Cumulative Fatigue Factor and the need to De-load

Recently I’ve been hit with several questions regarding the use of de-loads and messages from people feeling burned out from training to reach their goal. The first thing I remind them of is that fitness is not a sprint. We all want fast results and fall victim to the thinking that more is better and will get us there faster. Sometimes, more is actually worse because we push too far and we can’t recover in time. As with any training endeavor proper rest and recovery will go a long way. This is where the concept of a “de-load” comes in and the idea of the cumulative fatigue factor.

What is a de-load? What does it do?

A de-load is a period of time in a workout program that allows for the body to recover. This doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding the gym, but it does mean lightening the workload by either lowering volume or intensity or both. Many de-loads are planned, and some are the result of life. There are several ways a de-load can be accomplished including low-intensity, moderate volume de-loads; do-nothing de-loads, bodyweight de-loads, and many other variations that have been used with great success. There are two ways de-loads are worked into a training program, planned or fixed interval, and floating or adaptive.

It is common to see planned de-loads in weight training programs. Jim Wendler’s many variations of 5/3/1, Brandon Lily’s Cube variations, and countless other training programs build them in every “X” weeks to allow for recovery. Other programs don’t specify a de-load, but will have you repeat or go backwards for a week if you fail to complete all of the training load. While there are arguments on both sides regarding the necessity of a de-load, I believe every well-written program incorporates a de-load in some way or another.

The de-load serves several purposes. It allows our muscles and connective tissue a chance to rest and recover. It allows our CNS to relax and if we can avoid stimulants (caffeine, pre-workouts, etc.) it gives our adrenals a chance to rest as well.

Our muscles are capable of recovering very quickly from training, which is the case with DOMS (even though DOMS can feel like it lasts forever). However, the connective tissue, the tendons and ligaments, have less blood-flow than muscle and don’t grow or recover as fast from strenuous training. The de-load allows the soft tissue and connective tissue a chance to heal and grow. In addition, training effects your nervous system and your hormones. Whether we’re training for a marathon, triathlon, competition, or just working through a challenging weight program, our body faces challenges in the nervous system and adrenal glands. While fatiguing the CNS and adrenals is less common, it is possible and can have a greater effect on training if it is reached.

Defining Cumulative Fatigue Factor

Many experienced lifters have heard of the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) Scale and it has been around for some time in different varieties.  In a similar manner, I look at the CFF of a trainee on a week to week basis. While the RPE only considers the exercise being done, the CFF takes into account daily activities and the training day to reach a scale measure between 1 and 5. Since these are “feel” measures, we will each have variance between a 1, 2,3, etc. but they should be roughly the same.  

Here are my levels:

1.        Feel great, tons of energy all day
2.        Feel good, can tell I didn’t sleep well, but not tired
3.        Feel OK, little slow to get going, but still have energy
4.        Tired, slow to get going, feel like the day is dragging
5.        Exhausted, can’t get going, just want to sit and relax

I rate each day with a 1-5 paying special attention to how I feel before I train and on rest days. When I am fresh, my days rate as 3 or less, but as I begin to tire and accumulate fatigue, I will see more 4’s and an occasional 5. As a rule of thumb, when the weekly average is greater than 4, a de-load week should follow shortly thereafter. Keep in mind that fatigue doesn’t just have to come from training, but can be compounded by stress at home or in the office, lack of sleep, or poor nutrition.

Even with well thought out and executed rest and recovery protocols, it is possible to accumulate enough fatigue to necessitate a de-load.  Many times we are hesitant to take a de-load. We try to convince ourselves we aren’t tired, and in fact, we wake up and don’t feel tired at all, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t fatigued.

If you are self-evaluating, there are several signs you may be fatiguing and in need of a de-load.

Signs of cumulative fatigue:

1.        Exhaustion that lasts beyond 1 or 2 rest days
2.        You never feel warm / your joints ache / the weights feel heavier than usual
3.        Loss of interest in the training (assuming you normally love training)
4.        Increase in resting heart rate / slowed recovery time between sets
5.        Cranky / Nervous for no reason
6.        Your Pre-workout (assuming you use one) didn’t do anything

One day of these symptoms isn’t a reason to sound the de-load alarm, which is why the CFF uses a weekly average to consider whether our body and our performance can be benefit from a de-load. Yes, it is possible to push through and continue making progress, and most of us do exactly that. We push through until we’re at 5’s all the way across the board, but at some point, something has to give. I’m no exception because I have tried to push through for weeks at a time and instead of just needing one down week, I needed three because I was exhausted and got sick. Thankfully I didn’t get injured as well.

Do you need a de-load?

You’ve worked hard for six weeks, you feel strong, you’re seeing progress each week and you charge forward to week seven.  You feel energized but your body won’t cooperate. Your joints are stiff, the weights feel heavy, and you can tell something just feels off.  Maybe you’ve been sucking down pre-workouts and grinding ahead, but now, nothing. It could be an off week but more than likely, it’s a sign your cumulative fatigue is getting high.

Keeping in mind that fatigue doesn’t just have to come from training, but can be compounded by stress at home or in the office, lack of sleep, or poor nutrition will allow us to more accurately evaluate our CFF. As stated before, when the weekly average is greater than 4, it would be good to consider a de-load week.

There is much debate into the term “overtraining” and I am not going to enter the battle of “overtrained” versus “under-recovered” here as it is essentially a battle of semantics.  In either case, a change is necessitated by the decline in health and performance in order to recover and get back on track.

I need a de-load, now what?

You figured out you need to de-load, now you need to choose how. I’m a big proponent of going to train, but dropping the volume and intensity.  I believe in doing bodyweight accessory work and only training on the days I squat, bench, or deadlift. By lightening the load, lowering the number of reps, and taking an extra day off, we allow our body to get blood and nutrients to the parts of our body that need time to heal.

When we are talking about training and adapting for a de-load, intensity is how heavy the weight is or how fast the run is; heavier weight / faster run, higher intensity. Volume is simply the total amount of weight moved. My recommended drop in intensity is to between 40% and 60% of max. We are still doing the same motion, but the lighter weight / slower pace allows us to focus on technique, get blood into the muscles and connective tissue, and not stress the tissue further. By lowering the number of sets and reps or distance, we will tax our energy systems less, stay short of our fatigue limits, and allow our body a chance to recover. I prefer to train 5 sets of 5 on a de-load week.

In extreme cases of fatigue, it may be more beneficial to only perform bodyweight activity or avoid the gym altogether. It is important when choosing your de-load activity to not replace your high-stress training with another high-stress activity, like hiking 50 miles or mountain climbing all day. You took the de-load to recover, not to stress yourself out in different ways.

The Takeaway

Every day we accumulate fatigue in several ways. When we don’t get enough sleep, don’t drink enough fluids or get the right nutrition, have more stress than usual, etc., our body accumulates fatigue. When we fatigue, our body does the best it can to adapt, but the result is decreased performance and greater risk of getting ill or being injured. By using the CFF weekly, you will be able to better predict the need for de-loads and hopefully avoid costly setbacks to your training.