Load Cycling

The Principle for Programming High-Frequency Workouts

     I know that I’m probably beating the proverbial dead horse here, seeing as how I have gone on more than a few rants on the subject, but the main problem, as I see it, in modern training circles is the all or nothing mentality.  The training culture in America—I have the distinct feeling that it’s no different for my international readers—is one where we think a workout is “good” if it exhausts or fatigues you.  If you’re lying in a pool of sweat once the workout is finished, and the next day your muscles are sore to the bone, then, by God, it must have been an effective training session.  Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.  And if you’re chasing strength and power along with muscle mass, that method will fail you.

     “If you want pain, learn Muay Thai. If you want to learn about failure, play golf. If you want to vomit, drink a syrup of ipecac. If you want to become stronger and more fit, train appropriately.” ~Brian Petty, RKC and bareknuckle boxer.

     Of course, I think there are other problems with modern training.  For example, low-frequency workouts, one-muscle-per-week bodypart splits and the like.  But, if you are going to train with ultra “high-intensity,” pushing your sets to momentary muscular failure or beyond, then you do need to train at such a low frequency.  Unfortunately, when you do that, you’re not taking advantage of possibly the best form of training on the planet: high-frequency training (HFT).  And for HFT to be as effective as it’s capable, you must learn to cycle your loads.

     “For best gains you must start easy, build up to a PR, and back off to easier training again before climbing the next peak.” ~Pavel Tsatsouline

     I think that most lifters, even if they know about it, don’t use HFT because it’s hard for them to program.  Well, maybe not hard, but they don’t understand it or perhaps they’re unwilling to take the time to understand it.  Also, if you do train all-out all the time, you may not want to read someone like me telling you that there’s a better way to train.  (Luckily, that’s not you or you wouldn’t be reading my blog.)  If you’re going to train frequently, you must learn how to manipulate your training loads.  The best way to do this, and there’s really nothing complicated about it, is to start your training cycle with lighter loads and increase your loads on a weekly basis as your body adapts to the HFT.

     I want to demonstrate how to do this by showing you an example program.  This program will build muscle and strength, though it is geared more toward hypertrophy than anything else.  In this program, you will train each lift (and, therefore, each muscle group) with 4 sets of 6-8 reps, using only a handful of exercises.  It’s a simple program that will allow you to easily grasp the concept of load cycling.  Once you’ve used it for 8 weeks or so, you can then move on to a program that utilizes different exercises at each training session.

     You will do 2 workouts, one for your upper body and one for your lower body.  You will do each workout 3 times a week, utilizing a heavy-light-medium rotation, and train 6 days a week.  In the first workout, you will do bench presses, weighted chins (or pulldowns, if you’re not strong enough—or are simply too heavy—for chins), and barbell curls.  In the second workout, you will do squats and Romanian (or stiff-legged) deadlifts.

The 4x6-8 Program for Mass

Monday - Upper Body, Heavy

• Bench presses, weighted chins, and barbell curls: 4 sets of 6-8 reps on each lift.  Use a weight for your first workout that is 90% of your 10-rep maximum.  Do 4 sets of 6 reps for each lift.  In the 2nd week, do 4 sets of 8 reps on each movement.  In the 3rd week, add 10 pounds to your bench presses and chins and 5 pounds to the barbell curls and do 4 sets of 6 reps again.  In the 4th week, use that weight for 4 sets of 8 reps.  Keep adding 10 pounds every 2 weeks and repeat the process.

Tuesday - Lower Body, Heavy

• Barbell squats and Romanian deadlifts: 4 sets of 6-8 reps for each lift.  Use the same methodology as your upper body day.

Wednesday - Upper Body, Light

• Bench presses, weighted chins, and barbell curls: 4 sets of 6-8 reps on each lift.  On this day, use a weight that is 70% of your 10-rep max.  Use the same # of reps that you used on your Monday session.  So, if you did 4 sets of 6 reps or 4 sets of 8 reps (or 4 sets of 7 later in the program), you would do the same here.

Thursday - Lower Body, Light

• Barbell squats and Romanian deadlifts: 4 sets of 6-8 reps on each lift.  Use the same methodology as your upper body light day.

Friday - Upper Body, Medium

• Bench presses, weighted chins, and barbell curls: 4 sets of 6-8 reps on each lift.  Use 80% of your 10-rep max on this day, using the same reps, either 6 or 8 as your light and heavy sessions.

Saturday - Lower Body, Medium

• Barbell squats and Romanian deadlifts: 4 sets of 6-8 reps on each lift.  Same methodology as the upper body medium day.

     The workout should be easy for the first two weeks.  That’s the point.  Within a few weeks, you will start struggling.  Within a handful of weeks, you should find it is getting hard.  Stick with the program until you find it very hard to get 4 sets of 8 reps with a new weight.  Midway through the program, if you want, you can do 4 sets of 6 reps one week, followed by 4 sets of 7 the next, and then 4 sets of 8.  This would allow you to adapt to the weights over 3 weeks instead of just 2. If you start failing on any of your reps, it’s time to start cycling your loads again.  If you reach that point well before 8 weeks—the time when you should start making changes anyway—reduce your weight the following week to poundages that you were using 2 weeks prior.  Many of the great powerlifters from the ‘70s continued to get strong by doing exactly that and changing very little else in their routines.

     This program also works because of the total reps used on each movement.  It oscillates between 24 and 32 reps per lift.  When training a lift, or a muscle group, 3 days per week, this is a good rep range.  It’s also perfect for anyone seeking a combination of strength and muscle mass.  When training solely for hypertrophy, I often recommend a rep range per lift that is between 30-50 when lifting 3 days a week.  For strength, it should, generally (there are exceptions—once you become advanced you can throw a lot of the “rules” out the window), fall somewhere between 10 and 25 reps per lift per session.  This one slots in between the two, making it good for anyone seeking both muscle growth and strength gains.

     Before I get an email asking me a question about it, yes, you can combine both days into one workout.  That will work just as well.  The fact that you could do everything in one workout is the reason why it works so well by splitting it up and training 6 days a week.

     If you find that you enjoy the program, and you want to keep doing it once you’ve reached the “hard point,” you have a couple of options.  The simplest option is to select some same but different movements and repeat the process.  You could use weighted dips, one-arm dumbbell rows, and dumbbell curls for your upper body and front squats and deficit deadlifts for your lower body.  Those are just examples.  You can always pick different movements as long as they’re “big” compound lifts.  If you choose leg extensions, concentration curls, and the like, you’ve chosen poorly.

     Another option—one that is particularly good if you want more strength and power out of it—is to do 3 sets of 3-5 reps for all of the movements.  Select a weight that is 90% of your 5-rep max and do 3 sets of 3 reps the first week and 3 sets of 5 reps in the 2nd week.  Use 70% of your 5-rep max on the light days and 80% on the medium days.

     A 3rd option—whether you do 4x6-8 or 3x3-5—is to rotate to new exercises on your light and medium days.  The best way to do this, following in the footsteps of Bill Starr, is to let the exercise selection itself determine whether it’s heavy, light, or medium.  If you do bench presses on the heavy days, military presses on the light days, and incline bench presses on the medium days, the exercise itself will prohibit your workload from exceeding your heavy days.

     I understand that there’s nothing fancy, shiny, or “sexy” about this style of training.  It’s simple and uncomplicated.  But that’s how result-producing programs work.  Simple and effective load cycling is the way to bigger and stronger muscles.