Periodization is working hard but in a smart and controlled way.
Most people who scream “just work hard”dont even keep jurnal or track of training and have not improved in ages but they think they train the hardest.
I realized this when coming of blasts that no matter how hard i tried i could not train as hard as on cycle.
On cycle i train twice a day with one or two day breaks
On a cruise this would be impossible and i have tried but failed every time .
Injuries ,weak immune system and all sorts of wheals falling of the wagon and i ended up sidelined and regressed in all aspects.
So i noticed a pattern and started deloading taking a week off all sorts of things to make my recovery better.
Depending on the goals for the year one can set up a plan with periods of strength,hypertrophy,leaning out, endurance , healing with the drugs and food matching the goal.
Also when trying to up strength or volume i dont follow a linear progression rather medium-high-low-repeat pattern.