Exercise program strategies that attempt to continuously increase exercise intensity over time, or exercise program strategies that maintain the same exercise over time, are less effective ways to achieve exercise goals and may result in excess fatigue, muscle soreness, and exercise monotony.

Once you have established yourself on an exercise program and you have learned to gradually increase exercise duration and intensity, you may introduce variations in your exercise time periods. After a period of two to four weeks of following your exercise program, rest periods or mildly active periods lasting for about one week should be implemented in your program. Exercise programs should also vary periods of increased intensity mixed with periods of less intensity. Periods of increased resistance and fewer repetitions, and periods of decreased resistance and more repetitions, should also be introduced. This exercise program variation strategy is called periodization. Exercise periodization results in long-term performance improvements.