Linear vs DUP vs Interlaced

[greyhair]

I'm just finnishing a second cycle of Linear period training.
So far, so good.
I'm thinking of mixing it up by switching to a Daily Undulating Period.
However, I was thinking that the DUP programs I've seen may not go far enough mixing up the intensity volume trade off.

So I was thinking that I might take DUP to an extreeme.
Basically maximizing the variation between weeks but keeping the same overall volume and intensity trade-offs that the Linear program would use.

Anybody have any experience with this maximized DUP program?

Any comments on effectiveness?

Greyhair

(I've attempted an attached graphic.)
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...d=232397&stc=1

[Celticfan]

Linear periodization is inferior to DUP in everyway. The DUP system and the conjugated system are far more effective than the old western cycle. I am unsure wit what u are asking tho. with DUP u change intensity everyworkout, which is due to the change in the number of reps.

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Poliquin (1988) is often recognized as the founder of undulated periodization (Stone and Wathen, 2001). Poliquin (1988) investigated five ways to increase the effectiveness of the training program for football coaches. The first suggestion was the use of undulated periodization, which he also called alternate accumulation and intensification phases. Here, emphasis is placed on the importance of frequently varying both volume and intensity in order to induce neuromuscular adaptations. The rational behind this was that past research had found that strength programs lost their efficiency after only two weeks (Kulesza & Poliquin, 1985; Poliquin, 1985, b).


Thus, it was concluded that if a stimulus is provided in exactly the same way, results would diminish quickly. This is in accord with the biological law of accommodation, which states that the response of an organism to the same given stimulus decreases over time. For instance, load for elite athletes is roughly 10 times that of beginners having 6 months experience. Elite weight lifters (Bulgarians) lift around 5,000 tons a year. The load for novices is only 1/10th this level! Further, it is noted to take 8+ years to reach an elite (professional) athletic status [Vladimir, 1995].

Rhea (2003) found in his experiment that a program consisting of 8 RM Monday, a 6 RM Wednesday, and a 4 RM Friday, every week, for 12 weeks total, gave excellent results in leg press and bench press strength. It should be noted that such a program seemed to result in staleness after 6 weeks. This may be attributed to the fact that participants trained relatively heavy during all workouts. Thus, such a program should be monitored closely. Including a moderate-light rep day is postulated to relieve such effects.

With undulating periodization, the so-called phases of training tend to be much shorter, compared with linear periodization. Exercise physiologists and some coaches have been attracted to undulating periodization, at least partially because of the belief that frequent changes in training stimuli are very conducive to gains in fitness. One physiological basis for the principle is that during undulating periodization the nervous system is forced to adapt to a wide variety of situations, including the elicitation of tremendous amounts of force (when resistance, i. e., intensity is high) and also the coaxing of very rapid rates of force application, as when resistance is low and reps are completed quickly. In theory, when these various stimuli are presented together in close temporal proximity, the neuromuscular system might adapt unusually quickly and develop an enhanced ability to respond with great force and great quickness.

Does undulating periodization really seem to work better than the classic, linear model? To find out, researchers in the Department of Exercise Science and Physical Education at Arizona State University recently divided 20 men, recruited from college physical-education classes, into two equal groups (6). All 20 individuals had been engaged in strength training for at least two years prior to the beginning of the study (the average training experience was five years). During the 12-week study, both groups performed abdominal crunches (three to four sets of 15 to 25 repetitions), biceps curls (three sets at eight- to 12-rep max), and lat pull-downs (three sets at eight- to 12-rep max) three times a week. Both groups also trained intensely with two key exercises, the bench press (performed on a standard free-weight bench-press station) and the leg press (carried out using a Cybex® incline leg-press machine), and the performance of these latter two exercises was completed in a linear-periodized or undulating-periodized way. Subjects were prohibited from carrying out any other strength-building exercises during the 12-week investigation.

For the bench press and leg press, the linear-periodization (LP) group performed three sets per workout at an intensity of eight-rep max for the first four weeks of the study, three sets per session at six-rep max for the next four weeks, and three sets per workout at four-rep max for the final four weeks. Thus, the LP group used a classic linear pattern, with total volume of training (weekly amount lifted) sliding and average intensity climbing from four-week block to four-week block.

The undulating-periodization group utilized daily undulating periodization (DUP), with workout patterns never repeating themselves from one workout to the next. For the DUP group, the first session of each week of the 12-week program consisted of three sets at eight-rep max, the second workout contained three sets at six-rep max, and the third session had three sets at four-rep max. As you can see, training volume and intensity were altered differently for the two groups, but total volume and intensity were absolutely equivalent (each group, for example, completed 12 total workouts using a resistance of eight-rep max, 12 workouts at six-rep max, and 12 sessions at four-rep max). The only difference between the LP and DUP programs was the order in which the athletes carried out the workouts.

Both LP and DUP groups increased strength significantly in both the leg and bench presses over the course of the 12-week training period, but the gains in strength were significantly greater for the DUP group. Specifically, the DUP group enhanced bench-press strength by 29%, compared with 14% for the LP athletes, and boosted leg-press strength by 56%, versus 26% for the DUP pressers. In the leg press, for example, DUP upped 1-RM from 230 kilograms at the beginning of the study to 350 kilograms after 12 weeks, while LP nudged leg-press 1-RM up from 267 kilograms to just 331 kilos in the same time period.

This variation provides a constantly changing stress to the neuromuscular system, which promotes continued adaptation and prevents plateaus

A group from Arizona State University, for example, put both systems to the test and found greater gains in strength in the nonlinear group [2].

Research from Ball State University also shows that nonlinear periodization is highly effective for promoting muscle growth [3]. The study compared the effectiveness of two 12-week training programs. Test subjects were split into two groups. One group followed a program that used single sets, while group two followed a periodized program.

Gains in muscle strength and size were far greater in the group using periodized training. Subjects following the periodized program, for example, gained twice as much muscle compared to the single-set group.

[greyhair]

Hey CelticFan,

FYI, There was a similar study to the AZ study done by an MS candidate at the Univerisity of Tenn using about 20 trained individuals showed only a modest to no benefit of DUP over Linear. I suspect that the difference between Linear and DUP depends on the number of weeks in the program. The greater the number of weeks, the more DUP has an advantage.

However, DUP can have a strong or weak daily variation.
What I'm thinking of trying is a strongly varying DUP program.
Basically, a Maximal intra program variation from session to session.
I was wondering if anybody has any personal experience in how results may vary depending on how strongly you vary the changes between sessions.

Essentially, Linear, and DUP training can be considered a continum in how much inter session training varies. Linear is a degenerate case of DUP with no variation.

So, if a little intersession variation is good, would dramatic variationg be better?

Greyhair

[rip]

So, if a little intersession variation is good, would dramatic variationg be better?
Greyhair

I would think so. If anything, I would rather have too much variation than too little.

[rip]

I've got a question regarding non-linear periodization, so I'm just gonna ask it here instead of starting a new thread. I'm using a program that changes intensity and volume every week. It looks like this:

Intensity- 3 2 4 1
Volume- 2 4 3 1

With 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest.

My question is, what defines volume? Is it sets x reps? Would 5 sets of 15 reps be considered more volume than 12 sets of 6 reps?

5 sets of 15 reps equals 75 total reps.
12 sets of 6 reps equals 70 total reps.

However, 12 sets is a lot more than 5 sets. So what defines volume? The total number of reps? The total number of sets? Or the combination of the two?

[greyhair]

I've got a question regarding non-linear periodization, so I'm just gonna ask it here instead of starting a new thread. I'm using a program that changes intensity and volume every week. It looks like this:

Intensity- 3 2 4 1
Volume- 2 4 3 1

With 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest.

My question is, what defines volume? Is it sets x reps? Would 5 sets of 15 reps be considered more volume than 12 sets of 6 reps?

5 sets of 15 reps equals 75 total reps.
12 sets of 6 reps equals 70 total reps.

However, 12 sets is a lot more than 5 sets. So what defines volume? The total number of reps? The total number of sets? Or the combination of the two?

Volume is REPs x Weight
Intensity is just the Weight lifted.

The trick for me comes at the end of the plan when you are supposed to minimize the volume but maximize the intensity.
Some liftes may be able to jump pretty quickly from warmup to thier 1 or 2 Rep Max, but I can't.

So I have to take intermediate steps to get to the 1RM. If I'm not careful, I can miss my target from using up too much energy transitioning from the warm up to the final lift.

Good Luck

Greyhair

[Kane Fan]

I am unfamilar with DUP but I have used Linear and Step cycles before and gotten solid results from them
I find the idea of a program giving me noticably superior gains then the simple cycles I have done to be rather frightening to be honest
could I get a link to tell me about a DUP program or a sample DUP program ?