A GUIDE TO DELOAD CYCLES... Understanding hypertrophy periodisation.

I had a eureka moment recently, it's story time... I have been through a period of low gym motivation recently (which is totally normal), which forced me to analyse where I'm going wrong. So, I took a deep dive deep into my program and all the moving parts that surround it. I am ticking 99% of the boxes I usually preach about to grow muscle:

• Using a structured program with progressive overload

• Eating in a calorie surplus with plenty of protein

• Training close to failure on most sets

• Hitting sufficient sets per muscle group each week

I was stumped, so I did the logical thing. I trained way harder for way longer. Guess what? That made it worse. I wasn't progressing on weights and sets, I couldn't get a pump, I was even less motivated. Where was I going wrong?

It turns out, despite what Shaun T will have you believe, training harder when you're fatigued is NEVER the answer. It's also the most effective way to get yourself a big fat [insert crippling injury here]. We know this from professional sports, but yet we struggle to apply it to the gym. If you are training hard 2+ times weekly for hypertrophy or strength, you will likely be building a residual level of fatigue over time. You need to give your body time to recover from this, which it won't do whilst you're training at full tilt.

Think of your body like a house, recovery in between gym sessions is like tidying up after a day of playing around the house with your kids. You tidy most days, which keeps the house 90% clean, but every couple of weeks you start to notice the mess in the carpet and all the old crumbs on the kitchen floor. It's time for a deep clean. This is similar to your body's built up fatigue.

Here are the main questions:

How long is a deload?

As long or short as your body needs, I tend to take a week. If you are more fatigued than normal or hitting a plateau, deload every 4 weeks. If you feel amazing and progress is good, deload every 6, 7 or even 8 weeks.

What do I do on a deload?

Nothing is fine, especially to rest injuries. But most research suggests keeping in the gym and staying active will help to maintain progress, but with some caveats. The best rule I have found is the half volume rule. Half the weight, for half the reps, for half the sets you usually do. This will feel easy, and you won't be anywhere near failure, as we aren't aiming for our usual level of muscle damage. I tend to pair up 2 workouts in one session, as they take half the time.

When do I need a deload?

There are hundreds of signs to look out for, but top among them is plateaus in progressive overload. You might feel consistently weaker than normal, you might be stuck on a certain weight, you might be completely uninterested in going to the gym at all. All are signs, and seeing more than one at once is your first signal to start a deload. I use them at regular periods with clients, mainly because I'd rather they have slightly more regular deloads with low injury risk than push through.

I can already hear the stringer vest plonkers preaching 'I don't need deloads' in between their ego sets. There are a couple of reasons why you might not need it:

• You don't train hard enough to warrant it

• You are already deloading without realising (i.e. holidays, non-hypertrophy training etc.)

But for the majority of us doing regular resistance training, this could be the tool to help you skyrocket your progression and keep your body super injury resistant.

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Elliot Hutchinson // 17.08.2025

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