Not everyone needs to deload. It’s most beneficial for people who train consistently without skipping sessions. “Before you deload, you’ve got to load,” says Stafford. “You’ve got to make sure that your training is intense enough and long enough to warrant a deload.”
Stafford recommends a deload week for people who are training more than four times a week and with more than two years of gym experience. Beginners might not benefit as much from a deload week, because often they’re still learning the technique of certain lifts and therefore keeping the loads fairly light.
If you often skip sessions in favor of sleeping late, or take a week off here and there anyway, you probably don’t need to deload. But if you’re consistently following a progressive overload training plan that involves training more days per week than you rest, deloading could be a good idea.