Training hard all of the time is not only unachievable but it's also taxing on the body. Training at a high intensity every session can build cumulative fatigue within the body and lead to an increased injury risk, as well as being mentally fatiguing.
Introducing: the deload week. The quiet and supportive training partner all athletes need.
What is a deload week?
A deload week is a period of time strategically designed to reduce the volume or intensity of training to allow the body to recover – and come back to training even stronger.
The concept can intimidate some runners, as worry they'll lose their fitness but it actually does the complete opposite. You may hear of some runners dreading the taper for similar reasons – but these periods are as essential to an optimal training plan as any hard session! Trust the process.
Why do a deload week?
It allows your body to adapt to all of your recent training
It will mentally refresh you, so you can look forward to getting back into your next block of training
It will allow you to truly overcome underlying fatigue in the body, reducing injury risk
If you complete deload weeks correctly and ensure that you listen to your body, you will feel more energised, in turn finding yourself improving quicker.
Recovery
Take the extra time that you get in a deload week to focus on your body's recovery. Read our below article where we've covered our top-tips to recover from your tougher sessions as quickly as possible and keep those injuries at bay.