Periodization Training: A Body Building Perspective

If you divide your yearly training into phases or cycles, you'll maintain a better mental outlook, more motivation and your body will also respond better physiologically.

The first phase of training is the one that builds muscle size and pre-orients your muscles to be geared up (condition-wise) to go for strength and power which will theoretically allow you to even add more muscle size. Plus, you will condition your tendons and joints to handle the stresses of heavier weights to come.

It is recommended that you do 6-15 reps per set for size with the great majority of reps falling somewhere from 8-12 reps. Try 3-4 heavier "work" sets after a systemic warm-up plus 2-3 warm-up weight sets per exercise. As you might note, so far this sounds pretty much like a standard common sense bodybuilding workout.

The strength and power phases are next. This will be another 8-week cycle. To develop strength and power, the greatest athletes in the world generally work with 2-6 reps. Since we are geared to bodybuilders we adjust this slightly and in this phase, we advocate 4 - 5 sets of 5 - 7 reps. Here is how this cycle works. We'll use our previous example for the Bench Press where you ended Phase 1 at 235 for 10 reps. Do an active system warm-up, then with weights 95 x 10 and 155 for 10. On your final warm up set do 205 for 6.

Then go to your "target weight" which is actually only 10-lbs. above the weight you ended up at sets of 10 in your first phase. So, start at 245-lbs. x 3 sets of 5-6 reps. You are leaving yourself some extra so you continue to gain positively all the way through the cycle.

In physics, work is a measure of force and distance. (w = f x d). Power means doing a specified amount of work per unit time. If you can move mass M over distance D in 10 seconds and then (after training) move the same mass M the same distance D, but do it in 5 seconds, you are twice as powerful!

Our experience has been to spend a maximum of four weeks in the power phase and to use 2 -3 reps in benches and deadlifts, 3 - 4 reps in the squats and bent-over rows, and 5 - 6 reps for all other exercises. Again, follow your 2-3 warm-ups, and 3 power work sets and then do a down set of 10 reps with about 70% of your target weight, just as you did in the strength phase.

Phase 4 is the rest cycle, a must for great results and essential for building strength and lean mass. Be sure to add about a week of rest into your online workout program, about 1 week every 12. You'll love the way you feel afterwards!

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Climb Past Your Bench Press Plateau for a Huge Bench

Has your bench press been stuck at a plateau? The bench press is the favorite chest exercise of every person looking to add bulk to there chest can be the biggest disappointment for people. Most people do the same routine over and over again, though it once worked now no results for all the time spent in the gym. List below are tips that you can implement in your next workout to start building a bigger bench and get you out of your rut.

The first technique to getting out of your bench press plateau is to pause at the bottom. Most people got down and up so fast that they use more momentum than muscular strength to press the weight. So, to develop better strength we are going to over pause to ensure optimal muscle fiber recruitment.

It is best to have a spotter who you trust that can help lift the weight off if you don't make it up. Also, have the spotter count to two for you once the bar stops moving as you don't want to be relaxing or screwing up your breathing to count. Once your partner says two explode with all your might for one full rep. Complete as many reps as possible though if you can do more than 6 reps add more weight.

As you continue to train even beyond these tips it is important to train using all three techniques of pausing at your chest. The three are the touch and go that most do, a slight pause at the bottom and then press, and a complete 2-3 second pause at the bottom before pressing the weight up. Each different method is going to challenge your muscle fibers in different ways with different levels of weight. One legitimate rep with less weight does more for muscle development and strength than a rep of heavier weight that you bounce off your chest to impress your friends with how much you can lift.

Have to train the triceps

You don't get a big bench without strong triceps. The bench press is not just a pectoral muscle exercise. Most people use triceps extensions or pressdowns which can develop strong triceps muscles though it doesn't always help with what the triceps need to do in a bench press. The best exercises you can do to train your triceps is to do any kind of close grip pressing motion from close-grip bench or incline bench and close grip push ups. Also, use a variety of dumbbells, barbells, and bodyweight exercises. The important factor is to train your triceps in the motions they need to gain strength in to get a bigger bench press.

Don't forget about your shoulders

The common exercises for shoulders are presses and lateral raises of some kind. The important part of the shoulder for bench press is the anterior deltoid. Add front raises to your routine to strengthen up the front part of your shoulder. Make sure to stand still and use only your shoulder muscles to raise the bar, dumbbells, or plate. I see too many people arching their backs and using momentum to lift the weight. Pure strength and muscle development comes from proper technique more than total weight if momentum is used.

Your back is important too

It most because that we don't see it in front of us because people are way more developed in the chest than the back. A big reason your bench may not be going up is that your antagonist muscles in the back are not strong enough to support the movement from your over developed chest. The only way to build a big bench is to build a big back. If you forget about your back or don't put the same time and effort in your bench will always limit out well short of your potential.

The last thing on your bench press is your legs and core. Your legs are still needed on during a bench exercise to stabilize the weight. If you didn't need your legs to have a big bench than you would be able to lift the same weight with your legs on the floor as you do if you put your feet on the bench and take them away. A big bench is about total body strength, if you focus only on the bench so results will always suffer.

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