Training and periodization glossary
The essential terms, explained short and practical. If you plan training — for yourself or for athletes — this is the base vocabulary.
Periodization
The planned organisation of training over time, varying volume and intensity in phases.
Read moreMacrocycle
The full plan, from months to a year, spanning several mesocycles toward a bigger goal.
Read moreMesocycle
A 3-to-6-week block with a single focus, almost always ending with a deload.
Read moreMicrocycle
The training week — the unit that repeats inside a mesocycle.
Read moreDeload
A reduced-load week to shed fatigue and let the body supercompensate.
Read moreTraining volume
How much work a muscle receives, measured in sets per muscle group per week.
Read moreHypertrophy
The increase in muscle size.
Read moreProgressive overload
The gradual increase in training demand over time — more load, more reps, or more sets.
Read moreEffective sets
The sets that actually count towards the stimulus: the hard ones, close to failure — not the warm-ups.
Read moreJunk volume
Sets that add fatigue without adding stimulus — volume past the point where it still does anything.
Read moreRIR (reps in reserve)
How many reps you could still have done at the end of a set. RIR 2 means stopping two short of failure.
Read moreRPE (rate of perceived exertion)
A 1-to-10 scale for how hard a set was. RPE 8 corresponds to two reps in reserve.
Read moreGuides
How to structure a training plan: from macrocycle to workout
From the goal for the next few months to today’s workout — how macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles fit into a plan that actually progresses.
Read the guideWhat a deload is and when to program it
A reduced-load week is not lost time: it is where the adaptation shows up. When to program a deload, how to do it, and the mistakes that ruin it.
Read the guideTraining splits: which one to choose and why
Full body, upper/lower, push-pull-legs or a body-part split? The right split is the one that fits the days you have and spreads volume per muscle.
Read the guideA 4-day upper/lower plan, exercise by exercise
The full week of a 4-day upper/lower plan, with sets, reps, rest and loads — and the reason behind every choice, exercise by exercise.
Read the guideHow many sets per muscle per week
The most cited range is 10 to 20 effective sets per muscle per week. Where to start, how to climb inside a block, and what actually counts as a set.
Read the guideUsing RIR and RPE without testing your max
How to prescribe the effort of each set with reps in reserve or perceived exertion, without needing a one-rep max that changes every week.
Read the guideHow to plan a training block with ChatGPT
The three ways to use a chatbot to plan training — copy from the chat, a custom GPT, or a connector — and what each one costs you every week.
Read the guidePrompts for planning training with AI (and why they work)
Prompts you can use in ChatGPT or Claude — and the difference between asking a chat and asking an assistant that actually writes into your plan.
Read the guideImport your athlete roster into NoteFit by chat
Paste your athletes’ CSV into the conversation and the assistant creates them all at once. How to prepare the file and what happens to rows with errors.
Read the guideAI for personal trainers: what it actually saves
What AI saves a coach with 10 to 30 athletes — and it is not writing the programme. It is the weekly upkeep, which is where the time goes.
Read the guideChatGPT or Claude for training plans?
What is identical in both, what genuinely differs, and the comparison we cannot honestly make for you. You can connect both to the same account.
Read the guideImport your training history from a notebook into NoteFit
Years of training written by hand or in a spreadsheet, into NoteFit by chat: photograph the pages, the assistant reads them and creates the blocks, dated.
Read the guideSpecialisation: prioritise one muscle without wrecking the rest
How to give one muscle group more volume for a block: where to take it from, how much, how long, and how to confirm in the panel that the week does it.
Read the guideHow to progress load and volume in the same block
Raising both every week is the mistake that brings fatigue before the block ends. Three ways that work, how to write them into a week, and when to stop.
Read the guidePush Pull Legs 6-day program: the full split, exercise by exercise
The 6-day PPL that became famous on Reddit, session by session: exercises, sets, reps, how to progress, and the sets it gives each muscle.
Read the guideFull body workout 3 days a week: the complete plan
A full-body plan for three sessions a week: each day’s exercises, sets and reps, how to progress, and the sets it gives each muscle.
Read the guidePHUL workout program: Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower, the complete 4-day plan
Brandon Campbell’s PHUL, day by day: two power and two hypertrophy sessions a week, with sets, reps, progression and the sets per muscle.
Read the guide5/3/1 Boring But Big program: the complete 4-week cycle
Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 with Boring But Big: each week’s percentages, the 5×10, the assistance work, the training max and the sets per muscle.
Read the guide