PERIODIZATION: Still the best way Periodization, training in cycles of gradually increasing intensity, began with the work of Soviet sports scientist Dmitri Matveyev in the early 1960s. Elite athletes, Olympic weightlifters, swimmers, and track and field performers have used it all over the world to an ever-increasing degree since that time. American Olympic lifters and power lifters have been using periodization for a long time for example Frank Zane (Ripper 3, Fleck, Steven 34). Periodization provides a method by which the plateau can be avoided. One of the problems with most training programs is that it is the same day in and day out. Intensity, rep range, etc tend to be v