Re: What is a mesocycle?

[Guest guest]

Your question reminds me of the questions I heard at a periodization seminar I

went to many years ago.  The problem then as now is the use of complicated

terminology when simple will suffice.  Meso, micro and macro labels do not bring

any clarity to what is being discussed.  You had one 4 week block of exercises

which you changed up in the next 4 week block to “avoid accommodation.”  Calling

this Month 1 and Month 2 conveys more information than mescocyle 1 and 2.  If

the blocks were 6 weeks instead of 4,  then “First 6 weeks” and “Second 6 weeks”

tells me a whole lot more than the mesocycle label.

I am sorry for the rant but I believe the gurus sold us a bill of goods on

periodization over the last 30 years.  It is much easier to sell mystical

knowledge wrapped in complex terminology than to talk about off season,

pre-season, in-season and days, weeks and months of training.  Of course, we

already knew about all this stuff before the periodization gurus got going, so

keeping us scratching our heads trying to figure out what a mesocycle is was

much more productive in terms of books and seminars than admitting they were not

going to add much to what we were already doing, they were just going to make it

more complicated.  We were already periodizing before we began using the term.

Of course then we had to decide whether it was step, wave or some other form of

periodization.

Going on with my rant, I am amazed that no one ever spoke up at the start and

pointed out that these detailed periodization programs were coming to us from

nations that engaged in detailed planning about all aspects of their society

with generally disastrous results. 

Jon Haddan

Irvine, CA

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Subject: What is a mesocycle?

To: supertraining

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2008, 2:05 PM

This is one of those " I thought I knew " questions, as in...

I always considered that a mesocycle is defined by a specific set of

exercises, with volume and intensity varying systematically across

microcycles within a given mesocycle. So let's represent a mesocycle, for

purposes of this example, only by one major exercise from each workout .

*Mesocycle 1*

*Microcycle 1: 60% 1RM*

*Day 1: Box Squat Wide - *

*Day 2: Regular Deadlift*

*Day 3: Box Squat Wide - *

*Day 4: Cleans*

*Day 5: Good Morning*

*Microcycle 2: 70% 1RM*

*same exercises*

*Microcycle 3: 80% 1RM*

*same exercises*

*Microcycle 4: 70% 1RM*

*same exercises*

We could convert to a different mesocycle by changing the exercises, e.g.,

Box Squat >> Belt Squat; Regular Deadlift >> Sumo Deadlift; etc. What if we

kept the same exercises but changed the configuration? For example, we go

to this:

*Mesocycle 2*

*Microcycle 1: 60% 1RM*

*Day 1: Box Squat Wide , Regular Deadlift *

*Day 2: Good Morning, Cleans*

*Day 3: Box Squat Wide. Regular Deadlift- *

*Day 4: Good Morning, Cleans*

*

*

*Microcycle 2: 70% 1RM*

*same exercises*

*Microcycle 3: 80% 1RM*

*same exercises*

*Microcycle 4: 70% 1RM*

*same exercises*

Assume that in the first example, each workout is anchored in a core

exercise and includes several " secondary exercises " (presses, curls, shrugs,

whatever). In the second example, the focus is almost exclusively on core

exercises, with one or two secondary exercises per workout. Same exercises,

but different configuration, different effect on the body. My understanding

is that the real reason for changing exercise routines periodically is to

avoid accommodation. In that light, would that new configuration of the

same set of exercises constitute a different mesocycle. I think it would,

but I would be interested in hearing your opinions.

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