In fact, you’re starting to feel a little tired and sluggish. So there are 2 things you can do:

1. Take a short break from training chest
2. Deload

In this post, we’re going to go with the 2nd option and I’m going to give you 5 deload chest workouts that you can do.

You’ll also learn when to deload and the advantages of deloading vs taking a break from the gym.

What are deload workouts?

Deloading is working out with decreased intensity and volume. It’s basically showing up to the gym and going through the motions, getting a little pump.

The purpose is to give that muscle a break and allow for recovery.

If you’re new to deload workouts, you can learn more in this post: Deload Workouts: Back Off to Build More Muscle.

How to Know When to Deload for Chest

If there’s one muscle everyone aspires to develop, it’s chest. This is especially true for dudes.

The greatest reason is that your chest most visible muscle. It’s the first thing that stands out when you ditch the shirt. And jacked-up movie stars and bodybuilding heroes are all known for their massive chests.

Because of that, we tend to focus more on our chest. But there’s a problem…

Your chest is not a large muscle (although, yes, we want our chest to be huge!). For that reason, you may end up burning your chest out sooner than later.

So how do you know when you need to deload for chest? Here are some signs…

• You’re getting weaker on bench press (or any compound exercise for chest)
• You’re not getting the same pump in your chest
• You’re starting to do less and cut your chest workouts short
• Your intensity has gone down for your chest workouts
• You’re just feeling tired, sluggish and burnt out
• If you’re on vacation and just want to do some short, quick workouts

Of course, this applies to any muscle and sometimes you may need to deload for a week or more entirely, not just your chest.

If you’d like to learn more about deload workouts and how to integrate deloading into a program, read my post: 8 Week Bodybuilding Workout Plan for Mass Gains

Deload Chest Workouts

Here are some notes about your deload chest workouts below:

• Most workouts will have a reduced number of sets per exercise than a normal bodybuilding chest workout
• Some workouts will have a reduced number of exercises
• Your rest period between sets for all deload chest workouts below should be 45 seconds to 1 minute
• Each workout should only last 15-20 minutes
• Your goal is to not go all-out; just get a pump
• You’ll typically stick with about 60% of your max on all exercises
• Choose the deload workout below that appeals to you the most!

Deload Chest Workout 1

This is a very simple chest workout that can be done with just a pair of dumbbells. The way it’s designed is so you could even use the same weight for both incline and regular (flat) dumbbell press. Then you can drop down in weight for flyes.

The other advantage is because all exercises are done with dumbbells, you’ll perform all of your exercises in one spot in the gym. You’ll be in and out of the gym in no time.

Deload Chest Workout 2

With this deload chest workout, you’re doing a more traditional bodybuilder workout. It almost looks like a beginner’s workout, hitting the regular bench press first following by incline and some flyes.

Deload Chest Workout 3

This workout is awesome if you’re joints need a break. You’re doing all machine-based exercises and no free weights.

You’ll also start out with flyes instead of presses. This is a great way to pre-exhaust your pecs and will give you a great pump throughout the rest of your workout.

Deload Chest Workout 4

Here you’ll add a 4th exercise (this sort of worked out well since this is ‘deload chest workout 4’). But you’re only doing 2 sets for each exercise, so the volume of work is still fairly low.

And you’re sticking with old school chest exercises. The good ole barbells and dumbbells, which can’t be beaten.

Just be careful not to overtrain here. Remember, this is a deload workout. So if you think you’ll have a tendency to push harder then substitute some or all of these exercises with the machine version.

*This workout also hits multiple angles of your chest. You can learn more about targeting certain areas of your chest muscles in this post: How to Define and Shape Your Chest: Hitting Chest from All Angles

Deload Chest Workout 5

This chest workout is similar to the ‘deload chest workout 3’ you read earlier. You’ll pre-exhaust your chest with some flyes.

The difference here is you’re going to pump out more reps for flyes. But when you move on to presses, which are all free weight exercises, you’ll do fewer sets (and reps).

Deload Schedule for Chest

So that you don’t reach burnout point, you may choose to schedule your deload workouts.

Below is an example of a deload schedule for chest. You’re training everything hard for 6 weeks before you deload.

**You’ll also see the schedule includes a plan for other major muscles.

This schedule is effective because it gives you a chance to deload one muscle at a time. Though there may be times when you want to just deload for an entire week, as mentioned earlier.

• Week 7: Deload chest workout
• Week 8: Deload back workout
• Week 9: Deload leg workout
• Week 10: Deload shoulder workout
• Repeat 6 weeks starting at Week 14

*I still recommend taking your normal supplements during any type of deload training, or even when you’re taking a longer break.

Remember, supplements are about muscle recovery, and that’s what muscle growth is all about.

Here are some of my recommendations for recovery supplements and making sure you’re getting the essentials for muscle growth:

– Animl Pak (potent vitamin/training formula)
– Xtend BCAAs
– TestoFuel (best natural test booster)

These links go to my product review pages on this website (there are links to purchase within those pages)

Deloading VS Taking a Break from the Gym

Are there times when you should take a complete break from the gym? That’s a question only you can answer and often depends on your situation.

Let’s compare deload workouts vs taking time off.

Advantages of Deload Workouts

• Allows you to maintain your gym schedule
• May keep you motivated without burning out
• Doesn’t make you feel like you missed a workout

Disadvantages of Deload Workouts

• Your muscles may need absolute recovery
• Deloading may not give your muscles proper time to heal

Advantages of Taking a Break

• Gives you a complete break, possibly allowing for better recovery
• You may be more refreshed when you go back to the gym
• Your body (and muscles) may need that time off to repair and grow

Disadvantages of Taking a Break

• Getting off your normal gym schedule may cause you to take a longer break than expected
• You may lose motivation by not training

At the end of the day, it depends on you and how disciplined you are. For example, if you’re prone to get too relaxed and taking a week off might turn into 3-4 weeks, deloading may be a better option.

If you have the discipline and rarely miss workouts, taking a week or more off could be extremely good for you and your muscles.

Those are just a couple of examples.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I include a full deload workout plan in my premium training programs (the deload is done at the end of the program). You can check those out below:

• Program for Mass Gains
• Program for Getting Ripped

Excuses Don’t Build Muscle,

Jason

Even with the double dose of pre-workout you just took, you’re laying on the bench press and you’d rather take a nap than push that ‘315’ that’s over your chest! 

Or maybe you’ve been training hard for several months but you’re not making any gains and feeling burnt out.  

This usually means it’s time to back off to build more muscle. But I’m going to show you an awesome alternative to taking time off from the gym; it’s called DELOADING. 

In this post, I’m going to show you:

• How to deload
• When to deload
• Deload workouts for each body part
• Different deload programs you can do

What Is Deloading?

I’m going to explain deloading, but first, let me share a short story…

One day I was in the gym and just wasn’t feeling it. It was more than just being tired or not eating enough the previous day, and it was more than merely having to break through mentally.

I could tell my body was needing a break. Rather than throwing in the towel (love that phrase cause it’s from Rocky!), I shortened my workout and lowered both my weight and intensity; I kinda went through the motions.

I did that for the rest of the week, and you know what? I came back stronger and more focused that following week! And that’s what deloading is. 

Deload workouts are one or more (or a combination) of:

• Workouts that aren’t as intense
• Not going as heavy (using 50-60% of your max)
• Doing less sets
• Short workouts; less overall training volume

How To Deload: Keep It Simple

The first and most crucial thing about deload workouts is this: Don’t overcomplicate it; don’t overthink it.

Let’s go back to my story above. I was getting ready to train chest and biceps. My regular workout routine would have looked like this (for the program I was on at the time):

Standard  Workout:

• Bench Press: 4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
• Incline Bench Press 4 x 8
• Dumbbell Press: 4 x 8 (drop set on final)
• Cable Flyes: 4 x 12-15
• Barbell Curls: 3 x 8
• Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 x 10 (drop set on final)

Now let’s take a look at the deload version of this workout. 

Deload Workout:

• Incline Bench Press: 3 x 8
• Cable Flyes: 3 x 10
• Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 x 10

You can clearly see you’re doing fewer sets and you’re reducing your training volume. You’ll also be doing only 50-60% of your max for every set. So your intensity is going to be much lower. 

When and How Long to Deload

Before we get into the workouts, we need to answer the question: ‘How do you know when to deload?’

It’s a fact that we simply cannot train with all-out intensity 365 days a year. Training hard week-after-week eventually takes a toll on our bodies and our central nervous system. Sometimes you have to back off a little in order to grow. 

Below, I’m going to give you some signs that you need to look for to know if you need to deload. I’m also going to tell you how long to deload for. 

Deload for at least a week if…

• You’ve been on an intense workout program for several weeks
• You’re feeling burnt out and unmotivated 
• You’re not getting stronger (this is if you’re training specifically for strength)
• Your muscle gains have come to a halt

Deload for one day (your current workout) if…

• You did not get enough rest the night before
• You did not eat enough quality calories that day or the day before
• You’re just not feeling 100% that day

**After that, you can determine if you need to continue with deloading workouts longer (you may decide that you need to deload for the whole week).

Whereas I think the term overtraining is overused, I do believe this deload principle can really help you break past that plateau and get to that next level of muscle growth. 

In some cases, deloading may be necessary for this to happen. Deload for a few days, or even a week, and you might be amazed at how strong you are when you go back to training heavy and all-out.

Deload Workouts by Muscle Group

Now I’m going to give you some simple deload workouts for each body part. These workouts are perfect for those days you’re not 100% and feel like you need to back off a little. 

You can still challenge yourself a little but don’t go overboard using super heavyweights The goal here is to just go through the motions and give your body a break. 

Some quick rules to remember for these deload workouts are:

• Only do 2-3 sets per exercise
• No more than 3 exercises for major muscles (chest, back, arms, quads)
• No more than 2 exercises for a smaller muscle (arms, calves, hamstrings)
• Don’t train to failure (it’s ok to get a pump though)

**You could also make the below workouts an entire deload week with a Monday through Friday schedule. 

Deload Chest Workout

Deload Back Workout

Deload Leg Workout

Deload Shoulder Workout

Deload Arm Workout

Deload Week: 4-Day Workout Program

This section is for when you’re planning ahead to do a full deload week. Usually this is done at the end of an intense training program. A full week of deloading will help you recover.

The deload program schedule would ideally be:

• Monday: Workout 1
• Tuesday: Workout 2
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Workout 3
• Friday: Workout 4
• Saturday and Sunday: Rest

Deloading for an entire week also serves as a bridge between programs, or even between sections of a program you’re running (for example, the program may be 14 weeks with a deload week after weeks 6 and 13). 

When deloading for a whole week, I recommend training 3-4 days that week. To do this, you’ll have to double up on some muscles for a couple of workouts. I’ll show you how I do it. 

Below, I’m giving you a 4-day deload week program. Since legs and back will still have their own day, I’ll give you some different exercises than the single workouts I gave you above (though you’ll keep the core compound exercises in there). 

Day 1 Workout: Chest and Biceps

Day 2 Workout: Back

Day 3 Workout: Legs

Day 4 Workout: Shoulders and Triceps

More Deload Training Splits

There’s a variety of ways you can do your deload week. The above is just one example. I also want to briefly give you two more possible training splits for deloading.

3-Day Deload Week

Workout 1: Chest, Shoulders, and Biceps

• Bench Press: 3 x 8
• Seated Dumbbell Press: 3 x 10
• Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 x 10

Workout 2: Legs

• Squats: 3 x 8
• Leg Press: 3 x 10
• Leg Curls: 3 x 10

Workout 3: Back and Triceps

• Barbell Rows: 3 x 8
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 x 10
• Rope Pressdowns: 3 x 10

**This would ideally be Monday – Wednesday – Friday

***This deload week would be perfect to do after my Advanced 5×5 Workout Program for Muscle and Strength Gains

4-Day Deload Week – Lower Body 2x a Week

Workout 1: Upper Body

• Barbell Rows: 3 x 8
• Bench Press: 3 x 8
• Seated Rows: 3 x 10
• Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 x 10

Workout 2: Lower Body

• Squats: 3 x 8
• Leg Press: 3 x 10
• Leg Extensions: 3 x 10
• Seated Calve Raises: 3 x 12

Workout 3: Upper Body

• Seated Overhead Press: 3 x 8
• Reverse Grip Barbell Rows: 3 x 8
• Cable Pressdowns: 3 x 10
• Dumbbell Curls: 3 x 10

Workout 4: Lower Body

• Deadlifts: 3 x 8
• Front Squats: 3 x 10
• Leg Curls: 3 x 10
• Standing Calve Raises: 3 x 12

**Ideally be 2 days on, 1-2 days off. 

**If you’re ready to start a PREMIUM TRAINING PROGRAM, then click here for my 12-week muscle mass and strength training program.

Deloading VS Taking Time Off

Some will say it’s good to take a few days or even an entire week off from the gym. That may be true to an extent but I personally don’t like taking more than a couple of days off.

There are two problems with taking time off from the gym:

1. You break your daily routine
2. It’s easier to lose motivation

***My premium 12-week programs all have a specific deload workout at the end of them. You can check those out below:

Hardcore Muscle Building Program
Lean Muscle Building Program

I would rather see you deload that week. This way your routine doesn’t get screwed up and you’re still in the gym burning calories. Because even if you took time away from lifting weights, you don’t want to do nothing for an entire week. 

So if it’s that time for you when you feel you need to back off, choose one of the many deload workouts I gave you, or use one of the deload programs for a week.

When your deload week is up, you’ll come back strong and ready the following week!

Train with Passion,

Jason