Using Data to Best Plan Deload Weeks

Have you ever heard of a Deload Week? 

Have you ever completed a Deload Week? 

Do you even know why you would have a Deload Week? 

To keep it simple a deload week is a week within your training block when you pull your volume right back and allow your body and mind to have a rest from training. Some people will plan their deloads and have them on a specific week, to help with programming. While others may take one when they feel they need one. 

When we take a deload week it allows for the body and mind to grow. We do not grow when we are training at a high level every single day. In order to grow/build muscle/increase strength/lose weight, whatever goal you may have, you need to allow your body time to recover. This is where a deload week comes in handy. Having a week where you're not stressing yourself too much allows your body to make progress, this is done through “Supercompensation”. This is when your body overcompensates, in order to improve itself from the stress that you have placed on it from the last training phase. 

Today (20/09/2023) is the third day of my current deload. I usually like to plan my deload weeks in advance, this allows me to build my lifts up trying to overload/peak the week before a deload and then strip everything back and give my body the opportunity to recover. However, that wasn’t the case this time round. This week has been my first ever deload week that has been taken because of the way I’ve been feeling and the data that my Oura Ring has provided me with. 

I have been slowly building my training up for the last 6 weeks, completing the CP Strength program, as I am returning back to normal post a hip injury. However, last week was certainly a struggle. Through collecting health data daily I had noticed that my sleep quality had dropped, my heart rate had increased, heart rate variability had dropped and overall I felt horrible. If looking at the data wasn’t enough I even started to have my joints ache when completing my strength movements. 

Seeing this data made me release that I needed a lighter week of training, so I entered into a deload. 3 days into my 7 day deload and I can say I certainly feel much better, I skipped the gym on Monday opting for sitting outside while I ate breakfast and Tuesday was a much lighter session with a decreased total volume. 

So do you need a Deload Week? 

Has your sleep quality dropped over the past couple of weeks? 

Maybe your heart rate has increased? 

This is why I am a big believer in tracking this type of data.

When I say track this data, that doesn’t mean live your life by it every single day. Use a little bit of common sense please. But if your heart rate has spiked and your sleep quality has decreased, plus you're tired all the time then maybe it’s your body telling you something. So stop ignoring it, listen to your body and rest before it forces you to rest by tearing a muscle.