Deloading

[Chrisehyoung]

How often do you take deload or rest weeks?

I am currently taking a deload every 8 weeks and a rest week every 24 weeks. I'm starting to think that I may need to increase the frequency. It would seem that at 39 years old, training 4 days a week, and playing hockey 3 days a week just may be a little much for my body to recover from.

 

[kisaj]

Nothing set, I tend to take as needed. If I am in a particularly intensive period where I may be training for multiple things (gym work, sparring, cardio heavy, etc) I may take a deload every 4 weeks. If it is just a normal gym routine, I may go 6-8 weeks or longer. At 40, I do much better with a small rest period and I believe it has helped sustain me without injury or mental exhaustion.

 

[EMPIREMIND]

Its always good to change things up. Recovery is a vital piece of bodybuilding and i think we all forget that. I do.

I generally do 10-12 weeks in and deload, but cant go wrong with 6-8. Listen to your body before your scheduele brother.

 

[asooneyeonig]

there are some proven plans that have a deload every 4 weeks and that is for everyone at every age. so how often you deload depends on the current workload, sleep habits, eating habits, stress level, work capacity, and your ability to recover.

i believe staying ahead of the curve works best so i schedule deloads every 4 to 6 weeks. i find i can maintain a larger workload in a plan for a longer periods doing that.

 

[KimChee75]

Usually every 8-10 weeks or as needed. I definitely don't recover like I used to.

 

[UCSMiami]

is there a guide for how much to reduce weight by during a phase? I mean if lifting pyramiding at 70,80,90,80,70 % is deloading half of that? same number of reps? etc.etc.