Daily Undulating Periodization 101

Periodization is a method of organising your training, this is done to avoid the biological law of accommodation.

Sounds complicated right?

Let me break it down for you:

The biological law of accommodation describes how the body stops adapting to the same stimulus over time…

And this means no gains for you!

Fortunately, there are two ways to avoid plateaus:

1. Change the parameters of the exercise: e.g. reps, sets, weight.
2. Rotate the exercise.

Daily undulating periodization (DUP) is a form of non-linear periodization that focuses on the 1st method.

Training sessions are typically divided to target different performance goals.

For example, you might have a heavy, medium, light setup.

You would rotate between these different training variables throughout the week (in an undulating fashion).

It’s easy to think of non-linear periodization as a wavy line (rather than a straight one).

Let’s explore the basics of DUP further.

One of the biggest myths in bodybuilding is that you should stick to the 1-5 rep range for strength and the 8-12 rep range for muscle growth.

But this isn’t grounded in science:

Studies have proven that there is no difference in muscle growth between a low rep range and a high rep range (when volume was accounted for).

What can we learn form this?

Volume is the driver of muscle growth…not the rep range.

To add to this, each rep range is beneficial for performance in different ways:

For example, low rep ranges (90-100% 1RM) are superior for neural adaptations and strength…

Whereas high rep ranges (60% 1RM) are beneficial for developing work capacity and muscle endurance.

Muscle confusion is a pernicious myth that has been spread by gym bros for decades.

The idea that a muscle can be tricked by switching from a dumbbell to a barbell isn’t backed by science…

However, like all great myths there is some truth:

When the body is exposed to an exercise, it’s less responsive to it over time.

This is known as the repeated bout effect.

The solution to this is to change the parameters of the exercise.

So instead of using a 5×5 for a squat, you could substitute it with a  6×4.

Prilepin’s chart can be used to figure out the optimal reps/sets for a given % of your one rep maximum.

Low frequency splits are commonly advocated by bodybuilders:

The idea is to work each muscle with ultra high volume and let it rest for the entire week.

But whilst this is beneficial for steroid users, it’s completely ineffective for natural bodybuilders.

Studies have shown that muscle protein synthesis peaks at 36 hours post-workout and rapidly declines.

So realistically, you have a 24-48 hour period of muscle growth. That’s it!

I don’t know about you, but I want to maximise muscle growth.

That’s why I personally recommend a 2-3x per week training frequency for muscle growth.

Research has shown that this produces more muscle and strength gains in the long-term.

Another factor you need to consider is skill:

If you want to get good at anything, what’s the golden rule?

Practise!

In fact, in Malcolm Gladwells book called outliers, he notes that it takes on average 10,000 hours to master a skill.

Of course, you don’t need to practise the squat for 10,000 hours, but the point still remains.

After all, there is a strong neurological component to strength training.

The more frequently you practice the movement pattern, the more efficient you become.

This is known as greasing the groove in powerlifting circles.

Daily undulating periodization places a big focus on the compound lifts.

Assistance exercises take a back seat and in some cases are removed entirely.

This is a blessing and a curse (depending on how you look at it).

If you’re a powerlifter who wants maximum carryover to the big 3, then you’ll want to spend most of your time benching, squatting, and deadlifting.

However, if you’re a recreational lifter you probably don’t give a damn about the ‘big 3’.

Therefore, you might find DUP repetitive due to the low exercise selection.

This is definitely something to consider.

After all, you should enjoy your training if you want to stick with it.

Linear periodization (also known as block periodization) separates intensity and volume into different phases.

On a typical LP program, volume starts high and gradually tapers down while intensity increases.

*The table below is an example of linear periodization (a typical cycle would be 12 weeks)

As you can see, the sets/reps are changed linearly on a weekly basis rather than day-to-day.

While this is better than not periodizing your training at all, it isn’t as effective as non-linear periodization.

Because intensity and volume are separated into different blocks (4 weeks) it’s hard to maintain performance when moving onto the next phase.

You essentially become de-trained because you aren’t practising the given rep range.

For example, in week 1-4 you’re using 75% of your 1RM for sets of 10, which is great for building muscle endurance.

However, by week 12 you’ve moved onto triples (90% 1RM) and therefore lose your work capacity.

This turns into a vicious cycle of adapting to one skill, then losing it in favour of another.

Most linear periodizaiton programs have limited assistance work included.

This leads to poor general strength and muscular weaknesses.

One study compared the training effects of LP and DUP on experienced trainees (an average of 5 years under the bar). They were split into two groups:

1. Linear periodization
2. Daily undulating periodization

After 12 weeks, the DUP group experienced 28.8% growth on the bench press vs 14.4% for the LP group- despite them both doing the exact same workload.

There are two other studies (1,2) that show similar findings but they didn’t have a large enough sample size to reach statistical relevance.

Despite this, it’s clear that non-linear periodization is superior for both muscle and strength gains.