Periodization for All!

Periodization for All!

 

   The secret behind any good exercise program is adherence. If you stick with a program of exercise and diet for 90 days you will probably see some very good results. Lose focus and forget what you are doing for a few days within that 90 and you will probably have trouble adhering to the rest of the 90 days. It's just basic behavior modification. Make yourself stick to ANYTHING for 90 days and will become a habit.

 

    Periodization, the concept of altering your workout to achieve gains and resist injury, is one of the safest and most effective ways to keep getting healthier. Although the concept is generally applied to strength and endurance conditioning, as heavily researched by Tudor Bompa, it has also been applied more recently to nutrition for sport and exercise performance by Bob Seebohar. I will review the basics.

  Defintions: Repetitions - the number of times a given exercise is performed.

Sets - Performing an exercise for given number of repetitions.

 

For a 13 week program of strength exercise:

1. Muscular Endurance -Begin with weights that you can handle for about 15 to 20 repetitions for the 5 major muscle groups. Make this challenging for 4-5 weeks by finding what you can do for ONLY 15 repetitions per exercise for 2 or 3 sets, 2-3 times a week.

 

2. Muscle Hypertrophy - Next move to about the same exercise for 4-6 weeks at a higher weight that you can only handle for 8-12 repetitions for 3-4 sets per exercise. The weight you can lift 8 times in the first week you should be able to lift for 10 or 12 in the second or third week of this phase. Be safe and gradually increase resistance.

  

3. Power - For the most challenging phase spend 3-4 weeks doing a weight that you can only lift for 5 or 6 repetitions of 2-4 sets 2 or 3 times a week. This phase requires more recovery between sets and between days when you lift. It is also the most taxing on soft tissue. I personally only lift this phase for 2 weeks at a time; more than that I feel an uncomfortable tightness in the joints.

 

4. The transition phase - This phase should last 1-2 weeks. At this phase I like to find a balance between the first 2 phases; some exercise I lift for 12, some I lift for 15. At any point they are meant to be done for a lighter over-all workload. This allows the joints and muscles to adapt to the stresses they have been subjected to for the last 12 weeks. Your body is able to rest, a key component to exercise, and become more efficient for the next round of increased workload.

 

This has been an overview of the basics of and a quick intro into periodization principles. When beginning an exercise program please make sure you are cleared by your physician first.

 

A quick note - Try to keep your workouts to about an hour. Studies have shown increased dropout rates for workout plans that require more than an hour.

 

Good luck, have fun, and be healthy.