It’s all about training structure. In most programs I’ve seen with a deload, it follows a period of very intense training. The intention is to OVERSTIMULATE and completely blow your body out as much as you safely can and then back off the throttle to give the body time to recover. This recovery period is where you see big adaptations and growth because the body overcompensates to make up the difference. Periodized programs that include a deload like this take advantage of this process.
For example, the RP physique template includes a deload after ramping up over a period of weeks. Each training phase or mesocycle includes a deload and the final training phase is an entire 3 week long deload phase (they call it resensitization).
So, with that out of the way, imma take a second to detour on a tangent.
IN MY OPINION, All that stuff you hear on steroid forums about “saturated receptors” is horseshit bro science. The body can only put on so much muscle before the physiological mechanisms that allow for muscle growth have been exhausted. You can’t gain anymore on your cycle because you’ve had the pedal to the metal the whole time. Your body just physically can’t put on anymore because you’ve tapped out it’s potential for muscle growth in the short term. (This is one of the reasons people take arachidonic acid — it helps to renew one of these pathways)
The real reason that blasting and cruising or cycling works is not because your “receptors are saturated”, it’s because your body is just tapped out on muscle growth. A lot of bros I’ve seen have exactly one setting in the gym. They don’t know how to periodize their training and they don’t realize that constantly pushing their body to the failure point is not the most optimal way to strength and size. Fitness culture seemingly has an obsession with being perceived as hardcore and no nonsense. We say things like “Train insane or remain the same” or “shock the muscle”, but most of us have no idea how to apply these ideas in a controlled manner. It’s completely unreasonable to expect your body to function at absolute peak workout intensities for extended periods of time, yet this is entirely how most bros train. In real life (say at work or at home or with another hobby/interest), you don’t function at peak efficiency all the time. You have natural peaks and valleys to your performance. You’d become exhausted very quickly if you didn’t. Your body is the same way.
The takeaways: Be kind to your body and give more attention to helping it recover and reap the gains. Don’t always train to failure. Periodize your training.
So, for a practical example, here is how RP structures it.
Keep in mind these set numbers are dynamic — they adjust to the user’s reported fatigue levels. In the later weeks of a meso, there will almost always be higher volume (more sets) unless the user is experiencing recovery problems.
Also notice the intensities they are using: at the beginning of a meso, they use 3/fail, which means you rep out until you think you have 3 reps in the tank. By the end, you are doing all your sets to 1/fail or one rep in the tank. This is called “autoregulation” using Reps in Reserve (RIR or alternately RPE [rate of perceived exertion]).
By structuring your training this way, not only do you help avoid burn out and physical exhaustion, but you can optimize growth and strength potential while putting the effort where it matters most — on those super hard weeks before your deload.
