No Days Off: Do You Really Need To Deload?

The word “deload” is thrown around way too much in training recently. Just because your WHOOP score says you had bad recovery or you’re sore from a previous hard week of training doesn’t automatically qualify you for a deload week. You actually need to earn a deload week. In a team setting, this is even trickier than in your own personal training. But the same principle applies—just because you’ve been running through a block for 3-5 weeks doesn’t mean it’s automatically time to deload. Throughout this article, I’ll be explaining what a deload week is, common misconceptions of what it is/how it is used, and how I utilize deloads for my teams as well as for my own training.

What Is A Deload Week?

In the simplest terms, a deload is a drop in intensity and/or volume so your body can catch up to all the gains it made during your previous training block. You’re not fully disconnected—you’re just taking a little extra time to rest, reset, and recover.

Typically, a deload is a 3-7 day stretch where you pull back your intensity and volume. You’re still training—you’re just not burying yourself every session and going max effort. Think of it more as cruise control for your body and mind, not fully parked.

Why You’re Probably Deloading Wrong

The biggest issue with how people use deload weeks? They do them too often. In my article Principle Over Everything, we talked about linear periodization, which follows a 4-week model. Quick refresher: weeks 1, 2, and 3 you build intensity or volume and decrease the other, then on the 4th week you deload. 

This is a good rule of thumb…sometimes. Every 4th week doesn’t have to be a deload. If you’re still feeling good, hitting PRs, sleeping well, and recovering right, why would you deload? Don’t scrap everything just because your Excel sheet told you to. Keep training. In a team setting this gets tricky because you’re dealing with a large group. With a team, every 4-6 weeks is generally a solid point to deload. However, if your group has a low training age and isn’t pushing themselves as hard as expected, call an audible and keep moving the needle. What do they need to recover from?

You treat it like a vacation. Like I said before, a deload isn’t a week off. You’re not completely stopping training—you’re just pulling back. You’ve worked hard to groove those patterns and get into a good rhythm. Doing nothing for a week might not hurt you physiologically, but breaking your routine often sets you back. You train a certain way, at a certain time, every day. When you take a full week off, your rhythm dies. I’ve tried both approaches, and here’s usually what happens if you do nothing for a week: you come back sluggish, you feel lazy, and the weight feels heavier when you get back under it. Now, you may be an anomaly when it comes to this, but almost everyone I know who trains hard will agree: a full week off just kills momentum.

There’s a good chance you don’t even need a deload. Before blaming your program and training, maybe you should blame yourself. How’s your sleep? How’s your nutrition? How’s your stress? 

If you’re staying up until 1 a.m., pounding caffeine and junk food, etc., of course you're going to feel run down. Your training may not be the problem—your lifestyle is. Before jumping to the conclusion that you need a deload, take a hard look at how you’re living.

I’m hesitant to say this last part for the risk of being misinterpreted: you don’t need to deload, you're just being soft. Let’s just call it how it is. You run from discomfort and justify it to yourself by saying you need the time to recover more. If your version of fatigued means being sore because you had a hard squat day or that you didn’t hit a new PR today, that’s not a sign to deload. That’s a sign you need to figure it out and get gritty. Recovery is incredibly important, but if you pull back every time something gets hard, you’ll never become the person you want to be. That goes for training as well as in life overall.

How I Use Deloads

When I worked in the high school setting, I rarely programmed deload weeks. That isn’t because those teams didn’t train hard, move heavy weight, or give it their all. It was simply because their training age was so low, and they didn’t need it. I had athletes that could run 20-22mph, deadlift over 500lbs, and bench over 315lbs, so it was never an issue of strength or speed. Beginners don’t need deload weeks. What they need is more calories, sleep, and reps. Anyone with 1-3 years of training experience rarely ever has to deload. If they do, it’s maybe every 8-10 weeks. Even at the end of year 3, your body still adapts quickly. You could realistically stretch that to 4–5 years. To be clear, I’m not saying keep pushing for 3-5 years straight. I’m saying you don’t need planned deloads. With such a low training age, the odds of you training 5 times a week like an absolute savage to the point that your body can’t keep up is so low. Your “deload” happens naturally. They will be those vacations, sicknesses, chaotic work or school weeks, etc. 5 years sounds like a long time, but in the grand scheme it really isn't. Realistically, you’re developing those training, eating, and sleeping habits for the first 3 years anyway. I’d be happy to hear anyone out if they disagree with this take.

When I’m deloading, I follow the same structure for myself as I do for my athletes. I used to keep the lifts the same and just cut volume and intensity. A typical deload of my compound movements for me used to drop the intensity back to what I did for week 1, then cut the volume. So, look at this for an example:

Week 1: Bench Press 3x10 @ 60%

Deload Week: Bench Press 2x8 @ 60%

Recently, I’ve changed my thought process on how I do deload weeks. I’ve started introducing my next training block compound exercises into my deload week. During that deload week, I will keep low volume and medium intensity on the exercises that I’ll do next training cycle. I do this so I can work through full range of motion with decent weight and get my body used to the motions I’ll be hammering next. The volume and intensity structure will follow a similar model, but I’ll just insert the exercises I plan on using next. 

When it comes to deloading my accessory movements, I cut a set and add an iso hold in the bottom. I use my deload weeks as a time to hit any extra recovery needed for nagging issues, introduce new exercises at low intensity, and give the CNS and mental aspect of training a break so we can hit it hard the following week. 

Bottom Line

Deloading is a tool for your toolkit, not a law of training. Most people overuse or misuse it because they don’t take responsibility for their lack of discipline with their sleep, nutrition, and recovery habits. If you’re just getting into the gym or can count on one hand how many years you’ve been training, you probably don’t need to deload. Keep stacking positive days and making progress. If you plateau out within that timeframe, then it may be time for a deload. Next time you’re thinking about a deload, ask yourself, “Am I actually cooked? Or are my habits the reason I feel so bad?”