Thread: periodization

What are your goals?

a lot of hypertrophy with some strength

What would work better than doing 3 weeks in one rep range than 3 in another and so on so forth would be to do a different range each week. I prefer non-linear (i.e. relative intensity alternates rather than progress exponentially) because not only does it keep things fresh and exciting for you, the lifter, but it gives your muscles extra shock and allows your CNS to gradually adapt to heavy loads. I never liked the idea of starting at lower intensities and gradually building up to higher; that means by the end you'd be doing purely high intensity lifts, which is very taxing on your CNS.

How about something like this...mind you, I'll just dish this out randomly, but it'll show you how to mix it up to get a variety of stimulation for your muscles while staying primarily in your applicable rep range (it's good to mix in other rep ranges, even if your goal is hypertrophy..I would, however, incorporate more strength work than endurance, as its benefits are more useful for hypertrophy)...

Week 1 - 3 x 10
Week 2 - 3 x 6
Week 3 - 5 x 5
Week 4 - 3 x 8
Week 5 - 4 x 12
Week 6 - 3 x 7
Week 7 - 4 x 4
Week 8 - 3 x 8
Week 9 - 3 x 3

So, let's breakdown what you're getting out of this...

2 - high volume/low intensity (3 x 10; 4 x 12)
1 - high volume/high intensity (5 x 5)
1 - moderate volume/high intensity (4 x 4)
1 - low volume/high intensity (3 x 3)
1 - low volume/moderate to high intensity (3 x 6)
3 - low volume/moderate intensity (3 x 8; 3 x 7; 3 x 8)

So, 4 out of 9 weeks are directly in the hypertrophy-specific rep range -- basically 50% of your program. Even 3 x 10 is basically the same. Nevertheless, this variety will do your body good. The mixture of heavy workouts is good, too; 3 x 3 is a world of difference from 5 x 5.