Mastering Periodization Techniques In Your Training

A body building periodization program should optimally be divided into several distinct cycles

. The longest of these cycles is referred to as a macrocycle. Macrocycles usually span for a period of maximum one year. Advanced body builders can however use shorter macrocycles, for instance having two macrocycles each year for a double periodization program. Double periodization programs are ideal for those body builders who either cannot commit and avail themselves for a year-round training program or those body builders who want a greater variety in their specialized training programs.

A body building training year should ideally be broken into 2-6 short training cycles, called mesocycles. A mesocycles should therefore span only for several weeks. A mesocycles must emphasize on a specific training goal such as amplifying muscle size, building on muscular endurance, loosing body fat etc. The mesocycles involves a time specific gradual growth which in turn calls for a progressive increase in training intensity. The aim of periodization programs is to peak at every end of a mesocycle. Strength trainers for example, may gauge the success of the mesocycles by determining the amount of training weight they can lifted and comparing it with the weight they could lift before the mesocycles took off.

After completion of each mesocycle, the body builder allows a short period of about one or two weeks to pass as he or she takes arrest from the training program. The rest is very important since it allows the body to recover, rejuvenate and recuperate fully before initiating the next mesocycle. However, the body builder must also ensure that this rest duration does not last for more than four weeks at the very maximum. Any period beyond that will make the body builder experience an effect called de-training effect, where cumulative gains of a training program are lost and you have to start again from square zero, when you eventually get back to the gym.

During the resting phase a body builder should only execute very light training, or adopt a completely different physical activity like as golf, swimming, tennis or such, ensuring that the activity does tax the body's energy systems or even the central nervous system in a similar way the body building workouts do.

Again, periodization gets even more basic that the mesocycle. Each of the determined mesocycles is further divided into weekly microcycles. The microcycles are the smallest units of a periodization program and around which a body builder must plan the day-to-day training workouts. These are evaluated and planned for in weekly basis, setting weekly goal that add up to the complete picture of a mesocycle, before this too accumulate into the macrocycle.

The body building fraternity has many variations of periodization programs. The variations accrue due to different goals, experience and personal lifestyle of each body builder. But for as long as the basic principle outlined above is followed than you too can master your own periodization program that will take you to the echelon of success.

by: Dane Fletcher

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