Deload: When Is It Time to Take a Break?
What is a deload?
De-loading is an intentional decrease in training intensity/load for a short period of time (from a couple days up to 2 weeks) allowing the body proper time to recover after a long period of progressive overload, before or after an event/competition, or to recover from an injury or chronic pain flare up.
Why should you deload?
Reduced Inflammation. We typically think of inflammation when it comes to infection or autoimmune disorders but inflammation isn’t always so sinister. Inflammation from exercise isn’t a bad thing, in fact, it’s a sign that we’re working hard enough to produce adaptation and make progress. However, too much will lead to healthy cells, tissues, or organs becoming damaged.* Taking a break or decreasing the amount of physical stress placed on your body will allow your body adequate time to recover and reduce that inflammation.
Reduced risk of injury from overuse. Speaking of inflammation, when we have too much of it, particularly in one part of the body, it means we have an injury that requires rest (and possibly medication or surgery depending on the severity). By decreasing the general amount of inflammation as well as the physical stress we’re putting on our joints, we reduce our chances of sustaining an injury from overuse that would require longer time off or potential medical intervention.
You’re already injured. Athletes, performers, and highly active people are the worst perpetrators when it comes to pushing through pain and injury. This, however, inevitably backfires because we’re not giving our injury adequate time to heal. Best case scenario, this just slows down the healing process; worst case, we make the injury worse or sustain another because of movement compensation. It is better to decrease or stop training entirely for a couple weeks than it is to train through an injury and be performing at a lower capacity for longer or have to stop completely for months.
How long should my deload last?
De-loads can last just a couple days or up to 2 weeks. The duration will, of course, depend on the intensity, style, or purpose of your training:
A couple days: You might consider only taking a few days off when you’re still feeling good during your training session but some fatigue is starting to set in. You can also program these deload days on different training weeks, ideal for training splits. For example, week 5 you deload for your upper body sessions only, then week 6 you deload for your lower body sessions only.
A full week: This is a pretty standard deload duration and can be utilized by any training style if you’ve been progressively overloading or training at a high intensity for 4-8 weeks. If you’re experiencing some subtle symptoms of overtraining (unusual muscle soreness, plateau in training performance, and/or stiff muscles/joints) take it as a sign that you need a full week to deload so your body can recover and perform optimally again. You may also want to take a full week off if you’ve just competed in an event or performed in multiple back to back events.
More than a week: This duration is for those who are experiencing more severe overtraining symptoms (unusual and consistent muscle soreness, decline in training performance, “heavy” muscles, and/or aching joints) as well as those who are more severely/acutely injured or experiencing more persistent chronic pain should take this longer duration to recover.
*Consider this:
Strength doesn’t start to decline until at least 2 weeks after stopping your normal amount of activity. Taking the above time away from lifting or calisthenics will not hinder your progress, it will help it. In addition, muscle memory will have you regaining any potentially lost gains more quickly than when you initially started training.
Cardiovascular fitness does decline faster than strength but you can still maintain your current level for a little more than a week. Any small decrease in cardiovascular fitness is a fine trade off for healthy, healed joints and muscles.
More intense flexibility and mobility training may benefit more from you taking a break due to the relationship between stress and muscle tension. If you’re noticing a plateau or decline in flexibility/range of motion but you're consistently working at the same or a greater intensity, it may be time to take a break or train for stress reduction (i.e. more passive, less intense exercises).
You can still maintain or even increase your strength, cardiovascular endurance, or flexibility throughout a deload by cross-training or drastically reducing your activity level for the durations listed above.
When/How often should I deload?
Typically, deloads are done every 4-8 weeks but, as briefly discussed above, de-load can also be beneficial after an intense event, performance, or injury.
You might schedule a deload because of an upcoming vacation or non-training related event. When programming around a vacation or non-training event that doesn’t coincide with your usual deload time frame, consider increasing the intensity of your sessions prior to so you’re taking advantage of the limited training time before taking time away.
How much should I decrease my training intensity/load?
40-60% decrease: In most cases, you’ll want to deload between 40-60% of your current intensity/load. This can look like…
Strength: 100 lb for 3x10 per session → 50lbs for 3x10 or 75lbs for 2x10 per session
Cardio: 30 miles per week → 15 miles
Flexibility: 30min daily → 10min daily
Cross-train: A deload can also be an opportunity to do a little more cross-training (provided that you’re keeping it light and have time to recover). For example, If you usually lift weights, a de-load might be a good time to go for a hike or take a yoga class OR if you primarily train cardio, working primarily on strength and joint stability.
Training break: Also as previously mentioned, you may want to use the duration of your deload to take a complete break from training, especially if you are experiencing severe symptoms of overtraining, are injured, or have a vacation or non-training event where space and equipment is limited or unavailable.
Use this simple guide to help program deloads effectively:
There may be a lot to consider when it comes to programming your deloads but it’s worth it to take the time to figure out what works best for you and your body so you’re not forced to take a longer break from training due to injury or overtraining. To keep things simple, just ask yourself the following questions:
Why am I deloading? General recovery, overtraining, injury, vacation, or event
How long does my deload need to be? A couple days, a full week, or longer
When should I schedule my deload? Immediately (injury/overtraining), after 4-8 weeks of progressive training, before or after a performance/competition/etc.
How much am I decreasing training intensity? 40-60% or cross-training for general recovery or mild overtraining or a complete break to recover from severe overtraining, injury, or chronic pain flare up
It can be tempting to keep the intensity high and not take training breaks, even when we’re overtraining or injured but it is so important for recovery and keeping our training sustainable for the long term. Deloads or training breaks can often have us coming back to training feeling stronger and with more energy than before. So… when’s your next deload?
