Plan a deload week: enter your normal load, sets, reps and sessions to get lighter deload targets and volume, or check a deload you already planned.
How the Deload Week Calculator Works
Planning mode independently reduces external load, set count, rep count, and weekly frequency before calculating the combined session and weekly volume effect. Measuring mode compares a proposed deload prescription directly with the normal week, including zero sessions when the plan is a complete training cessation.
Formula or method: deload value = normal value x (1 - reduction / 100); session volume = load x sets x reps; weekly volume = session volume x sessions
Choose the Inputs That Match Your Goal
Enter one exercise's normal load and whole training counts. In planning mode, choose whether to reduce load, volume, or both; only the relevant percentages appear. Sets, reps, and sessions are rounded to practical whole values with a minimum of one. Measuring mode instead asks for the proposed deload prescription and allows zero weekly sessions. Load rounding applies after the selected planning reductions; use an increment that retains a positive working load. An increase is labeled as an increase, rather than a negative reduction.
| Measure | Normal week | Deload week | Realized change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load | 100 kg | 90 kg | 10% lower |
| Sets x reps | 5 x 5 | 3 x 5 | Whole-count targets |
| Session volume | 2,500 kg | 1,350 kg | 46% lower |
| Sessions | 3 | 3 | No frequency change |
| Weekly volume | 7,500 kg | 4,050 kg | 46% lower |
Read the Result in Context
The weekly deload volume and realized percentage reduction lead. The breakdown then compares session volume, weekly volume, external load, and the rounded prescription. Planning mode also retains raw set, rep, and frequency targets so the effect of whole-count rounding is explicit.
Worked Example
A normal 100 kg prescription of 5 sets by 5 reps across three sessions produces 7,500 kg of weekly external volume. Reducing load by 10% and sets by 40% produces 90 kg for 3 sets of 5, or 4,050 kg weekly: a realized 46% reduction.
Assumptions and Practical Limits
External volume load is a bookkeeping measure, not a direct measure of fatigue or adaptation. The result uses kg·reps or lb·reps to identify load multiplied by repetition count, with sets and weekly sessions included as applicable. The calculator does not select a universally correct deload; it exposes how editable choices combine. It also does not infer bodyweight resistance, machine leverage, exercise difficulty, or changes in effort.
Sources
Lee Bell and colleagues, You Can't Shoot Another Bullet Until You've Reloaded the Gun: Coaches' Perceptions, Practices and Experiences of Deloading in Strength and Physique Sports.
Stina Seppanen and Keijo Hakkinen, Step vs. Two-Phase Gradual Volume Reduction Tapering Protocols in Strength Training.
