Summary

As you may know — mostly since I wont shut up about it — Ive lost more than 53 pounds since last November. (I recently created this page that explains exactly how.)

Two weeks ago, though, I started feeling a bit… run down. I was getting way too tired, way too early in the day. I mentioned this to my trainer, and his advice was immediate: It was time for a deload.

I hadnt heard that term before, but I was able to infer what it meant. When I went to look it up online, of course, autocorrect immediately switched it to reload, which is essentially the opposite of what the plan was.

In strength training, essentially, a deload means either taking a week off, or taking a week with significant reductions (in weight, reps, or both). My trainer was clear: He advised I simply stop strength training entirely for a week, to give my nervous system and muscles more time off to rebuild.

Oh, how I complained.

I mean, I didnt complain like crazy. There was part of me that loved the idea of three strength training days off, skipping out on those squat lifts and bench presses and all the rest. But I was also worried: Would I lose my muscle tone? Would my weight loss falter?

For the first time since I started working with my trainer last year, I thought about explicitly rebelling and doing some small strength workouts. I didnt do it, though. I listened. To both my trainer, and my body.

And Ill be damned if my energy levels didnt significantly improve! Also, I weigh 3.5 fewer pounds than I did a week ago.

We are bad at deloads, across all aspects of our life. Many of us struggle with shutting off work — when were home, when were on vacation… Were always connected and we can always see our inboxes and Slack, and theres always more work. And so we feel obligated or even motivate

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