Take a deload when performance stalls, resting heart rate rises, sleep worsens, or motivation crashes for more than a week—not after one bad day. Scheduled deloads every four to eight weeks prevent the crash that forces two weeks off. Planned rest is training, not lost progress.
Cut sets and load forty to sixty percent, keep movement patterns, add mobility and easy walks. Maintain protein and sleep; do not slash food as if deload means diet reset. The point is absorption of prior work.
Return by ramping volume over two weeks, not jumping to your old peak in session one. Track how the next block feels—good deloads make week one after feel sharp, not rusty.
