Towards the end of our call, I asked Dan, “What’s your top takeaway after 12 weeks of working with me?” He had two words for me - deload weeks.

Dan is a beast. He’s spent the majority of 40 years either on the football field or in combat while serving in the military. But despite his active lifestyle, he had never even thought of taking time to recover.

He explained, “In all my years of working out, it had been this constant grind of trying to add more weight to the bar every week. It worked well at first, but I would always hurt myself, plateau, or both.”

I tried to interject with an “Exactly!” but Dan was too pumped up to pause.

He went on, “I was skeptical at first. I mean, taking a whole week off after only 6 weeks of hard training? Seems soft. But when…

·  My joints felt better

·  I got stronger

·  And I lost more weight

…on the weeks I wasn’t even working out hard, I was sold.”

Dan took a breath and finished, “Learning that I could make more progress by working smarter, not harder, changed the game for me. Everyone should have deload weeks in their program.”

I beamed the whole time Dan was telling me this. In 2 minutes, he perfectly explained the benefits of the most underrated tool in strength training. AKA, deload weeks.

What is a deload week?

A deload week is a planned break from your hard training. If you’re a fitness enthusiast, the idea of spending less time in the gym may send a shiver up your spine.

Hear me out. There’s a method to the madness.

The benefits of deload weeks include:

·  Reduced injury risk

·  Reduced risk of overtraining

·  Increased strength

·  Increased muscle gain

·  Faster fat loss

·  Fewer training plateaus

·  Sustained excitement for training

All of those benefits, just from spending less time in the gym? Sign me up!

You have questions, I have answers. Here are the three most common questions about deload weeks:

1. How does it work? 

In short, the concept of “supercompensation”. After pushing hard for many weeks, you need to give your body the opportunity to recover physically and mentally from hard training.

By taking a deload week, you dig yourself out of a hole and can realize the strength you’ve built over the previous weeks.  

2. How do you deload?

There is one key principle and three different strategies.

The overall key - Train with less intensity and less volume than you’re used to for at least a couple of days (up to a week).

The 3 most common strategies include:

• Reducing intensity, volume, or both of your normal routine. A sample is to use 50% of the weight for 50% of the reps you’d normally perform.

• Taking an active rest week by focusing on moderate cardio and mobility work or by doing physical activities outside of the gym

• Taking a total rest. No planned exercise of any kind.

The type of deload that works best for you depends on your goals and training history. Most of my clients use a variation of the first strategy.

As long as you’re giving your body a rest and taking time to fully recover, you’re golden.

3. How often should you deload?

Again, this depends on a ton of factors including age, training experience, and injury history. Generally, if you’re more experienced and lifting heavier weights you should deload more often than a beginner that trains with lighter loads.

Some clients deload once a month and others once every 12 to 16 weeks. If you’ve been lifting for less than 2 years, err on the side of deloading every few months rather than every few weeks.

Do you need to deload? 

If you’re…

• Having intense joint pain

• Dealing with extended training plateaus

• Getting sick all the time

• Just feeling generally terrible

…it’s time to take a deload week.

I like to schedule deload weeks before my clients need one. In other words, before they’re hurt or sick. Always better to be proactive to minimize injury risk.

Don’t take it from me. Take it from Dan. Deload weeks are a game changer that will help you gain more strength, suffer fewer injuries, feel better, and help you continue to enjoy your training.

Work smarter instead of harder (or better yet, work smart and hard). If you can get more benefits and prevent injury with less effort and time in the gym, you’d be nuts not to schedule in the occasional deload week.

If you have any questions on deload weeks in general or how to implement them into your routine, let me know below and we’ll figure it out.

GIF Sources (giphy.com): Homer Patrick