Here’s the reality: Most personal training clients don’t need classic periodization.
That doesn’t mean they should just “wing it” every workout. Far from it. What your clients need is a clear, well-thought-out training plan that’s simple to follow, easy to adjust and aligned with their goals and abilities.
I’m about to show you how to create simple and effective program for busy adults who want to lose fat, build muscle, move better and feel healthier, without getting bogged down with traditional periodization models.
3 Reasons Traditional Periodization Doesn’t Work for Most Clients
Traditional periodization was developed for high-performance athletes training for a specific competition date. The goal is to peak at exactly the right time. Your client has a 9-to-5 job, not the Olympic Games.
Most personal training clients aren’t competing in anything. They:
• Want to lose fat• Want to get stronger and healthier• Want to feel and move better• Train 2–3 days per week• Have busy, unpredictable lives
Ask yourself:
• Does my client care about peaking their performance in 12 weeks?• Are they training 5–6 days a week with tightly managed stress and recovery?• Will they even be consistent for 6 weeks, much less 6 months?
If the answer is “no,” which it is usually is, then trying to use classic periodization often causes more problems than it solves. Here are three reasons why:
1. It’s Too Complex for Their Needs
Macrocycles, mesocycles, and microcycles sound impressive, but they’re mostly irrelevant to someone who just wants to be fitter next month than they are today. By the way, it’s much simpler and straight-forward to refer to these periods as training weeks, training phases and training blocks.
2. It’s Too Rigid for Real Life
Classic periodization involves dividing longer training periods of time into shorter periods of time, where one period of training builds upon the previous period and prepares for the next period of training. Thus, this type of periodization assumes your client will train consistently, recover well and follow the plan exactly. But what happens when:
• They get sick for a week?• They travel for work?• They suddenly need to train less often?
One missed week can throw off the whole carefully plotted cycle.
3. It’s Often Built on the Wrong Goal
Most periodization models are built to improve a single performance metric (max strength, speed, endurance) at a specific point in time. Personal training clients usually want general, year-round fitness, not a one-time peak.
The Better Approach: Progressive, Flexible Programming
Training without a plan is like getting in your car and driving with no destination, which is unfortunately what many trainers do.
Sure, you might end up somewhere decent by accident, but you’re more likely to waste a lot of gas and time.
Your clients are paying for results. That means delivering a program with logical structure, not a grab bag of random workouts that just make them tired.
Instead of a rigid periodization model, personal trainers should use a progressive but flexible training plan.
The key difference is this:
• Periodization → Detailed cycles built months ahead, aiming for a specific peak.• Progressive Planning → General plan focused on steady improvement, easily adjusted as needed.
This works better for personal training clients because it:
• Allows you to adapt to life changes without derailing the plan.• Focuses on consistent progress, not peaking.
How to Build a No-Periodization Training Plan That Works
Here’s a step-by-step framework you can immediately use to help your clients continually get stronger, leaner and more athletic — without needing a Ph.D. in exercise science or color-coded macrocycles.
Step 1. Start with the Client’s Training Profile
Ask:
• What’s their primary goal? (e.g., fat loss, general strength, muscle gain, mobility)• How many days can they realistically train?• What equipment do they have access to?• Any injuries or limitations?
Example:
• Goal: Lose fat, improve functional strength.• Availability: 2 days/week in the gym, 1 at home.• Limitation: Mild knee pain.
Step 2. Choose the Right Training Split
For most clients:
• Training 2 to 3 times per week = Full-body workouts• Training 4 times per week = Upper/lower split
Full-body sessions are efficient, easy to adjust and ensure no movement pattern or muscle group gets neglected if a session is missed.
Step 3. Pick the Big Rocks (Movement Patterns)
Forget chasing random exercises — start with movement categories:
• Knee bend (squat, lunge)• Hip Hinge (RDL, hip thrust)• Push (horizontal or vertical/diagonal)• Pull (horizontal or vertical/diagonal)• Rotation (dynamic or anti-rotation)
Step 4. Apply Simple, Ongoing Progression
Progress doesn’t require fancy periodization — just a method for making things harder over time:
• Add weight• Add reps• Add sets• Increase tempo difficulty
For example, if your client does goblet squats with 40 lbs for 3 sets × 10 reps on week one. On the next week they might do 3×11, then 3×12. Then increase the weight to 45 lbs and repeat the set and rep cycle starting at 3x10.
5. Rotate Exercises
Clients need variety to avoid boredom and plateaus — but too much variety stops progress.
• Keep core lifts for 4–6 weeks to ensure progress• Change accessory exercises often to keep things fresh and interesting
Example: After 4 to 6 weeks, swap goblet squats for split squats, or TRX rows for cable one-arm rows.
Step 6. Plan Recovery Weeks as Needed
Most clients don’t need planned “deload” weeks because they’re only training 2 to 3 times per week.
So, instead of scheduled “deloads” every few weeks like in periodization, simply back off when needed:
• Client feels run down.• Strength numbers stall for 2–3 weeks.• Life stress is high.
This could mean reducing sets/reps for a week or replacing heavy lifting with lighter, mobility-focused sessions when your client has low energy, didn’t sleep well, etc.
Real World Periodization
Classic periodization is a valuable tool — for the right person, at the right time. That person is usually a competitive athlete, not your average personal training client.
Too many smart, well-meaning trainers get lost in trying to plot every rep for the next 12 or 16 weeks, when most of our clients are simply looking for a diverse workout experience that challenges them, but doesn’t hurt them. And, says things like, “when I come to our sessions, I don’t want to think.”
The real magic is having a clear, adaptable training plan that builds strength, fitness and confidence week after week.
In other words, your clients need consistency, not complexity.
Train like a coach, not like a textbook. That’s the formula for personal training success.
Nick Tumminello is known as the "Trainer of Trainers." He has been a trainer for over 20 years working NFL and MMA athletes, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. Nick is the 2016 NSCA Personal Trainer of the Year, the editor-in-chief of the NSCA’s PTQ journal, and he has authored four books, including the best-selling Strength Training for Fat Loss.
