Deload Weeks
A deload is a planned lighter week that lets built-up fatigue clear. Its job is recovery and consistency, not extra growth.
- Surveyed strength and physique athletes deload for about a week, roughly every five to six weeks.
- They cut sets and reps, lift a little lighter and stop further from failure, while keeping the same training days.
- In the first controlled trial, a mid-block deload did not add muscle and slightly slowed lower-body strength gains.
- Its case rests on managing fatigue, sore joints and motivation over months, not on a boost.
What a deload is
A deload is a planned period of lighter training. An international panel of strength and physique coaches defined it as a period of reduced training stress designed to reduce physical and mental fatigue, promote recovery and prepare you for the training that follows. It is not a week off.
How people actually do it
In a survey of 246 competitive strength and physique athletes, a deload lasted about six days and came round about every five to six weeks, though that varied a good deal from one athlete to the next. They cut volume by doing fewer sets and fewer reps, lifted somewhat lighter, and stopped further from failure, but kept training on their usual days. Most planned them in advance, and many also deloaded when performance stalled or joints ached.
What the evidence does and does not show
Deloads are far more common in practice than in research. The first controlled trial, in trained lifters, put a one-week deload halfway through a nine-week programme: it made no difference to muscle growth, power or muscular endurance, and lower-body strength gains were slightly smaller than with continuous training. So a deload is not a shortcut to more muscle. Its case is the one coaches make: a planned easy week keeps fatigue, niggles and motivation in check across a long run of training.
A training block of seven weeks or more from Kriterion's Plan Generator ends on a planned deload that keeps your weights and cuts the sets, with another about every six weeks in longer blocks.
References
- Bell L, Strafford BW, Coleman M, Androulakis Korakakis P, Nolan D. Integrating deloading into strength and physique sports training programmes: an international Delphi consensus approach. Sports Medicine - Open, 2023;9:87.
- Bell L, et al. Deloading practices in strength and physique sports: a cross-sectional survey. Sports Medicine - Open, 2024.
- Coleman M, Burke R, et al. Gaining more from doing less? The effects of a one-week deload period during supervised resistance training on muscular adaptations. PeerJ, 2024;12:e16777.
Last reviewed 28 Sep 2026 · Next review due Sep 2029
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