Rest Without Losing Progress

What Is Deloading?

Deloading is an intentional, short-term reduction in training intensity or frequency to allow your body and mind to recover from fatigue, which can accumulate from frequent, intense workouts. Rather than stopping your workouts entirely, deloading involves easing up with lighter weights and a reduced number of sets and repetitions, allowing you to continue exercising as your body heals and grows (1).

Why Is Deloading Important for Long-Term Progress?

•         Deloading can help reduce the risk of overtraining, which can lead to decreased performance, fatigue, and even injury.
•         Deloading can help give your muscles the time they need to grow and become stronger, a process that occurs only with enough muscle recovery time. The lower intensity can also help restore hormone balance and replenish glycogen stores, making you better prepared for higher-intensity workouts.
•         Many people find that they can return to their more intense workouts with increased energy after a deload, allowing them to break through plateaus.
•         Deloading can also help improve your mental game. Training hard several times each week can reduce motivation and lead to burnout. A lighter week can help you reset and rekindle your motivation.
•         Deloading every 4–8 weeks supports a long-term workout plan that teaches you to listen to your body, allowing you to go easier when necessary for maximum gains without overtraining or injury (2).

Key Principles

1. Use lighter weights or reduce the number of reps and sets, not both. If you’re unsure how much rest you need between exercises, check out our guide on how long to rest between sets for an effective workout.
2. When deloading, it’s essential to incorporate low-impact cardio exercises, such as walking, cycling, and yoga.
3. Deloading helps maintain consistency in your workouts while preventing overtraining.
4. Deloading can serve as a kind of reset button, helping you get enough rest to come back stronger and more motivated (3).

BetterMe: Health Coaching app helps you achieve your body goals with ease and efficiency by helping to choose proper meal plans and effective workouts. Start using our app and you will see good results in a short time.

When and Why You Need a Deload Week

Deloading is a smart strategy for anyone involved in a regular training routine. Whether you are training for strength, hypertrophy , flexibility, or weight loss, your body needs time to heal and recover to become stronger and larger. Deloading ensures that recovery is a focus every few weeks. Most experts recommend deloading every 4 – 8 weeks, but it’s essential to listen to your body so you can deload when you need to (4).

•         Deload if you’re not making any progress in your workouts to reset.
•         Deload after a competition or fitness challenge. You’ve earned it.
•         Deload if you notice signs of overtraining, such as persistent fatigue, decreased performance, mood swings, trouble sleeping, and unusually sore muscles, to give your body time to heal.
•         Deload before starting a new workout routine to clear out any lingering fatigue.

Read more: Active Recovery Workouts: What to Know and When to Do Them

Benefits of Deloading

• Avoiding Burnout and Overtraining

Training hard is essential for progress, but overtraining can lead to setbacks, prolonged recovery times, and increased risk of injury. Knowing when to back off can help you avoid potential pitfalls in your workout routine by giving your body the time it needs to repair without eliminating training (5).

• Supporting Recovery and Injury Prevention

Deloading gives your body time to recover, making you less susceptible to injury. It also helps your muscles, joints, and nervous system bounce back and be ready for more intense workouts. If you’re pushing too hard without adequate rest, it can hold you back more than help you.

• Building Long-Term Strength and Endurance

Deloading helps improve long-term performance by reducing intensity at key intervals. By intentionally easing up from time to time, your body can adapt to a long-term plan that you can stick to for years (6).

How to Plan a Deload Week

Plan to do a deload every 4–8 weeks, depending on your progress. If you are consistently setting new personal records, aim for an eight-week deload. However, if you struggle to see any improvement, shorten it to four weeks. It can also be a good idea to deload after a particularly intense workout cycle or after completing a challenging event, such as running a marathon or participating in a decathlon.

Once recovered, you can transition into a more structured routine, such as a 5 day workout split to continue making progress efficiently.

Exercises to Include and Skip

• Bodyweight Exercises

Performing bodyweight exercises (also known as calisthenics) at a reduced volume can help support recovery and boost circulation without overexerting your body. When deloading for muscle growth, exercises such as squats, push-ups, glute bridges, and bird dogs are excellent choices for a light workout (7).

• Mobility and Flexibility

Yoga, Pilates, dynamic stretches, and similar movements can help improve flexibility and mobility without compromising the body’s ability to repair itself.

• Light Cardio

Walking, low-resistance cycling, and gentle swimming are great ways to elevate your heart rate and get some exercise without overworking your muscles.

• Core Stability

Core stability drills, such as planksor Farmer’s Carries , can help improve posture and core strength without overly taxing other muscles. These core exercises are more so holds than extensions. They will directly mimic movements done in other exercises in the weight room. 

• Avoid

Skip heavy compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, and the bench press. Avoid high-intensity exercises like sprinting and anything that causes heavy breathing. Instead, aim for light repetitions of these exercises or light walking. The goal is to still do the movements but to minimize the intensity.

Nutrition Tips for Faster Recovery

Nutrition is a critical component in any workout plan, and it is especially important during a deloading phase when the right food can help replenish energy stores, balance hormones, and repair muscle tissue.

1. Aim to consume a variety of high-quality protein sources, including eggs, lean poultry, Greek yogurt, tofu, tempeh, lentils, beans, and protein-rich smoothies. Try to consume 1–2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.
2. Don’t cut carbs completely. Instead, opt for complex carbs like quinoa, oats, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and whole fruits to maintain your energy levels throughout the day, especially during light workout sessions.
3. Focus on anti-inflammatory foods, such as berries, leafy greens, turmeric, ginger, salmon, chia seeds, nuts, and olive oil, to support healing and combat inflammation.
4. Drink plenty of water each day, aiming for at least eight cups per day, to stay hydrated, even during deloading. Foods like bananas, leafy greens, and coconut water add natural electrolytes (8).

Managing Stress and Mental Fatigue

A deload week isn’t only about repairing your muscles and taking it easy for the week. It’s also your chance to recover mentally. High-intensity training and life stressors can accumulate over time, which can impact your motivation. Using a deload phase to reduce your mental load through yoga, meditation, or other means is just as important as giving your body enough time to heal.

Deload Strategies for Every Fitness Level

Beginners: Keep It Simple

If you are new to fitness and just beginning a structured routine, your body is still adjusting to the new movements. A traditional deloading phase is likely not necessary. Instead, you will want to “deload” by taking 2 –3 full rest days during the week instead of committing to a full week.  During your days off, replace your more intense workouts with light walks, stretching, or beginner yoga. Aim to get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated, and eat healthy meals.

Intermediate: Adjust Intensity

Once you have been working out consistently for a few months, deloading can help you reset and break through plateaus. Reduce your training volume by 40 – 60% and use only 50 – 60% of your typical weights for one week every 6 – 8 weeks or whenever you start to notice progress slowing.

Advanced: Optimize Progress

Advanced athletes often push their limits and need regular deloads to reset and allow their central nervous system to recover. Drop the weight to 40–50% of your one-rep max or reduce your volume significantly for one week every 4–6 weeks, maintaining a strong focus on staying hydrated, getting plenty of rest, and eating properly. It’s also a good time to refine your technique and target weak areas of the body. In addition to this, elite athletes will want to focus on creating their training plan around what events they have coming up. The ultimate goal is to peak at your biggest competitions. Program your workouts with your big events in mind. Deloading phases will be incredibly important for these athletes. 

Goals-Based Deload Approaches

Your training goals will determine how you approach your deload week, allowing you to tailor your recovery to your personal needs.

• For Building Muscle

If your goal is to build muscle, a deload week will help your muscles recover, allowing them to grow larger. Attempting to continue training without deloading can stall gains while still placing considerable stress on the body and mind.

When deloading, reduce the number of sets and reps in your workout while maintaining a moderate intensity. Light stretching and mobility exercises can also help with recovery.

• For Burning Fat

If you are attempting to lose weight, your deload should incorporate light, low-impact cardio exercises, such as walking or swimming. But throughout your training and into your deloading phase, you will also need to monitor your caloric intake, focus on whole foods, and avoid overeating. Fat loss comes from consistent weeks in a calorie deficit and the training weeks and deloading weeks will still need to be in a deficit in order to see sustained results. 

• For Improving Endurance

If you’re working to improve your endurance, consider incorporating cross-training into your deload with activities like swimming or cycling to freshen up your routine. You’ll also want to take time to focus on your breathing and form during short sessions.

Sample Deload Week Plan

Strength Training Example

•         Day 1: 50–60% of usual weight, 2 sets of 8–10 reps
•         Day 2: 20–30 min walk or cycle
•         Day 3: Light dumbbells or bands
•         Day 4: Rest or gentle yoga
•         Day 5: Bodyweight or light resistance exercises
•         Day 6: Core + mobility
•         Day 7: Rest

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Cardio-Friendly Routine

•         Day 1: Easy run or brisk walk
•         Day 2: Light swimming or cycling
•         Day 3: 15–20 minutes dynamic stretching or mobility work
•         Day 4: Rest or casual hike
•         Day 5: Walk-jog 1:2 ratio
•         Day 6: Yoga or Pilates
•         Day 7: Rest

General Fitness Schedule

•         Day 1: Light full-body circuit with no weights or very light dumbbells
•         Day 2: 15–30 minutes of light stretching
•         Day 3: Light cardio
•         Day 4: Rest
•         Day 5: Light bodyweight workout with a focus on form
•         Day 6: Dynamic stretching
•         Day 7: Rest or nature walk

Read more: How to Use the BetterMe Pilates Kit for Active Recovery

Expert Tips for Success

Monitor Your Recovery and Progress

The best way to know if your deload is working is to keep a record of how you feel and perform during your workouts. Logging this information will help you determine when it’s time to take a deloading week and whether it was effective. Besides your reps, sets, and weights, it’s a good idea to track your sleep quality, muscle soreness, motivation level, and performance (10).

Common Mistakes to Avoid

•         Going too hard
•         Not working out at all
•         Not planning ahead
•         Not focusing on nutrition
•         Not getting enough sleep

Plan Your Next Training Cycle

A deload week is an ideal opportunity to review your goals and establish new ones. Decide which areas you want to improve, whether strength, endurance, or mobility. Review any issues you had with the last training cycle and adjust accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How Often Should You Take a Deload Week?

You should take a deload week every 4 – 8 weeks of consistent training. The more intense your workouts, the more frequently you will require a deload week. The exact timing of the deload will depend on how your body feels and your ultimate goal with training. Signs you need a deload week include fatigue, soreness, and decreased performance (9).

• Can Beginners Benefit from Deloading?

While beginners may not initially need a deload, they can still benefit from easing up every 6–8 weeks. Deloading can help beginners prevent early burnout and develop good patterns.

• What Happens If You Skip a Deload?

Skipping a deload can lead to burnout or lack of motivation. It can also make it more difficult to break through plateaus and increase your risk of injury. While skipping a deload might seem like you’re working harder, your body needs time to rest and recover.

• Does Deloading Help with Weight Loss?

Deloading doesn’t directly aid in weight loss, but it does facilitate muscle recovery, which can help maintain metabolism and enable you to progress to more challenging workouts that support weight loss.

The Bottom Line

Deloading is a crucial component of a comprehensive long-term fitness strategy. It will help your body recover and reset, allowing your performance to continue improving. Forgetting to deload will lead to slower gains and plateaus that are difficult to overcome. Tired, overworked muscles are also more susceptible to injury. Listen to your body and take a deload week every 4–8 weeks as needed.