Explaining the Periodization Model

 

When you saw the progression model you may have thought “Is this really necessary? Can’t I lift the same weight every time and try to add reps?”

Well, it’s not necessary. But it’s more effective.

In a study by Rhea et al. two group of people trained their bench press and leg press for 12 weeks - one group using a non-periodized progression model and the other an undulating periodized program.

 

Guess what happened?

 

The periodized group made twice the gains even if training volume and average intensity was the same!

Here are the details:

The non-periodized group trained each movement with the same number of sets and reps three times per week. They did 3x8 three times per week for 4 weeks, then 3×6 three times per week for 4 weeks, and then 3×4 three times per week for 4 weeks.

Their Bench Press increased by 14% and their Leg Press by 25% on average.

The undulating periodization group changed the weight and rep range every time they trained. They did 3×8 for each movement one day, 3×6 the next training day, and 3×4 the last training day of each week.  They continued with that pattern for the 12 weeks of the study.

Their Bench Press increased by 28% and their Leg press by 55% on average.

Now, the physiological explanation for why this happened is that periodizing your training reduced the repeated bout effect. Basically, by changing the rep range often your muscles respond more strongly to the training stimulus because it’s new every time.

But this simple explanation cannot fully account for such a big difference in the progress made by the two groups. The advantage of periodization is most likely psychological.

Doing the same workout over and over again becomes boring and stressful.

Imagine that for the next 6 months you had to train the same way every workout - 3 sets of 6. No matter how you felt, you would go in the gym and push as hard as you can to add weight to those 3 sets of 6.

At some point you’d feel mentally exhausted. For example, after a personal record that took a lot of effort you would doubt that you can surpass your previous performance.

Periodizing your training allows you to get excited for each one of your workouts. You’re never doing the same thing and you can always progress in some way.  

By decreasing the number of reps you do you can lift more weight and that makes you excited.  By going back to a higher number of reps, you get excited to see if you can lift more than last month.

Enjoyment and novelty can impact training performance.  If your workout routine seems fresh and challenging, it will seem easier and you’re going to put more effort into it.

In research, progression models that include periodization almost always outperform non-periodized programs. Also, all elite natural powerlifters and bodybuilders use some form of periodization in their training.

 

Why do we Need Deloads?

 

The deload week is a planned decrease in training volume and intensity with the purpose of improving recovery. It allows the fatigue you accumulate over a few weeks of training to dissipate so you can start a fresh training cycle.

 

Each workout you do does two things:

1. It stimulates your muscles to grow
   and
2. It creates fatigue

 

Because you train often, the fatigue created by a workout is not allowed to dissipate completely before you do another one. So over the course of a few weeks of training, you slowly accumulate fatigue. And if you let it get too high, it will hurt your performance.

It’s like working a demanding job from Monday to Friday.

Let’s say you go to work on Monday morning with your mental fatigue at 0%. You work all day and when you get home at night your mental fatigue is at 60%.

Luckily if you have a nice dinner, watch a good movie and get a good night’s sleep that mental fatigue goes back down. But not back to 0%. It’s not enough. You did not have enough rest.

Tuesday morning you still have some residual mental fatigue left from Monday. You start your day at 10% fatigue instead of 0%.

After each day of work you accumulate more and more mental fatigue. Tuesday you come home at 70%. Wednesday at 80%. Thursday at 90%. And Friday you come home exhausted at 100% mental fatigue and swear to God you could not work another hour!

But what if you were stubborn and on Saturday morning you wanted to work some more? Would you have good performance? No! You’d be tired and you’d have a very difficult time concentrating.

What you need is leisure time. The weekend is there to allow that mental fatigue to go back down to 0%. Leisure time helps you get ready for another week of productive work.

 

That’s exactly how deloads work as well.

 

They allow the fatigue you accumulate over a few weeks of training to dissipate so you can start another string of productive workouts. In research the role of deloads is explained using the fitness-fatigue model. If you want to learn the technical details and the scientific explanation, check out this post of mine.

Here’s a lesson I learned the hard way:

If you don’t take planned deloads you will be forced to deload anyway in the form of a string of awful workouts.

At some point the fatigue accumulated over a few weeks of training catches up with you and your strength inexplicably goes down.

Don’t view deloads as wasted time. They are “preparation weeks” that guarantee a productive training cycle. Actually, after a deload your strength is usually higher because fatigue no longer masks your true potential.  

 

Summary

• Periodized models are better than non-periodized models for both hypertrophy and strength.
• The main benefit of changing the rep range within the week is psychological. Excitement and novelty make you enjoy your training more which makes you put more effort into it.
  Physiologically, changing the rep range within the week helps reduce the repeated bout effect making your muscles more sensitive to a training stimulus.
• Deloads allow the fatigue you accumulate over a few weeks of training to dissipate so you can start a fresh training cycle.
• If you don’t take planned deloads you will be forced to deload anyway in the form of a string of awful workouts.