HOW TO DELOAD: THREE STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENT NEEDS

HOW TO DELOAD: THREE STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENT NEEDS

By Shane Robert

Progress in any endeavor is never truly linear; this is particularly true for weight training. If you start with an empty bar and work out 3 days per week, simply adding 2 pounds per workout sees an increase of 390 pounds by the end of the year. While one might be able to argue that this is, theoretically, possible with something like squats or deadlifts, it’s the rare superhuman among us who can go from benching or overhead pressing an empty bar to 435 in a year. Certainly, this trajectory, if somehow possible, would not be maintained for more than a year, or this Titan would be lifting over 1000 pounds in all of their lifts. Instead, progress is like a wave, surging forward before retreating back to surge forward once again, repeated infinitely. How and when we retreat is just as important as how we surge forward.

As biological organisms, we can only do so much work, accumulate so much fatigue, before we will break and actually become weaker or, worse yet, suffer an injury. To prevent this, we need to dissipate fatigue, like the retreating wave, so that we can push forward once again a little harder or a little heavier. Reducing fatigue, without total cessation of lifting, is known as deloading.

A deload is intended to give the muscles, connective tissue, and central nervous system a break from the constant beating we give them. Though it can occur at any point in a training cycle, it is always better to preemptively take deload BEFORE you need one, rather than taking one only when you have no other choice. Each person has to figure out for themselves the correct frequency based on their training plan and recovery abilities. Some popular programs automatically include a deload every 4th week, though most lifters will find that they can push for closer to 6 weeks before a deload is beneficial, with some easily going 8 weeks. Volume, not intensity (percentage of 1RM used), is the main driver of fatigue, so, as a general rule, the greater your weekly volume over a block, the more frequently you might need to deload.

3 WAYS TO DELOAD

These are by no means the only options for deloading. They are, however, tried and true methods that work for different needs.

VOLUME DELOAD

This is perfect for that point in a cycle where you feel like you are still making good progress, but fatigue is maybe creeping up a bit higher than ideal. It’s pretty simple: reduce total training volume (sets and/or reps) while maintaining intensity (load).

How it works:

• Keep weights relatively the same
• Cut sets/reps by 30–50%

Example:
If your regular squat workout is 5×5 with 75-85%, during the deload you might do 3×3 with 80%.

This style of deload allows an athlete to maintain neural adaptations and technical sharpness while reducing overall stress. This is a very common strategy employed in Russian style programs, where every 4th week, whether you feel you need it or not, has the lowest volume of the 4-week block (mesocycle), usually somewhere around 15% of the total monthly volume. 

INTENSITY DELOAD

This option is best used after a very heavy block where joints and CNS feel particularly stressed. Volume was likely not overly high to begin with, so reducing intensity (load on the bar) will have the greatest impact while maintaining, or slightly reducing, volume will ensure that adaptation is not lost due to lighter loads.

How it works:

• Lower weights by 15-30% of average intensity
• Keep volume similar to regular training 

Example:
If you're used to benching 4×6 with an average intensity of 80%, your deload might be:

• 5x5 or 6×4 with 65%.

Deloading this way gives your central nervous system and joints a break from the heavy loads that beat them both down. Swapping higher sets and lower reps also allows muscles to experience lower per set fatigue and keep force output high, even at the lighter weights.

GENERAL DELOAD

When you have put in some hard, progressive, heavy training over a number of weeks, 6-8 in most cases, it is likely time for a general deload. This means we want to drop the intensity AND the volume. The combination will give all parts of the body, muscles, connective tissue, and central nervous system a break so that you are prepared for another block of hard training.

How it works:

• Lower weights of the first week of the training block by 10% 
• Lower volumes of the first week of the training block by 40%

Example:
If you're first week of the block had you squatting 4x8 with 75%, your deload might be:

• 4x5 or 5x4 with 67.5% 

We base the deload weights on the first week of the block, not the last, because the reduction in intensity and/or volume may not actually constitute an overall reduction compared to the first week, and fatigue won’t come down as much as it should.

Deloading is a very necessary part of training, but it doesn’t need to be complicated. Whether you plan your deloads ahead of time, as recommended, or simply wait for life to get in the way and force you to take one, the three options above are a great starting point to figure out what works best for you.