, the load and volume of my lifts are reduced so I can maintain my movement patterns while still allowing my body to heal, but not constantly killing myself with heavy high intensity lifting. An example of this would be for back squats: if you were working at 80-90 % of your max for 6 sets of 3 during your heavy lifting weeks, you can reduce the volume on your deload week by backing off to 4×3 at 80-90% of your max. A study titled Effects on Tapering: A Meta-Analysis authored by Mujika and his colleagues found that a 2 week taper where training volume is reduced by 41-60% was most effective in maximizing performance gains. Although tapering is different from deloading in that the taper is a reduction in the training load in the final days before important competitions (Bosquet), these same concepts can be applied to a one week deload. Keep in mind that they recommended a reduction in volume while keeping intensity and frequency of your workouts unchanged.
Not to worry if you feel like you’ll lose all of your gains and progress by taking a week off as research shows that it takes around 3 weeks of inactivity for the first signs of muscle atrophy to show. As far as your progress and muscular strength, that should stay pretty much the same as well but don’t be surprised to see that you may actually adapt and get stronger from your deload week rather than straight out hard training week to week. A study titled: Effects of periodic and continued resistance training on muscle CSA and strength in previously untrained men compared a 15 week continuous training cycle to a 15 week periodized cycle in which the periodized cycle trained for 6 weeks before taking 3 weeks off and training again. This study showed that muscle size and one rep max progressed equally in both groups, even though the deloading group spent three weeks doing absolutely nothing (Sisson).
As you can see, deloading can be extremely beneficial to helping you reach your fitness goals. Not only will you feel fresh and rested neurologically but important body parts like your tendons and ligaments which take longer that muscle tissue to heal and recover will thank you in the long run. If you feel like your training has stalled, you have regressed and constantly fighting injuries all of sudden or you have felt tired and unmotivated during your workouts recently then perhaps it is time for a deload. Trust me, your mind, body, and spirit will thank you for it.
References:
- Bosquet, Laurent, Jonathan Montpetit, Denis Arvisais, and Inigo Mujika. “Effects of Tapering on Performance.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 39.8 (2007): 1358-365. Print.
- Ogasawara, Riki, Tomohiro Yasuda, Mikako Sakamaki, Hayao Ozaki, and Takashi Abe. “Effects of Periodic and Continued Resistance Training on Muscle CSA and Strength in Previously Untrained Men.” Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging (2011): 399-404. Print.
- Samuels, Mike. “Deloading 101: What Is a Deload and How Do You Do It?” Breaking Muscle. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
- Sisson, Mark. “The Deload Week: What It Is, How to Do It, and Why It Might Help You Get Stronger | Mark’s Daily Apple.” Marks Daily Apple RSS. 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.
When following a linear type progression, would you recommend a “deload” (more correctly a taper), that utilises a short burst of heavier work at low volume, following an accumulation of hypertrophy style training?
Hi Michael. I think that would be perfectly appropriate if your goal was hypertrophy. If you’re not training for size though, I might eschew hypertrophy work for moderate rep, higher load work at moderate to high volumes following the deload.