One question I'm asked a lot about is deloading. For me personally, deloading is one of the key contributing factors to my own training longevity.
What I'll answer here are the key questions: what exactly is it, why you should use it, and how to keep it simple.
THE SCENARIO
Let's assume you've been training hard over the last several weeks. As a matter of fact, let's say you're just finishing a 6 week training cycle of a 5 x 5 program. What do you do after you complete the program? Well, the answer may depend on what's next or what your goals are, but in most cases after completing a structured program like this, a period of reduced volume and intensity is a pretty smart idea. That leads to the "deload."