Periodization Explained Crafting the Ultimate Workout Plan
Apr 26, 2024
Rob Maxwell
Unlock the secret to maximizing your fitness potential and steering clear of the dreaded plateau with me, Rob Maxwell, your guide through the intricate landscape of periodization in exercise planning. Discover how this strategic approach can transform your training, whether you're an elite athlete or a fitness enthusiast. With a focus on the stress adaptation syndrome cycle, I'll illustrate why periodization isn't just a fancy term but a crucial tool for avoiding burnout and boosting performance. You'll gain insight into the classical linear method's structured intensity progression and the undulating approach's varied weekly intensities, learning which style might best suit your unique training demands.
Ready to elevate your strength training game? The second part of our discussion zeroes in on the tangible benefits of methodically increasing weight loads. I'll share how a workout card is more than just a tracker—it's a roadmap to success that aligns with the Selye stress adaptation model. Whether you opt for a linear climb or prefer the diversity of a nonlinear routine, the emphasis remains on the power of a well-crafted plan. By the end of our conversation, you'll be well-equipped to either give periodization a whirl in your own regimen or fully appreciate the thoughtfully structured workouts your gym provides. And let's tip our hats to the local businesses that support our fitness journeys and the communities they enrich.
Unlock the secret to maximizing your fitness potential and steering clear of the dreaded plateau with me, Rob Maxwell, your guide through the intricate landscape of periodization in exercise planning. Discover how this strategic approach can transform your training, whether you're an elite athlete or a fitness enthusiast. With a focus on the stress adaptation syndrome cycle, I'll illustrate why periodization isn't just a fancy term but a crucial tool for avoiding burnout and boosting performance. You'll gain insight into the classical linear method's structured intensity progression and the undulating approach's varied weekly intensities, learning which style might best suit your unique training demands.
Ready to elevate your strength training game? The second part of our discussion zeroes in on the tangible benefits of methodically increasing weight loads. I'll share how a workout card is more than just a tracker—it's a roadmap to success that aligns with the Selye stress adaptation model. Whether you opt for a linear climb or prefer the diversity of a nonlinear routine, the emphasis remains on the power of a well-crafted plan. By the end of our conversation, you'll be well-equipped to either give periodization a whirl in your own regimen or fully appreciate the thoughtfully structured workouts your gym provides. And let's tip our hats to the local businesses that support our fitness journeys and the communities they enrich.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to. There is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell, I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to give you the real deal, to give you the science behind things, so you know what you really should be doing and what you shouldn't be doing. Today I'm going to talk about periodization in exercise planning. Now I want you all to hang in there and give this a listen. Sometimes periodization is thought to be like really scientific and hardcore exercise programs, and it's really not. So hang in there, because this is going to be applicable for everybody. So before I get into that, let me thank our wonderful and first sponsors of this podcast, jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. They have been committed to provide the highest level of customer service in home selling and have the sales and the reviews to absolutely back it up. Give them a shout if you need any help in the real estate world. 386-451-2412. 1, 2, 4, 1, 2. So let's get into periodization, all right.
Speaker 1:
So periodization to give you a little history comes out of two different areas, separate areas. First you have some of the Russian and German influence with the Olympic athletes way, way back in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s. It comes kind of from there. Essentially they were kicking our butts in almost every athletic endeavor and, you know, we kind of looked into what they're doing and regardless of any suspicions of anything else, they basically found out that they were training smarter than us. So that was one thing. It also comes out of the stress cycle developed by Hans Selye, a psychiatrist, a psychologist In that realm. He dealt with a lot of stress, different disorders. We use the Cellulite stress adaptation model in almost everything. It almost comes out of that as well. Periodization has a good athletic background and it has a psychological background as well, and really quick. The stress adaptation syndrome cycle says that there is an alarm stage, there is a reaction stage of sorts, and then there is a going backwards stage, exhaustion stage. So we know that's what happens with stress, meaning first we're stimulated and then we either adapt to it or we don't. And if there's too much stress and not enough adaption we go into exhaustion. And so periodization is a way for that not to happen.
Speaker 1:
So let's get into what are the two main types. The first type is called classical or linear periodization and essentially it's set up just as it sounds linear. Everything follows a straight path. The intensity and in this case the intensity is the load. We're talking about strength training here. Intensity is the load gets progressively harder as you get closer and closer to peak and the plan is built in a way to where you can do that step by step.
Speaker 1:
In classical linear periodization there is an overall major cycle called a macro cycle and that means that six months or even a year is planned out in advance. Within that giant macro cycle you have mesocycles, and mesocycles are typically like a month in duration and then finally, within the mesocycle, you have the microcycles, and microcycles come down to the week and not the actual workout day itself. So the whole way classical linear periodization is built is everything gets harder as you go. So in the classical model, for example, let's just take a three-month macro cycle for simplicity's sake, three-month macro cycle. So that means in the three-month macro cycle you're going to have three mesocycles, each a month long. You would start with higher reps and lower loads the first month. The next month you would progress to mesocycle number two and it would be more moderate repetitions, maybe say in the 10 to 12 range, with higher loads than the previous month, and then finally, in the last month and some people will call it the peak month there will be low repetitions and heavy loads. This way the body is following linear progression of starting with lighter weight I don't want to say easier, because higher reps can definitely be harder but it's slightly less taxing on the joints and muscles themselves and each month builds. Now that's great for many sports. It's great when you have to plan workouts for like an entire team. The drawbacks to it is that you can't plan for everything. So let's say, an athlete or a trainee is supposed to be on a certain mesocycle but they got injured so they fall off. You have to kind of start over again, so they're not going to be where everybody else is. So there's some limitations to it, but it's good. They're all good. I'm going to keep this short. I'm going to explain why they're all good.
Speaker 1:
The next style of periodization is called nonlinear, undulating periodization. Now they're called either one, nonlinear or undulating, undulating periodization. Now they're called either one, nonlinear or undulating. What that means is that we don't have the macro cycle, meso cycle, micro cycle so much. Instead, within the week's time frame, all of those light, medium and heavies are done. They're just done on different days. That's nonlinear periodization. So, for example, monday might be a light day, wednesday might be a medium day and Friday might be a heavy day if you're working, say, full body, three days a week, just for simplicity's sake.
Speaker 1:
So that's got its advantages in ways. Number one it's good for people to get bored easy, because every time they work out they're doing a slightly different stimulus. Number two you can jump in at any time of year and do that and you can basically just repeat that, with slight changes, the next month. The downside is there's not as much planning and there's not as much foundation work that can be laid if you're totally doing it that way. And then, finally, this one's kind of like I don't know a little crazy, but I get the gist of it. I just don't think we need to name it anything, but it's unstructured, nonlinear, undulating periodization. Basically, what that means is it's almost like chaos. You're not really doing the same thing when you go work out. Every time you work out you're using slightly different rep ranges, slightly different set numbers, different loads and whatnot. Now the crazy part is that still showed that it worked. Now here's what we know All forms of periodization, and when we're talking about all technical forms, I'm talking about the classic and the nonlinear, not really the unstructured, because that's just too hard to follow and really study.
Speaker 1:
But what they found was classic periodization and nonlinear periodization, the two major types. Both showed the Awesome results compared to somebody who doesn't follow a plan, a building plan. So it showed that the people, persons, continue to make progress without getting hurt, and that's what's key. So here is the long and short of this message. It is important to follow a build-up plan like that.
Speaker 1:
Now, when people are coming for personal training, they're typically on full body workouts and we're on efficient style workouts and we're still using a form of periodization. So sometimes people will say, well, you know, how come we're not going up here? Or how come like we're going up when I reach 20? Well, because it's planned out and I just said 20 as an example. Some people have different higher limits, some people have different limits. That's why you get training to figure out what is ideal for you, and we figure that out after a little while, after assessment, and we've worked with you for a little bit. So we have different like high ends, and when somebody reaches that in good form what we know to be good form then we move up. So that's a form of periodization, that's a way of going.
Speaker 1:
We're not just going to like go by how we feel all the time. Now that's got its pluses for sure. I mean, there's no doubt that you're going to have better days, you're going to have worse days and some days you feel like pushing more. All that is taken into consideration, I'm a big fan of I don't want to say loose planning, because actually I love to plan, I love to write workout plans. It's one of my favorite things to do and it's not loose, it's pretty strict and tight actually. But I also believe that we need to be a little bit fair when it comes to following it. We don't have to always follow it exactly to a T, but overall I absolutely believe that we should follow it.
Speaker 1:
You know, I've said it a few times on this podcast when I've developed any kind of like overuse injury of any kind, which again, I don't want to make out to be the worst thing in the world. I think sometimes people are too worried about those things and it's like look, a little bit of tendonitis is going to heal but, like a deconditioned arthritic body, is going to be a lot harder to heal. I'll take an ache and pain here and there over the more serious things that happen when we don't strength train. But those things happen and they could happen and they're annoying, but anytime they happen it's my fault because I push myself harder than I can ever push any of you and for those of you that know me, I'm pretty good at pushing people. I push myself hard and when I'm not following my plan like when I just be an idiot and decide I'm going to try this and it's kind of like off the plan that's usually when I get myself into trouble.
Speaker 1:
But when I look at my sheet, my workout card, and I go, oh so last time on my final set I did six reps at I don't know, 160 pounds, then my attempt today is going to be 165. Like that's planning pounds. Then my attempt today is going to be 165. That's planning. When I do that I'm making myself stronger and I'm significantly reducing the risk of getting injured and I'm significantly reducing the risk of getting overtrained.
Speaker 1:
That is the beauty of periodization because, remember, in the opening I talked about cell yeast stress adaptation syndrome model, which is basically. I talked about cell yeast stress adaptation syndrome model, which is basically overtraining. In a nutshell, if we do too much too soon, or emotionally, it's like a nervous breakdown. Essentially they're the same thing. It's because we were trying to take on too much stress than our body was adapted to. All right. So they both work, and with the physical world it's a little bit easier to keep track of what we're doing than maybe it is our outside stresses, all right. So give periodization a shot or, at the very least, when you come to the gym, know that we've already planned it out for you and we follow more of a linear plan, meaning that we increase the weight and decrease the reps as we progress with you. That works really well. Sometimes we do nonlinear with people I mean, I have done that with people but just know there is a method to the madness when we train. You See that, see how I threw that in. That was pretty impressive.
Speaker 1:
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