Periodization

No, it's not a form of punctuation.

"Periodization" refers to planned variation: you make a Grand Plan for your weight lifting, your goals, and you break a given timeframe into periods, and using some simple calculations only geeks get into, you figure out how much weight and how many reps and sets you should be doing during each period (quarter, month, week, day, whatever).

There's more to this and further complexities but this is what I'm starting with for now. Why? Well here is Mistress Krista's take on it, though note her page caveats that this isn't all there can be to it of course:

For workouts to be consistently successful, intensity and volume should be varied over time. Working with a high intensity and/or high volume consistently results in insufficient recovery, and will eventually lead to overtraining, while working with intensity and volume that is too low will not be challenging enough to stimulate growth.

She's my web-hero, a former overweight married marshmallow sort who metamorphed into a seriously buff, funny, smart, over-educated Canadian with a great website.

***

OK. Usually this process has a 'variation' programmed in, increasing weight or reps differently. The goal is to ensure that at the end of the overall period of time set forth, you will have increased your 1RPM* weight by the desired amount.

*1RPM stands for 'one repetition maximum'. Generally, it means the most weight you could lift but only once. A person generally works out at some percentage of this. The lower the percentage of the weight, the higher the number of repetitions, and vice-versa.

Asleep yet?

There is a calculation you can use to determine your 1RPM, which if you're setting up your periodization based on this number (so it becomes part of the calculation), will affect what you lift and where you end up. For example on the Arnold Press, if my newbie barbie-arms can lift 10# about 9 times before actual pain kicks in enough to prevent much more, the formula would look like this:

weight(#) * (1 + ( {intensity multiplier} * reps) )

The {intensity multiplier} can range from .02 to about .09 depending on how insane intense you are about it and what seems possible for your muscles. The higher the number, the more you'd better either be a beginner (which I am) (which tends to see larger gains than most), or probably doing something unusual and potentially chemically illegal. .03 to .06 is what some consider a 'normal' and 'moderate' range to aim for, and .033 is the number used to calculate a starting 1RM.

I decided to use .060 since I'm a beginner and my starting weight is very low, so my increase should be decent.

On the Arnold Press, using the .060 multiplier, my 10# weight times 9Reps max where I feel I'm starting from, comes out to 15.4# as my 1RPM. That's where I start.

The 12 week periodization spreadsheet I got at Krista's site thanks to Lisa (scroll to bottom to see link), if I follow this training regimen, varies my workout from 8 to 13 lbs, reps from 6 to 12, and sets from 3 to 5, depending on the week. At the finish of the 12 weeks, if I keep it up, allegedly I will be up to 16.94# as my 1RM for that exercise.

Genius readers will observe that this is a mere 1.54 lbs 1RPM increase. I noticed this too. I thought at first maybe the math didn't well apply to the pitifully small weights I'm starting with, but I think it's normal. That number isn't really what you're lifting, it's a beautiful on-paper number. It's low because there's only a low repetition reached at that point.

I will be starting with lifts at 10# and ending with lifting 15#, which is a 50% increase over the course of 12 weeks, which actually isn't bad at all. Once I can do the 15# for more than 6Reps (that's why the 1RPM number is small, is because the 15# is only at 6Reps, a low number), my 1RPM will be a higher number. Then I could start again.

I'm not really sure of all the logic of this. I mean... well I'm just going to do it and see how it works out.

***

I have a chronic insecurity about having no idea what the hell I'm doing, combined with an understanding that if anybody can hurt themselves overdoing things it's me, full owner of the 'Anything worth doing is worth overdoing' motto.

Finding an outline that lets me put in what I'm doing and calculates stuff for me, for an allegedly safe and gradual and varied workout, a methodical approach to an increase in capacity, sounds good to me. It's still 'my' workout; where I am now, the exercises I choose, etc. And I can vary the details like the intensity of the plan if it seems necessary.

So far I've had two weeks of workouts and each week has morphed into something new before it came around, but it's worked out ok. I think I found this periodization stuff at a good time to pick a good starting place for the next 12 weeks.

***

Either that or I just want someone else to tell me what to do.