ExRx.net

So, I was talking to this guy I know in the gym who was about the same size as me 1 year ago when I first started talking to him. Since then, he has made much greater gains in both strength and size than I have. I feel like I have been working out pretty hard with a three way split routine 4-5 times per week. Since he has made so much more progress than I have, I assumed he was living in the gym. When I asked him what he had been doing, I was surprised to find out that he just does only three 1-hour full body sessions each week. He said the secret was using proper "peroidization". I have heard of periodization, but I always just kind of wrote it off as a trendy buzz- word that is just a fancy way of saying that you need to change your routine every month or two to avoid plateaus.

Since then, I have tried to research it on the net, but all I can find are short articles about Bompa, the Russian olympic training program and a brief summary that still basically sounds like changing routines periodically. It can't possibly be that simple. I also noticed that there are several 600 page books in the EXRX store about periodization, and I can't help but think that something so seemingly simple as a method of planning out workout routines could possibly be so complicated.

Does anyone have a link to an article that gives an abbreviated explanation of periodization that could be read in less than an hour, but also gives detailed enough information to help me to start to implement a periodized workout routine?

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Periodization.html
http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Powe ... grams.html

This might help. Periodization is about varrying reps and loading, not changing exercises or routines. You can use periodization with both full-body and split routines.

Ok, the way I worded it may have been misleading, “changing your routine” does sound like we are changing exercises rather than just volume and intensity. I still think I was basically periodizing before I looked up the meaning of the word. Right now, for instance, I am working on strength and power.

I have a split routine and I workout 4 times per week in the 5-8 rep range 2 sets and a warm-up per lift with a push and a pull routine. Monday/Tuesday, I use moderate weights and focus on lifting the weight as quickly, and explosively as possible. On Thursday/Friday I up the intensity to as much weight as I can lift with proper form 5-8 times at whatever speed comes naturally. I will continue to increase the intensity as much as possible for 6 weeks. Next, I will take two weeks to only go to the gym twice a week using a moderate intensity for only one set per lift.

Once I am confident that my muscles have fully recovered, I will increase the volume to the 8-12 rep range for size & endurance, and concentrate on slow, controlled movements on Monday/Tuesday rather than speed. I will do this, gradually increasing the volume over 6 weeks to 12-16 reps, do light workouts for two weeks, make some changes in my routine and start over again. I think I am already peroidizing for the most part, but I’m sure that if I knew more about the process, I could do things more efficiently like my friend at the gym.

By push/pull do you mean pressing on Mon and Thu, and Pulling on Tue and Fri. If so when are you training your legs? If you post your routine, we can get a better idea where you might want to make adjustments.

Also, keep in mind that even on the exact same program of exercise, nutrition and rest, no two people are going to progress at exactly the same rate.

You are certainly doing a form of periodizing. And yes, it can also mean chaning out exercises. Very, very basically, it involves different blocks focusing on different processes, put together to peak an athlete for their desired activity. Lots of various models around, Bompa's being one of the most common Referring to Bompa's models, you will start with an Adaptation or Prepearation phase, generally more exercises, 1-3 sets, higher rep ranges (10-15), done at a quick pace and being used basically for the athlete to adapt to the exercise and build up work capacity. Then comes the other phases, the two most common for bodybuilders being a strength build up (MS), and hypertrophy (H) . A power athlete would encorporate a P or Power phase. Matt gave some references, also, go to bodybuilding.com, in their articles section they have about 15 articles dealing with peridization. Also, for a better basic understanding, see Tudor O Bompa's books "Serious Strength Training" which focus's in on periodization for bodybuilding and "Periodization Training for Sport's" which is geared to athletes. The first couple of chapters give the basics, and don't take long to read, the rest gets more into specifics. You should be able to find copies in any well stocked library.
All that being said, some of the current coaches have left the traditional models of periodization and are using more of a conjugate approach, where rather than trying to acheive one specific goal in a given period of time, you actually work towards all goals in a specific time period. You may work for speed and power one session, max effort (strength) in another, and GPP/hypertrophy in yet another session, but that's a different subject altogether.
Tim

Push- Bench press, squats, overhead press, weighted dips, calf raises, skull crushers.

pull- dead lifts, power cleans, bent over rows, stiff leg dead lift, weighted pull-ups, curls.

I start every workout with with a 5 minute warm-up on a heavy bag, stretch, and core warm up (planks, supermans, bridges). I do push on Monday, pull on Tuesday, push on Thursday, pull on Friday. I do a half-hour swim on Wednesday, and a 20 minute interval session sometime during the weekend. I will replace power cleans with standing rows when I start my size and endurance cycle.

TimD, Thanks for responding as well, I'll check for those books next time I'm at the library.