Importance of Cycling Bodybuilding Workouts

Cycling bodybuilding workouts to increase gains in muscular development is also known as periodization. Although the practice of cycling workouts is undergoing a resurgence, the idea is actually fairly old. Even athletes in ancient Greece understood the value of cycling workouts to enhance physical gains. These athletes, when training for specific athletic events, would alternate their workouts based on four-day training cycles, according to Edith Cowan University.

  1. Linear Periodization

    • Soviet trainers and coaches from the mid-20th century experimented with what is now called linear periodization, and this training approach is used to some extent in bodybuilding even today. Trainers originally used linear periodization with athletes preparing for major competitions. The process involves increasing weight and reducing repetitions over an extended period of time, while periodically cycling in workouts that reduce weight and increase reps in order to prevent “plateaus.” Athletes who train year-round for a defined “season,” when their skills must be at the highest possible level, use linear periodization, according to the Facts About Fitness.

    Undulating Periodization

    • Advanced bodybuilders experience greater gains in muscle mass from “undulating periodization.” Using this method, bodybuilders will in some cases alter their workouts every time they go to the gym. The first weekly workout might emphasize heavy weight with few reps, while the second and third workouts will each alter the weight loads and the number of reps.

    Theory

    • Dr. Hans Selye, a Canadian scientist, developed the theoretical language to explain the prolonged gains bodybuilders notice when cycling workouts. According to Selye, the bodybuilder undergoes three distinct training phases: alarm, resistance and exhaustion. The novice bodybuilder experiences muscular soreness as the muscles “break down” (alarm). Next, the muscles respond by growing larger (resistance). Finally, the more seasoned bodybuilder reaches a plateau where the gains in development stop (exhaustion). By cycling workouts, the alarm phase is continually reintroduced, thereby prolonging the resistance phase and diminishing exhaustion.

    Practice

    • Cycling your workouts amounts to varying them systematically. There are many ways to vary your resistance routines. If you normally do three sets of 10 repetitions of squats at a given weight, change one of the variables. Instead of three sets, do four sets; instead of 10 repetitions, add some weight and do eight reps or reduce the weight and do 12 reps. You can also vary the speed at which you do your squats or the rest times you take between sets, according to the Sydney Sports & Athletic Performance Centre.

    Getting Started

    • Variety is the crucial element in undulating periodization. However, this does not mean going to a gym and randomly doing different exercises in different ways each time you workout, according to Lean Bodies Consulting. Depending on your system, you might perform the same workout every Monday or every other Monday—but you will never do the same workout twice in sequence.