In your muscle building routines you need to consider that periodization programs have several different phases. Athletes often begin by taking a short break from training, usually a week or two. This gives the body time to recharge before beginning this high-intensity program. Be realistic about the break you need. Don't jump back into your training regimen before you have fully recovered from your previous routine. At the same time, don't use it as an excuse to "kick back" once your muscles are replenished and ready for action. The amount of time should be just right, allowing you to be mentally and physically refreshed and eager to return to the gym.

The next step is to ease back into your training regimen. Initially, start with weights that are 30 percent less than the weights you were lifting before your time off. Concentrate on your exercise technique, making sure that each repetition is done perfectly. Feel the movement of the muscle. For now, do only as many reps as you did with the higher weight you were using before your time off, even though you will not reach total failure. Resist the temptation to go all out with this lighter weight, which would just mean doing a higher rep range. You should be warming up your body for greater intensity later on. Just as you would let your car warm up a bit before you floor the accelerator, give your body a chance to ease into your new workout program.

Now, every time you train, slowly add more weight and intensity while staying within a rep range of six to ten. (Some sports will use lower rep ranges.) Keep a training log so you can be scientific about this. In time, you will surpass your former sticking point. When your gains start to stagnate again, begin another periodization.

The precise length of your periodizations will vary depending on your particular sport and competition schedule, but the usual length is eight to ten weeks. After this period, drop the intensity level at least 30 percent for two to three weeks. If you still feel overtrained after this two to three week break, take an entire week off from the gym. You need a break. Then begin your next periodization.

There aren't many athletes who systematically practice periodization. Yet many people wind up periodizing involuntarily by their own actions. Sometimes weightlifters are so compulsive about their training that they work out even when their bodies can't cooperate due to stress or other factors. If this happens too frequently, you may literally become sick. Then what happens? How to build muscle afterwards? You take a week or two off, go back to the gym and find that the weights you can lift are down by about 30 percent. Now you slowly work your way back up to where you were before, in time surpassing your previous record. Sound familiar? Getting sick is an example of involuntary periodization, and unfortunately this is the only type of periodization that many athletes know. Yet, why wait until your body protests through illness to practice this training strategy? Get ahead of the game by adding periodization to your workout program and you will definitely see how to build muscle effectively.