Periodization is a much talked about topic. It is also one that appears to be confusing to many individuals mainly because of the different opinions as to how it should be used and for what purpose. For example it is now common to find periodization schemes for strength development. Technically this is erroneous since you cannot apply a periodization scheme to a physical quality. You can only use periodization in regard to training.
For example, it has been well established that periodizing your workouts over the year is the most effective way to make the best gains in strength and muscle mass. Some of the plans prescribed for bodybuilders, powerlifters and athletes, however, are quite intense and may lead to injury. Many of them also appeared to be backwards in their approach.
One such popular scheme is to start with a “power” phase in which you do 2-4 RM and then move on to a strength phase (6-9 RM) and then to a hypertrophy or mass phase (10-15 RM). As can be seen, this is a very intense program right from the beginning that leaves little room for recovery and can easily lead to soreness, injury and over-training.
To avoid these negative effects and to have even greater gains in strength and/or muscle mass, I have developed a 6-stage periodization scheme that has proven to be very effective for muscle gains, is less stressful on the body and does not lead to injury or over-training. It starts with a beginner in a progression through which he or she must move. Advanced or intermediate bodybuilders usually start with phase two and stay on it for a shorter period of time.
I. Familiarization Stage
This stage, also known as the accustomization phase, is used to learn and become familiar with the exercises and the amount of weight or resistance that will be used for each exercise. You start off with 4-5 repetitions of each exercise using relatively light weight with gradual increases in the repetitions in each session. You increase the intensity of the workout until you reach 20 or slightly more than 20, maximal repetitions (RM). This stage usually lasts 6 weeks. If you reach 20 RM very quickly in some exercises, you can then increase the resistance but only for those exercises so that you will again be doing 15 or so maximum repetitions.
II. Endurance and Strength Phase
In this phase, the intensity increases, together with volume, in a to 15-20 or more RM routine. When you easily go over 20 maximal repetitions, you increase the resistance which brings you back down to approximately the 15 RM range and you then gradually build up to the 20 RM or more range once again. In this stage, which usually lasts 6-12 weeks, you develop the muscle capillary system and better prepare the muscles for more intense work, which is introduced in the next phase. Because of the relatively high number of exercises done, only one set per exercise is executed and you do a total body workout three times per week. In rare cases, you may do 2 sets and then only for muscles or muscle groups that are severely lagging behind in development.
III. Strength and Mass
In this stage, you work on developing greater amounts of strength, which is the basis for high-intensity exercises which are needed for greater muscle mass and overall development of the muscles. However, rather than going for pure strength at this time, you should still use repetitions in a range that also produces some muscle hypertrophy (increase in muscle mass). In this stage, you do 8-12 RM for approximately 6-8 weeks. You should see substantial gains in strength and mass at the completion of this phase. Because you will be doing 2 or more sets of many exercises, a split routine is used to prevent over-training.
IV. Pure Strength
This stage is used to develop even greater strength, but without additional significant increases in muscle hypertrophy. The key is to increase the ability of the muscles to handle greater weights so that your future workouts can be even more intense in order to develop even greater mass. In this stage, you do 2-4 RM for approximately 6 weeks. You do 3-4 sets of most exercises.
V. Muscle Hypertrophy (Mass)
This is the major mass-producing phase. You do 6-9 maximum repetitions for 3-6 sets. This phase lasts anywhere from 8-12 weeks.
VI. Perfection
This phase is devoted to developing specificity of movements in different muscles or it can be used to develop greater definition and muscle mass. However, it is not a total body workout, it is highly specialized. Exercises are devoted to mainly those areas that are lagging in development while maintaining muscle development of body parts at or close to their peak up to the time of competition. In this stage, you do varied numbers of repetitions depending upon the objective. For example, if greater definition is needed of certain muscles, then you should do 10-15 RM for these muscles. Some muscles may need additional mass, thus, exercises and routines from Phase V would be continued for those muscles. If simply maintaining certain muscles is needed, then you would do only a couple of sets of 6-9 or 8-12 repetitions.
The exact numbers of repetitions and sets will vary depending upon your abilities, how fast you develop and how much you are capable of developing. Each of you is a unique individual and requires an individual training program. Thus, the numbers do not fit everyone. You must experiment to find out not only which exercises but which routines in each of these phases work best for you.