Deload week — do you maintain calories or drop into a cut?

Bulking phase, taking a deload week next week (volume cut by ~50%, weights by ~30%). My usual surplus is +300 cal. Some people say keep eating the surplus through deload because recovery is when growth happens. Others say drop to maintenance since you're not training as hard.

What do you actually do? Asking specifically for bulks, not cuts.

Maintenance during deload, then resume surplus when you ramp volume back up. The recovery argument has some truth but a +300 surplus during a half-volume week is just leaning into fat gain, not muscle gain. Your tissue isn't suddenly going to use more substrate when you're training less.

Protein stays high either way (1g/lb minimum). It's the carbs and fat that come down a bit.

Counter — I keep my surplus through deload and it's never noticeably hurt my body comp. The deload is short (1 week) and the recovery + glycogen restoration benefits during deload are real. Dropping to maintenance is fine but I don't think it's necessary.

Both approaches are defensible. The literature doesn't really resolve this — most deload research focuses on training variables, not nutrition. Practical guidance:

• If you're early in a bulk and lean, keep the surplus. Recovery benefits likely outweigh marginal fat gain.
• If you're late in a bulk and getting fluffier, drop to maintenance during deload. You don't need more substrate, you need a small reset.

Either way, protein stays at bulk-phase levels.

I split the difference — drop +300 surplus to +100 surplus during deload. Not maintenance, not full surplus. Works for me, mileage may vary.

Eat the surplus. It's a week. Worrying about 2,100 extra calories across a deload week is how you waste mental energy that should go into the next training block.

@DrMacro that's a good framing. I'm probably 7-8 weeks into a bulk and starting to soften, so based on that logic I'll drop to maintenance for the deload week. Thanks.