💪🏼 DELOAD

Deload - When to use & Why.

Deload Week

I’m currently on phase 3 of my training block and I’ve been training hard!

14 weeks in, recovery is slowing, fatigue has set in, and a few niggles are starting to show up, classic signs that the body needs a step back to move forward.

Phases 1 & 2
– Both 6-week blocks
– Training 5x per week
– 1 metcon (30 minutes)

Phase 3 (current phase)
– Training 4x per week

This week is a deload week, and it’s there for a reason.

Research consistently shows that planned deloads help reduce accumulated fatigue, lower injury risk, and restore performance by allowing the nervous system, joints, and connective tissue to recover. Strength and hypertrophy gains don’t happen during training, they happen during recovery.

Recovery is just as important as training.
Unless you train like a wet wipe, you don’t need an excuse to do fuck all.

Piling more volume or intensity on top of poor recovery will stall progress faster than anything else. In fact, chronic fatigue can lead to reduced strength output, slower muscle repair, disrupted sleep, and elevated stress hormones, all of which blunt results.

More isn’t better. Quality matters.

If you’ve trained consistently for years, you’ll spot the signs that a deload is needed:

• Persistent soreness that doesn’t shift

• Declining performance or motivation

• Poor sleep and elevated stress

• Small aches and niggles becoming louder

A deload doesn’t mean stopping. It usually means reducing volume or intensity by 30–50%, keeping movement patterns in, and letting the body reset so you can push again. for me i will be taking the full 4 days away from training.

My focus this week will be:

• Steps

• Sleep

• Stress management

• Nutrition

Then next week, I’ll be fresh, recovered, and ready to go again 💪🏼