In weight training, the concept of “deloading” is both controversial and misunderstood. Many beginners are often confused on whether they should deload or take a week off. It’s something I struggled with for a while myself.
So, which is it? Should you deload in the gym or take a complete week off?
Unless you are recovering from an injury, you should rarely (if ever) take a complete week off of training. Taking a week off is unnecessary for most lifters, and will only lead to laziness, stagnation, and weaker lifts the following week. When it’s time for a deload, you should deload properly by going to the gym and reducing training frequency, volume, and/or intensity.
In this article, I will address why taking a week off is not a good idea for most lifters (most of the time), but also why a proper deload week can be helpful to your progress. We will cover the various ways to deload correctly.
Before we deload from this article, let’s get warmed up!
What is Deloading?
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Deloading means taking a planned, short period of time off from your regular weight training routine to rest and recover. Taking time off from the gym completely is a form of deloading, but one I do not recommend (and I will go through why, later in the article).
The weight training world is split on the effectiveness of deloads and how to do them in the best possible way. I hate to say it, but as is the case with many concepts in the weight training world, the value and process of deloading is going to vary from person-to-person.
Who Needs to Deload?
Let’s say you are someone who trains three days a week, with mostly isolation exercises. You never come close to failure, and do not try to achieve progressive overload week after week. Do you think such a person needs to deload? Probably not.
However, if you are a competitive powerlifter, training 4 days a week, constantly going at or near your max with squats and deadlifts, and trying to achieve progressive overload every week, then that is a different story. This person would do well to incorporate a sensible deloading protocol into their routine.
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For the average lifter, it makes sense to incorporate some sort of deload into your routine. When you are plateauing on your strength (even after switching up exercises), feeling rundown and mentally lethargic, then these may be indicators it’s time for a deload.
How to Deload Properly
Deloading appears to work best when assigned to an entire week, usually following an intense training cycle where you have made (or attempted to make) lots of progress.
There are three ways to deload properly:
- Reducing training frequency
- Reducing training volume
- Reducing training intensity
Let’s take the first, reducing training frequency. This means either reducing the total amount of days you are in the gym or reducing the amount of times you hit a particular muscle group or movement pattern.
If your regular routine has you lifting 5 days per week, you may decide to drop down to 3 days for your deload week. If you regularly train full body 3 days a week, you may decide to train 1-2 muscle groups for 3 days in your deload week.
How about reducing training volume? This means reducing the total amount of sets performed. If your normal set and rep scheme is 5×5, you may drop down to 3×5 for your deload week. If you normally do 10 ramping sets for squats, you may decide to do 3 straight sets instead for your deload.
As for reducing training intensity, you can achieve this through different avenues. Perhaps you train close to failure in your regular routine. For your deload week, you can stay 4-5 reps shy of failure (although I would recommend even more than that).
Another way is to increase your rest time in between sets. If you normally take one minute of rest, you can take two minutes in your deload week. Additionally, you can decrease the reps performed with the same weight. Say you did 3 straight sets of 12 reps with 65 pounds on the dumbbell bench press last week. For your deload, you can do 3 sets of 8 reps with 65 pounds.
Focus on Technique
People often forget that your deload is an excellent time to refocus on form and technique. Deloading the way I just described offers you an opportunity to do just this. Since the frequency, volume, and/or intensity will be lower in your deload week, you can go back to basics and fine tune your lifts.
This is how I use my deloads. Are you starting to see how this is totally different from just taking a week off and laying on the couch?
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You want to treat the deload as a part of your training routine. It is another opportunity to make progress in the gym, just not in the usual manner you’re used to. This is the key to making it work for you instead of against you.
Should I Deload or Take a Week Off?
Since I’ve already established I think most lifters would do best with a deload week which doesn’t involve taking the entire week off, is there any situation in which a week off is warranted?
Yes.
Let’s go back to my earlier example of the competitive powerlifter who is constantly grinding at the gym, pushing himself to the limits training 4 days per week. This is a good example of someone who may, at some point, benefit from taking an entire week off from the gym.
The same would go for any competitive strength athlete: Olympic lifters, Strongman, Crossfit, etc. In fact, it would probably be irresponsible if athletes like these didn’t take a week off every now and then. Most likely, they would risk injury without giving their bodies a break.
What About Average Joe Meatheads?
But, what about the average reader of this article? Yeah, you. Does it make sense for the average joe meathead (and I mean that in the most loving way possible, I’m a meathead too!) to take a week off from the gym?
For the most part, no. The fact is, most people would be better served to ramp down the overall training in their deload week and focus on technique, like I’ve mentioned. Taking a week off completely from the gym usually has me coming back the next week feeling lazy, unmotivated, and weak. No one wants that, right?
If you take a week off, you risk losing momentum in your training. Even if you have plateaued and feel you need a week off, every lifter goes through ups and downs in the short term. If your overall training trajectory of progress is positive, then just full stop taking a week off may be enough of an interruption to halt (or even bring down) your trajectory.
Of course, if you are really mentally beaten down (we all know life can go that way sometimes), in rare situations it may be beneficial to take an entire week off to clear your mind. But, from my experience, and from hearing from others, this usually has the opposite effect of making you feel weak and lazy when you return to the gym.
Who should take a week entirely off from the gym?
- Competitive strength athletes such as: powerlifters, Olympic lifters, Strongman, Crossfit, etc.
- People in rare situations who desperately need a mental break from the gym due to life circumstances
Who should deload properly, staying in the gym, but taking it easy?
- The average lifter (reader of this article)
Final Thoughts
If I didn’t emphasize it enough yet, deloading is critical to long term success in weight lifting. Everyone needs time to wind down a bit. It can help you to rethink your strategy and give you a bit of a mental and physical break.
But do it properly. Reduce your overall training workload, rather than making an excuse to be lazy for a week. Most of us aren’t Olympic athletes who truly may need a week away from exercising.
So stay in the gym for your deload, even if it’s only for a couple of days.
Your gains will thank you!
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