3.3 How do I put a cycle together?
Description
This article is from the Hardgainer Bodybuilding & Weightlifting FAQ, by Frank J. Kelly and Craig R. Sadler with numerous contributions by others.
3.3 How do I put a cycle together?
The easiest way to describe a cycle is to
go through an example. Say your recent best barbell curl was 100x6
and your best squat 280x20. Now you REALLY want to get to 110x6 on
the curl and 300x20 in the Squat. You are feeling burned-out lately
as the hard part of your cycle has been going on for some time now,
and the gains have stopped. If you are foolish you might try adding
a 'shock' 5lbs to the bar each week to get your goals. But being
burned out, and close to overtraining, all that will happen is that
the 105lb curl will feel _way_ heavier than 100 and you won't get 5 reps
-- never mind 6.
Don't expect to get to 110lbs in a month
a few months is what you need. The following cycle considers only the
first work set of the barbell curl and squat, each done ONE day a week.
(There are other exercises in the cycle, but they are left out for
clarity.) The one to two warmup sets are also omitted from the
description. One to two work sets are all you need, starting with
three in the early stage of the cycle and dropping to two and then
to one as the cycle reaches its hardest. You must NEVER train more
frequently than you can cope with as far as your energy level and
recovery-ability are concerned. IF IN DOUBT TRAIN WITH LESS VOLUME
AND WITH LESS FREQUENCY.
So here we go, how does the cycle begin:
First thing is to get well-rested; this means 7-10 days off, no
weight training and no aerobics. This will give your body a good
deal of the time it takes to recover after burning out/overtraining.
Then drop your poundages to 75-85% of maximum and build up from there
slowly.
ARM CURL SQUAT ================================================= Week 1: OFF OFF Week 2: 85x6 235x20 Week 3: 90x6 245x20 Week 4: 95x6 255x20 Week 5: 100x6 265x20 Week 6: 102x6 270x20 Week 7: 104x6 275x20 Week 8: 106x6 280x20 Week 9: 107x6 285x20 Week 10: 108x6 292x20 Week 11: 109x6 294x20 Week 12: 110x6 296x20 Week 13: 110.5x6 298x20 Week 14: 111.0x6 300.0x20 Week 15: 111.5x6 301.5x20 Week 16: 112.0x6 303.0x20 Week 17: 112.5x6 304.5x20 Week 19: 112.5x6 306.0x20
In the first workout, we cut back to 85% poundages
for the same reps. Each week we add a little weight to the bar to
get back to our previous poundages, and then we add some more weight
each week which become personal bests. Note that the Squat takes
a lot longer to get back to 100% than the arm curl. This is because
the Squat is a very brutal exercise to do and in the recovery phase
adding 20lbs each week (which may only constitute 5-10%) has too
much of an impact on recovery. If the poundages in the Squat are less,
then a shorter build-up period of 4-6 weeks may be allowed, but the
bigger your poundages are, the more recovery time your body needs.
- A Mini-Cycle
Cycles need not be very long. A short-but-successful
mini-cycle will last for 6-8 workouts. A sticking point is the
stimulus for a new cycle. Take an EXTRA 4-6 days rest between your
workouts before starting this new mini-cycle. Cut back all poundages
to 85%. The first two workouts (85% and 90%) will be comfortable, as
you stay with your usual reps but with less poundage. The next workout
at 95% will be more demanding. Then comes 97 1/2%, and then the 100%
workout that you ended your previous cycle on. This cycle will be
testing but, so long as you've eaten and rested adequately between
workouts, it will be successful. Next comes a new personal best, by
adding 2-5lbs to all your exercises. Now you might want to add an
extra rest day between workouts to allow more recovery time. This
continues until you are stuck at the same poundage for the same reps
for two weeks in a row, then it's time to start another cycle.
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