So when you follow these programs, you have these periods where you're stronger but you're not maximizing muscle size and can even lose muscle size during these long stretches. Now the reason I chose the microcycles where you're changing up your weight and reps every week is because sometimes with longer periodization programs where you stick with a certain rep range for 4 weeks, maybe even 6 weeks or longer in some cases, your muscles are-they adapt to that rep range so if you're using very heavy weight with 3 to 5 reps for several weeks, you're using heavy weight which trains your muscles to be stronger but it's not the best rep range for building muscle growth. This program is based on periodization and, more specifically, microcycles periodization because the research shows it's most effective in strength gains and increasing muscle size. Then in microcycles three and four, also on the very last set of every exercise, you'll be performing one drop set. In microcycles one and two, on the last set of every exercise, you'll be performing one rest-pause set. And then in the fourth microcycle, again, you increase the weight, decrease the reps and this is one where you're using very heavy weight for a very few reps. Microcycle three, again, you increase the weight again. Then in microcycle two, you increase the weight while decreasing the number of reps that you complete each set. In microcycle one, you're starting with light weight for higher reps. The microcycles differ by the amount of weight that you use and the number of reps you complete each set. You repeat each phase 3 times so you're repeating 4 microcycles, month 1, 4 in month 2, 4 in month 3, for a total of 12 weeks in 12 microcycles. There are 4 microcycles in each phase so each phase lasts 4 weeks. Now I'm gonna break down all the information you need to know to understand how to use the microcycles. This has been shown to increase both muscle strength and muscle size. It's a system of periodization that is based on a week. Microcycles are, as the name implies, short cycles that you follow with the amount of weight that you lift and the number of reps you complete per set. The 12-week Shortcut to Size program revolves around one major concept, the microcycle.

Shortcut to strength