Waking up with DOM’s every day despite a good night's sleep, or losing the motivation to go to the gym? You might just need a break, a whole week in fact… a deload week.
Because sometimes doing less is key to getting stronger.
You’re probably used to structure and discipline in your training, especially if you’re following a progressive overload strength training plan with hypertrophy goals. But have you ever thought about structuring your recovery?
Deload weeks are designed for you to take some time away from training, roughly around every 6 weeks, to boost your recovery, give yourself a mental break, and optimise performance and gains in the long term.
“One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that deloading means losing momentum. In reality, it’s often the thing that allows athletes to keep progressing without breaking down.” - Paddy Longden-Jefferson, Sports Therapist
But do you actually have to stop being active? We’ll walk you through what a deload week looks like, when it makes sense to take one, and how to keep progressing towards your goals without pushing yourself into burnout.
What Is A Deload Week?
A deload week. It’s a week where you take the load off your shoulders (figuratively and literally). They typically last 6-7 days and occur every 5-6 weeks [1]. According to a 2023 study, deload weeks are defined as a planned reduction in training stress (typically by 30–50%) while keeping your normal routine and movement patterns so your body and nervous system have time to recover [2].
In practice, a deload week usually means:
Lifting lighter weights than usual
Performing fewer sets or reps
Training fewer days, or
Keeping intensity low and focusing on technique and control
For example, if you normally squat three times a week at challenging loads, a deload week might involve squatting once or twice at around 60–70% of your usual weight, with fewer total sets and no sets taken close to failure.
You’re still training. You’re still moving. But you’re dropping the load and pressing pause on the fatigue that builds up when intensity and volume stay high for too long.
What’s actually happening in the body during a deload week?
A deload week allows your body some breathing room; in fact, several systems get time to recover at the same time, rather than forcing one area to keep compensating for another.
For example, your muscles may feel ready to lift heavy again after a few hard weeks, but the tendons and joints supporting them recover more slowly. That mismatch can show up as lingering joint aches, tightness, or lifts feeling heavier than they should. A deload week reduces load and volume just enough to let connective tissue and the nervous system catch up, so everything works in sync again when you return to normal training.
The reset:
Nervous system fatigue decreases
Heavy lifting and high-volume training tax the central nervous system over time because every hard set requires your brain to send strong, repeated signals to your muscles. The heavier the lifts, the more demand is placed on those signals, and when that stays high for weeks, your nervous system becomes fatigued. Weights can feel heavier, and coordination can slip. When athletes deload, coordination improves and effort drops because the nervous system isn’t constantly under strain, Paddy tells us. Studies have also found that deloading can improve reaction time and force output [3].
Joints, tendons, and connective tissue recover
Joints, tendons, and connective tissue recover more slowly than muscles because they have a lower blood supply and adapt at a slower rate. Muscles can feel ready to train again within days, but connective tissues need more time to repair, so deloads give those slower-adapting tissues time to catch up, which is key for staying pain-free and lifting well long term, Paddy explains. It's how you can manage those imbalances and reduce overuse injuries [4].
Hormonal stress normalises
Long periods of intense training can elevate stress hormones and in certain cases of overtraining, actually blunt the signals telling your body to recover, which impairs your stress response. Deloads help reset that balance by lowering overall training stress, supporting better sleep, energy levels, and recovery quality. It’s like your body gets a cue to take a deep breath and relax [5].
Mental fatigue lifts
Training hard week after week takes a lot out of you, you have to keep yourself constantly motivated, focused, and confident. When fatigue kicks in, sessions can start to feel more mentally draining than rewarding. Reducing intensity or volume eases that pressure, often restoring motivation before the deload even ends.
Why they’re important:
Deload weeks aren’t about doing less because you can’t be bothered. They support progress in ways you can actually feel and measure. Here’s why they matter:
Reduces injury risk: Most injuries aren’t caused by one bad rep; they develop when small amounts of tissue stress accumulate faster than the body can repair them. Taking a deload week interrupts that build up before pain forces someone to stop, explains our in-house Sports Therapist, Paddy.
Breaks plateaus: One reason you can plateau in the gym is that you’re fatigued. This prevents progress, so reducing fatigue allows your existing strength to show up again, and muscle adaptations to continue.
Improves performance post-deload: Many athletes and gym enthusiasts observe improvements in performance, coordination, or endurance soon after a deload, as their recovery period enables their bodies to perform at their best alongside their training demands.
Supports long-term muscle growth: Muscle grows during rest, not during the workout. A deload week is critical to long-term muscle growth as any damage inflicted by intense training has time to fully repair. The body moves from a state of survival to adaptation.
Restores motivation and focus: Getting to the gym is often the toughest part of the workout, but when you’re fatigued, it all feels tough. Reducing training lowers stress levels and mental fatigue, making workouts feel purposeful and, more importantly, enjoyable again.
Improves sleep and recovery markers: Lower stress levels often translate to better sleep quality and faster recovery between sessions. So, taking some of the stress out of your training should have a positive effect on your sleep scores.
How To Do a Deload Week (Without Losing Progress)
You’re still training on a deload week; you’re just taking some of the stress and intensity out of your usual routines. And no, you won’t lose progress. But you will feel less tired, less sore, less achey and more motivated to come back to training. Here’s how to actually deload:
Deload Method Options
Reduce volume:
Reduce the volume by lowering your total number of sets by around 40–60% while keeping the exercises the same as usual. This lowers overall workload without removing familiar movements, allowing you to keep making progress with your lifts and working towards hypertrophy goals [6].
Reduce intensity:
You can also deload by reducing the intensity. This means dropping the weights to around 60–70% of what you normally lift. This reduces nervous system demand while allowing you to practise technique and maintain strength patterns.
Reduce frequency:
Training fewer days that week lowers cumulative stress. You’ll find this especially useful if life stress outside the gym is high, too.
Technique-focused deload:
Slow down, focus on form. Using lighter loads and slower tempos allows you to refine movement quality while keeping stress low. This supports skill development and joint health at the same time.
Active recovery deload:
Mobility work, light cardio, and low-load accessory movements keep blood flowing and joints moving without adding fatigue. The perfect choice for those who want to actually take a break from the gym for a week and move from home.
6 Signs You Need a Deload Week (Overloading Symptoms)
Deload weeks are needed when the fatigue just won’t shift. Your body will know when you’ve hit this point, but here’s a reminder of the common signs that you might need a deload week:
Your strength is decreasing week to week - those 100kg hip thrusts just aren’t moving anymore.
Constant DOMS - the soreness never actually lets up.
Poor sleep or elevated resting heart rate - even your rest is interrupted.
Loss of motivation or irritability - the gym becomes a chore rather than bringing you joy.
Joint discomfort that lingers - no, it’s not arthritis.
Training feels heavy before the session even starts - even the warm-up’s a struggle.
How Often Should I Do A Deload Week?
Recovery is different for everyone, which means there’s not one set guide to how often you should do a deload week. But in general, most lifters could benefit from a deload every 6-8 weeks. This works well if you train consistently, progressively overload, and recover reasonably well between sessions.
For more advanced lifters or those training very high volumes, deloading more often, around 4-6 weeks, may be more suitable. Heavier loads, higher volumes, and more frequent training create fatigue faster, meaning planned deloads become more important.
Beginners, on the other hand, need to deload less often. Your recovery time is quicker when you first start off, and fatigue builds slower. Deloads are only really needed in this case when progress slows, form starts to trip, or training begins to feel unusually hard.
It’s not just your training level or weekly workout split that determines how often you should take a deload week; it also depends on factors outside the gym:
Sickness and travel
Sleep and nutrition quality
Overall life stress
When stress outside the gym increases, your body has fewer resources left for recovery. In those periods, deloading sooner rather than later can help prevent burnout and injury.
How do I return to training after a deload?
After a deload, training often feels noticeably easier. Movements feel smoother, weights lift much faster, and motivation is usually higher. Those are all signs that the deload has worked.
But don’t get too hasty here. What that isn’t is an invitation to immediately add more volume or intensity (no ego lifting because you feel good). When you return to training:
Return to your normal program as planned
Expect improved coordination, bar speed, and performance
Let performance build back naturally over the following sessions
Don’t pile on the extra work straight away, this can undo the gains you’ve created
“I regularly see athletes come back moving better, lifting cleaner, and feeling more confident after a deload. It’s usually the quality of movement that improves first, then performance follows.”
Deload Week Workouts (By Training Style)
Strength Training Deload
A strength deload keeps the structure of your normal training week, just without pushing it. You’re still practising your main compound lifts, but reducing load and total sets to focus on smooth reps, control, and form instead. Many lifters notice that their technique feels cleaner during a deload, which carries over when training intensity increases again.
Key focus: maintaining strength patterns while reducing nervous system stress.
Example strength deload week:
Day 1
: 3 × 4 at ~60–65%
: 2 × 6 (light, controlled)
: 2–3 easy sets
Day 2
: 3 × 4 at ~60–65%
Row variation: 2 × 6
work
Day 3
: 2 × 3 at ~60%
Split squat: 2 × 6 each side
Light accessory work
Remember: Weights should move smoothly and confidently. No reps taken close to failure. If the bar speed slows, you’ve gone too heavy.
Hypertrophy Deload
A hypertrophy deload shifts the goal from chasing DOMS (micro-tears in the muscles that boost muscle growth) to improving movement quality. The exercises stay familiar, but the total workload drops so muscles and joints can recover.
Key focus: quality contractions over volume.
Example hypertrophy deload week:
Day 1: Lower Body
Goblet squat: 2 × 10 (slow tempo)
Leg curl: 2 × 12
Calf raises: 2 × 12
Day 2: Upper Body Push
Dumbbell bench press: 2 × 10
Shoulder press: 2 × 10
Triceps isolation: 2 × 12
Day 3: Upper Body Pull
Lat pulldown or assisted pull-up: 2 × 10
Seated row: 2 × 10
Biceps curls: 2 × 12
Slower time-under-tension and controlled reps help maintain a strong mind-muscle connection while giving joints and connective tissue a break.
Bodyweight / At-Home Deload
A bodyweight deload reduces impact and effort while keeping you moving regularly by utilising easier exercise variations. It’s ideal if you train at home, travel often, or simply need a low-stress reset week.
Key focus: movement, mobility, and joint health.
Example bodyweight deload week:
Day 1
Incline push-ups: 2 × 8
Bodyweight squats: 2 × 10
Dead bugs or bird dogs: 2 × 8 each side
Day 2
Step-backs or reverse lunges: 2 × 8 each leg
Resistance band rows: 2 × 10
Shoulder mobility flow
Day 3
Glute bridges: 2 × 10
Side planks: 2 × 20–30 seconds
Full-body mobility session
Movements should feel easy enough to maintain perfect form, with no breathlessness or sets that make you feel in any way fatigued.
FAQs
Will I lose muscle during a deload week?
No. Muscle loss requires prolonged inactivity or a significant calorie deficit. A deload is short and still provides enough stimulus to maintain muscle, while improved recovery can actually support future muscle growth.
Can beginners benefit from deloading?
Beginners generally need deloads less often, but there can be a few reasons why one might be needed. They’re most useful when progress slows, fatigue builds, or training starts to feel harder than expected.
Should I deload if I’m cutting?
Yes, actually, you may feel like you need a deload more when you’re cutting than training regularly. Being in a calorie deficit increases recovery demands, making deloads even more valuable for maintaining performance and reducing injury risk.
Can I deload without weights?
Even if you primarily train with calisthenics or body weight, you can still put a lot of demand on the body. Reducing intensity, volume, or exercise difficulty still lowers training stress and allows recovery to happen.
What is the difference between active recovery, a rest week, and a deload week?
These terms are often used interchangeably, but here’s the quick breakdown:
Active recovery involves very light movement, like walking or mobility work, to support recovery between workouts.
A rest week means stopping structured training completely.
A deload week keeps you training, but with reduced volume or intensity to lower fatigue without losing routine or movement quality.
Conclusion
Deload weeks are how you turn training hard into training smart.
They fit naturally into the principles of progressive overload, especially over the long term. You apply stress, you recover, you adapt. Then you build again. Without recovery, progress stalls. Remember that you can only overload for so long before fatigue takes over.
When you take a deload, it’s not that you’re doing less; it's a sign that you’re thinking ahead.
Strength training isn’t about grinding endlessly and pushing through every session, no matter how it feels. Smart strength is built by understanding when to push and when to pull back so your body can actually respond to the physical effort and recover.
Learning how and when to deload is as much of a training skill as getting your first pull-up! But when mastered, it’ll keep you progressing, performing, and training consistently in the long run.
References:
[1] Helms, E.R., Storey, A., Cross, M.R., Brown, S.R., Lenetsky, S., Ramsay, H. and Zourdos, M.C. (2024) Deloading practices in strength and physique sports: a cross-sectional survey, Sports Medicine – Open, 10(1). Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38499934/
[2] Bell, L., Strafford, B.W., Coleman, M., Korakakis, P.A. and Nolan, D. (2023) Integrating deloading into strength and physique sports training programmes: an international Delphi consensus approach, Sports Medicine – Open, 9(87). Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40798-023-00633-0
[3] Grgic, J., Schoenfeld, B.J., Davies, T.B., Lazinica, B., Krieger, J.W. and Pedisic, Z. (2024) Gaining more from doing less? The effects of a one-week deload period during resistance training, European Journal of Sport Science, 24(5), pp. 1–10. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38274324/ (
[4] Bohm, S., Mersmann, F. and Arampatzis, A. (2019) Functional adaptation of connective tissue by training, German Journal of Sports Medicine, 70(4), pp. 1–8. Available at: https://www.germanjournalsportsmedicine.com/archive/archive-2019/issue-4/functional-adaptation-of-connective-tissue-by-training
[5] Halson, S.L. (2017) Monitoring training load to understand fatigue in athletes, Sports Medicine – Open, 3(2). Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13102-017-0079-8
[6] TTRening (n.d.) Deload weeks: what they are and how to use them. Available at: https://ttrening.com/learn/articles/deload-weeks
