Deloading is a very necessary component of the majority of athlete’s training. It allows an athlete to benefit from the supercompensation effect of training, whilst dissipating built up systemic fatigue from the previous mesocycle and allowing an athlete to recover and recoup for the next meso.
However many athlete’s will overlook the importance of a deload, either overdoing it’s reduced training capacity or not implementing enough of a reduction.
One method of preventing this is to only reduce the volume of sessions at the beginning of a deload phase, as opposed to reducing load and/or proximity to failure. Studies show that increasing the number of reps in reserve can result in atrophy of working muscles. Therefore by maintaining intensity levels and reducing overall volume for a short period in the deload phase it can be beneficial in overall muscle mass retainment, without sacrificing masses of systemic recovery. These devolume areas should still however be followed by a short deloading phase (3-4 days) to allow for complete recovery of both the systemic physiological mechanisms as well as joint mechanisms.
Another large benefit of deloads is the lower Minimum Effective Volume (MEV). This can be considered as the lowest level of volume required to still produce muscle building adaptations.
Following an effective deload the stimulus required to elicit growth is very small. Sessions can therefore be shortened significantly, increasing time efficiency whilst still maintaining appropriate muscle disruption. It also allows for plenty of room to build upon volume as the mesocycle progresses.
There are also studies that suggest that deloads can dissipate fatigue quicker than a full exercise cessation for the same period- advocating for effective deloading strategies as opposed to completely ceasing training.
Deloading period’s ability to resensitise athlete’s response to training allows it to be an extremely useful tool in their programming. However it should still only be used when necessary- too frequent deloads limits overall performance improvements. Programming should therefore be carefully manipulated so that performance and effort is maximised for as long as possible, whilst also limiting the accumulation of excess fatigue for as long as possible, before implementing a deload period prior to fatigue reaching unreturnable levels.
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