Does taking a week off from lifting make you stronger or bigger?
Gaining more from doing less? The effects of a one-week deload period during supervised resistance training on muscular adaptations
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Two groups lifted weights for 9 weeks — one took a week off in the middle, the other didn't. Both got equally big and equally strong at endurance and power, but the group that kept lifting got a bit stronger in squats and felt a little more motivated.
Surprising Findings
A one-week complete break did NOT enhance muscle growth, contradicting the hypothesis that detraining ‘re-sensitizes’ muscles to anabolic stimuli.
Many fitness influencers claim short breaks reset your body’s response to training—this study directly refutes that with hard data in trained individuals.
Practical Takeaways
If your goal is maximum strength gains, skip the full week off—opt for reduced volume instead of complete rest.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Two groups lifted weights for 9 weeks — one took a week off in the middle, the other didn't. Both got equally big and equally strong at endurance and power, but the group that kept lifting got a bit stronger in squats and felt a little more motivated.
Surprising Findings
A one-week complete break did NOT enhance muscle growth, contradicting the hypothesis that detraining ‘re-sensitizes’ muscles to anabolic stimuli.
Many fitness influencers claim short breaks reset your body’s response to training—this study directly refutes that with hard data in trained individuals.
Practical Takeaways
If your goal is maximum strength gains, skip the full week off—opt for reduced volume instead of complete rest.
Publication
Journal
PeerJ
Year
2024
Authors
Max Coleman, Ryan Burke, Francesca Augustin, A. Piñero, Jaime Maldonado, James P Fisher, Michael Israetel, Patroklos Androulakis Korakakis, P. Swinton, Douglas Oberlin, B. Schoenfeld
Related Content
Claims (6)
If you take a one-week break from lifting weights—even if you’ve been training hard—you won’t lose or gain noticeable muscle in your legs, and taking short breaks like this won’t hurt or help your muscle growth.
Taking a one-week break from weightlifting won’t make your muscles grow bigger, even though some people think resting might help your muscles respond better to training again.
If you take a one-week break from your heavy leg workouts, your leg strength and ability to keep going during exercises won’t drop in any meaningful way — at least not if you’re already trained.
If you're a young person who regularly lifts weights, keeping up your workouts for 9 weeks might make you feel a little more mentally ready to train than if you took a full week off—but it's not a huge difference, and we're not sure if it really matters in real life.
Taking breaks from intense workouts every few weeks doesn’t reduce your overall training volume or stop you from building muscle in the long run.