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The 12-week Shortcut to Size program revolves around one
major concept, the microcycle.
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.
It's a system of periodization that is based on a week.
So you change up everything each week.
This has been shown to increase both muscle strength
and muscle size.
Now I'm gonna break down all the information you need to know to
understand how to use the microcycles.
Each microcycle lasts 1 week.
There are 4 microcycles in each phase so each phase
lasts 4 weeks.
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.
The microcycles differ by the amount of weight that you use
and the number of reps you complete each set.
In microcycle one, you're starting with light weight
for higher reps.
Then in microcycle two, you increase the weight while
decreasing the number of reps that you complete each set.
Microcycle three, again, you increase the weight again.
Weight goes up, reps decrease.
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.
In microcycles one and two, on the last set of every exercise,
you'll be performing one rest-pause set.
Then in microcycles three and four, also on the very last set
of every exercise, you'll be performing one drop set.
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.
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.
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.
So with a micromuscle plan, you're changing up your rep
ranges each week, which allows you to get those benefits of
that rep range without losing the benefits of the other rep
range because they follow right after.
So it keeps switching it up, that way you get strength gains,
you get muscle gain, all combined and you don't go
through these periods where you're losing strength
or losing muscle.
After you've completed this first 4 microcycles,
you're gonna start right back at microcycle 1.
However, what you'll notice is when you go back to this rep
range, you'll be much stronger than you were
when you started 4 weeks ago.
So now the weights that you used to get 12 to 15 reps,
you'll be considerably stronger at.
Depending on the muscle group, it could range from 5 to 10
pounds to even as much as 20 pounds,
as some people have reported.
To choose your weight at each microcycle is a little bit hit
or miss with the 12-week Shortcut to Size.
Now some experts will recommend you use a percentage
of your 1-rep max.
That is fine and dandy and you can use that method but the
problem that I find with it is depending on the type of athlete
that you are and by athlete I mean whether you're--have more
muscle endurance or more muscle strength, if you know your
one-rep max, some guys will drop down to a certain percentage and
get to the 12 to 15 reps but because they're great with
muscle endurance they have to use much more
than the predicted percentage.
So it doesn't always work out.
I'd much rather you guys find the actual weight that limits
you to, in microcycle 1, to 12 to 15 reps, rather than using,
you know, math to predict what it is when you're not gonna get
to that exact point anyway.
Most guys know what they can lift for about ten reps.
When you're going for the 12 to 15 reps, simply drop the weight
by anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds, depending on the exercise,
and start there.
It's fine if you don't get it right the first time.
Use that first set as an actual set to decide whether you need
to add weight on the second set or decrease weight to stay in
that 12 to 15 rep range or if you've hit the mark and you can
complete all 4 sets for that desired rep range.
How much you'll be able to increase weight when you change
from one microcycle to the next is gonna depend on
a number of factors.
It's gonna depend on the individual.
Some guys are great in the lower rep ranges.
They're very strong but they don't have a lot
of muscle endurance.
So when they're in the 12 to 15 rep range, they're using light
weight but as they go to the rep range that best suits their
muscle fibers' ability, they really *** up.
Others who are better at muscle endurance don't get as much
of an increase as you go.
So it's gonna be individual.
When you're going for the 12 to 15 rep range in microcycle 1
to the 9 to 11 rep range in microcycle 2, most guys are
gonna find that you can jump up somewhere around
5 to maybe 10 pounds.
Again, some will be able to jump up more,
some may even have to go a little less.
Figure it out, try what you can but you'll definitely see a big
increase each week or microcycle.
It's always a worry when training with heavy weight and
low reps that you could get injured.
But one of the benefits of the microcycles is that it reduces
your chance of getting an injury.
You're only sticking with that heavy, heavy weight in very low
rep ranges for 1 week and then you immediately switch back to
microcycle 1 where you're going with light weight for high reps.
That allows you to reduce your chance of injuries and there's
actually research that shows that, yes, heavy weight to low
reps can cause some damage to joint tissue.
But going with lighter weight and high reps actually enhances
the regeneration of that joint tissue.
So after you've finished microcycle four with the heavy
weight, you then move on to the light weight for higher reps so
if there's any chance of joint tissue breakdown and damage from
microcycle four, you're regenerating it
in microcycle one.
Another question I get asked a lot about the 12-week Shortcut
to Size program is how much muscle soreness can I expect,
particularly during the different microcycles?
Now that again is sort of an independent thing.
Depends on your training experience.
If you're fairly new or just coming back to strength
training, you're gonna have a lot of soreness regardless of
what rep ranges you're getting into.
Obviously, you'll have a little more soreness as the weights get
heavier, that's because the heavier weight causes more
mechanical damage to the muscle fibers and that's gonna
give you more soreness.
So even experienced lifters will notice it as they're going
through the later microcycles like three and four,
they are experiencing a bit more soreness.
However, you can also get muscle soreness during the high rep
phases because you're still going to muscle failure.
We've provided you a complete video on microcycles because
it's the backbone of the 12-week Shortcut to Size program.
You really need to understand what a microcycle is and how
it's gonna benefit your training and the results you get.
We've provided you a complete breakdown of all the microcycles
on the page below.
Be sure to watch all the other episodes before starting
the 12-week training.