Periodizing your training is important for avoiding plateaus and achieving the quickest long-term progress towards you goal.

It will help you avoid wasting time under-recovering or ​going backwards if you’re spending too much time in a particular type of training.

If you’ve followed us for a while, you’re probably familiar with the concept that there are different training stimuli, or effects and adaptations that come with how a particular program is written.

Periodization is simply a planned progression and ordering of using different stimuli (local metabolic, systemic, tension, neurological) at different times to work towards an overall goal (fat loss, muscle gain, strength, etc)​​.

To help you get started, here are some general example periodizations that you could follow based on your goal and training experience. 

Examples for Fat Loss Goal

Beginner (<1 year of training or coming back after several weeks off)

Program 1: Tension/Neurological
Program 2: Systemic Conditioning
Program 3: Local Metabolic
Program 4: Tension

Intermediate to Advanced (1-4 years of consistent training & moderate conditioning and strength)

Program 1: Systemic Conditioning
Program 2: Tension
Program 3: Local Metabolic
Program 4: Tension

Examples for Muscle Gain Goal

Beginner (<1 year of training or coming back after several weeks off)

Program 1: Local Metabolic
Program 2: Tension/Neurological
Program 3: Systemic
Program 4: Tension

Intermediate to Advanced (1-4 years of consistent training & moderate conditioning and strength)

Program 1: Local Metabolic
Program 2: Tension
Program 3: Systemic
Program 4: Tension

Keep in mind that this are only general examples of the first four potential programs. The duration you may need to spend in each will vary by person.

These are general outlines you can follow for a given goal, but nothing will beat the experience of a coach who can interpret your biomarkers and help you customize a plan to suit your needs.​

The length of time you stay in a particular program depends on how well you’re adapting and recovering.

​Simply working through every program on the site that can be used for a particular goal (IE just doing every ‘Hypertrophy” program one after the other) is NOT going to be the fastest way to get there in the long run.

For example, if you’re focusing on hypertrophy ​you’ll need to de-load at times or even switch to a more metabolic or neurological program for a while to continue improving in other aspects of your training.

Then, when you come back​​ to a hypertrophy program you’ll be able to progress faster than if you just kept trying to do the same stimulus non-stop.

Knowing when and what program to switch to is a combination of science and skill.  The skill is being able to interpret and analyze an individuals biomarkers to determine where to go and when.  That is what a good coach is for.​​

We all respond differently to various types of training and tolerate or adapt to some better than others. A good coach can evaluate these differences and help you pick which training stimulus to go to next and how long you should stay there for optimal results.

This is why we’ve built in both the Check-In and My Journey tools to help you assess your progress within a workout. With a some education on how to interpret it, the My Journey can assist you in coaching yourself and determining when it might be a good time to change programs.

If you use the Program Plans feature (HIGHLY recommended) we’ve taken care of building a periodized plan for you, based on your goal, to help ensure that nothing is getting neglected that will create a bottleneck for your progress.

Check out the Training App to elevate your progress

If you already have the app, view the App Support page for tutorials and education to help you get the most out of it.