Deload week: what it is, how often to take one, and what to actually do

A deload week is a planned week of easier training: fewer sets, shorter runs, a bit less load, same basic routine. It's not a week off, and it's not a reward for being tired. It's a scheduled step back so the fatigue from the last few weeks clears and the fitness underneath it can show up.

Most people either never deload, or deload by accident when life forces a week off and call it a strategy. Both are worse than doing it on purpose. Below: what it means, how often to deload, what to cut, and how deload week running differs from lifting. Do it by hand, or get a plan built around your week that schedules them for you.

What is a deload week?

The deload week meaning, in one line: a short period of reduced training stress designed to let you recover and then train harder. That's close to the consensus definition an international panel of strength and physique coaches agreed on: "a period of reduced training stress designed to mitigate physiological and psychological fatigue, promote recovery, and enhance preparedness for subsequent training" (Bell et al., 2023).

Note the words. Reduced, not removed. Preparedness for subsequent training, not rest for its own sake. A deload exists to make the next block better.

It's a standard feature of periodized training: you build for a few weeks, step back for one, then build again from a slightly higher floor. Any sensible template, including a run-and-lift program, has them baked in. If yours doesn't, it's a list of workouts, not a plan.

Deload vs rest week vs taper

These get mixed up constantly, so:

A deload keeps the habit and the movement patterns ticking over. A rest week doesn't. Both have their place. Only one belongs in the middle of a training block.

Why deload at all

Training works by stacking stress, recovering, and adapting. Day-to-day recovery handles most of the day-to-day fatigue. But some of it accumulates under the surface across weeks: heavier legs, niggly joints, sessions that should feel routine feeling like work. Eventually you're training tired all the time, which is how you end up doing medium-quality sessions forever.

A deload is the scheduled pressure release. The honest part: research on deloads is thin, and the coaches in that Delphi panel said so themselves, describing deloading as "ubiquitous yet under-researched" (Bell et al., 2023). One trial in trained lifters found a full week off resistance training at the midpoint of a nine-week program didn't change muscle growth, but the group that kept training gained more lower-body strength (Coleman et al., 2024).

So a week of nothing is not free, at least for strength. That is why a proper deload reduces training instead of stopping it.

How often to deload

The coaching convention: every three to six weeks, or roughly every fourth week in a typical build. Beginners often get away with longer between deloads because their absolute loads are still modest. Older athletes, people with demanding jobs, and anyone training both running and lifting usually want them more often.

For a real-world reference point, a survey of 246 competitive strength and physique athletes found they deloaded about every 5.6 weeks on average, for around six to seven days at a time (Rogerson et al., 2024). Those are competitive lifters, not hybrid athletes, so treat it as a ballpark, not a rule.

Planned vs reactive deloads

Two ways to decide when:

• ›Planned (proactive). It's on the calendar. Week 4, week 8, week 12. Easy to follow, and it happens before you're cooked.
• ›Reactive (autoregulated). You deload when the signs show up: lifts stall, easy runs feel hard, sleep goes sideways, everything aches.

The surveyed athletes mostly used planned deloads, sometimes combined with a reactive approach when performance stalled or soreness piled up (Rogerson et al., 2024). That's the sensible default: put them on the calendar, and pull one forward if the wheels start wobbling. If you only ever deload reactively, you'll always be deloading a week late.

Signs you need one now

• ›The same weight feels noticeably heavier two sessions in a row
• ›Easy runs need more effort at the same pace
• ›Sessions that haven't changed start rating higher on the effort scale (here's a guide to the RPE scale if you don't track it)
• ›Motivation is gone for sessions you usually like
• ›Joints and tendons are complaining more than muscles

One of these is a bad day. Three of them across a week is a deload.

What to actually do in a deload week

The principle: keep the structure, cut the stress. The coaches in the Delphi panel agreed volume should come down, with intensity, frequency or effort able to drop too (Bell et al., 2023). The surveyed athletes kept the same exercises and the same number of training days, cut sets and reps, lifted a bit lighter, and stopped further from failure (Rogerson et al., 2024).

Translated into a practical lifting deload:

• ›Sets: cut by roughly a third to a half. Four sets of squats becomes two.
• ›Load: stay the same or drop slightly. Don't chase new numbers.
• ›Effort: leave three or four reps in reserve on everything. Nothing to failure.
• ›Exercises: same main lifts. Trim or drop accessories.
• ›Days: same schedule, shorter sessions.

Keep the exercises the same. A deload is not the week to try a new movement and wake up wrecked from the novelty.

If you're lifting mainly to support your running, the same rules apply. The heavy squat session in strength training for runners explained just gets shorter and lighter for a week.

Deload week running: what changes

A deload week for running follows the same logic with different dials:

• ›Weekly mileage: cut by roughly a quarter to a half, depending on how big the build was.
• ›Long run: shorter. Still easy.
• ›Quality: keep one short session with a few strides or a handful of short reps at goal pace so you don't feel flat. Drop the big interval or tempo session.
• ›Easy runs: stay easy and get shorter. Stick to the lower end of zone-based training, if you use zones.

The mistake runners make is turning the deload into a "free" week to try a fast parkrun. That's not a deload. That's a race with less preparation.

Deloading when you run and lift

Hybrid athletes have two fatigue streams hitting the same legs. That's the core issue in run and lift in the same week explained, and it's why a hybrid deload needs to cut both at once. Deload the lifting while running a peak-mileage week and you haven't deloaded. You've just moved the fatigue.

A simple hybrid deload week:

Everything still happens. Nothing is hard. That's the whole trick.

Coming back after the deload

The week after a deload is not the week to test a max. Pick up roughly where you were before the deload, or a small step above, and resume progressing week to week. Most people find the first sessions back feel better than anything in the previous build. That's the point. Bank it by training well, not by doing something stupid with it.

Deloads, HRV and rest days

If you already track morning heart rate variability, a downward trend over several days can be one more nudge that a deload is due; HRV-based training explains how to read it without treating every dip as a crisis.

And a deload is not the same as a rest day. Individual rest days clear the fatigue of the last session or two; a deload clears what builds up across weeks. You need both, and how many rest days you need depends on how hard the rest of the week is.

When life deloads you

Sometimes life deloads you: a work trip, a sick kid, a cold. If you lose most of a week mid-block, count it as your deload and move the next one back. Don't come back and try to make up the missed sessions. What to do after a missed week is mostly "resume, don't cram".

If you deload and still feel flat for weeks afterward, that's beyond what a lighter week fixes. The line between ordinary fatigue and the signs of overtraining is blurry even for researchers; an ECSS and ACSM consensus statement notes there is no single marker that reliably detects overtraining syndrome (Meeusen et al., 2013). If heavy fatigue, low mood or poor performance lingers despite rest, see a professional. The signs of overtraining aren't something to self-diagnose from an app.

Deload vs taper before a race

A deload sets up more training. A race-week taper sets up a performance: it cuts volume too, but keeps more race-specific intensity. Don't stack a deload directly before a taper for "extra recovery". You'll arrive undercooked, not fresh.

How exrsz handles deloads

exrsz builds deload weeks into your periodized plan based on your goal, schedule and level, and cuts running and lifting together so the deload actually lands on your legs. Because it adapts each week to how you trained, a block that's gone sideways can get its deload earlier, and missed sessions get reshuffled instead of piled on.

FAQ

What is a deload week?

A deload week is a planned week of reduced training: fewer sets and shorter runs, slightly lighter loads, and easier efforts, while keeping the same basic routine. It clears accumulated fatigue so the next block of training goes better.

How often should you deload?

Most plans deload every three to six weeks, often every fourth week. Pull one forward if lifts stall, easy runs feel hard and motivation drops for more than a few days.

Should I stop training completely during a deload?

No. A deload reduces training; it doesn't remove it. In one trial, a full week off lifting cost trained lifters some strength compared with training straight through (Coleman et al., 2024).

How do I deload for running?

Cut weekly mileage by roughly a quarter to a half, shorten the long run, drop the big workout, and keep a few strides so your legs stay sharp. Easy runs stay easy.

Can I deload just my lifting and keep running hard?

Not if you want it to work. Running and lifting draw on the same legs and recovery, so a hybrid deload cuts both in the same week.