Plan the months between now and your next goal
Drag hypertrophy, strength, peaking and deload blocks onto a calendar that runs months ahead, and let diet phases switch your nutrition targets when they end. It stays out of the way until you open it, so a lifter six weeks in can ignore it.
A drag-and-drop training calendar
The periodization planner is a calendar of your mesocycles, months at a time. Drag a hypertrophy, strength, peaking or deload block onto it and set its length. The block type sets the training inside it: hypertrophy blocks work moderate reps for volume, strength and peaking blocks work heavier, lower-rep sets, and each block's training starts on its first day. Leading into an A or B meet or race, sets taper down into the event while the weights stay put.
Coaches can lay out a competition season or an annual plan for each client from the same view, and any block can be moved after it's placed.
Deload weeks, suggested and moveable
Each block closes with a deload week, placed by how long the block runs, and you can move it. If a block is running hot, mark an earlier week as the deload, pick how it eases off (fewer sets, lighter weights, full rest or active recovery), and clear the old one. A week you clear goes back to full training. On Pro, recovery tracking can still bring a deload forward on its own (see Training); the calendar is where you plan them ahead.
Diet phases that switch targets on their own
Set up bulk, cut, maintenance, recomposition or peak-week phases with start and end dates and the calorie and macro targets for each. When a phase ends, your nutrition targets move to the next one without you re-entering them.
You set the rate of change per phase, and your phase history stays on a timeline you can look back on. Carb cycling, refeed days and reverse dieting sit on top as separate protocols, off until you or your coach turn them on.
Contest prep, worked backwards from your show date
Enter a show date and MuscleBuddy builds the phase timeline backwards from it: off-season, early prep, peak week, show day. A stage weight estimate comes from your current weight and body fat. The peak week protocol is proposed from the prep you ran, with the carb load sized against your prep intake instead of a fixed table. Water and sodium stay at your normal intake unless you or your coach opt into a change, and even then only inside set limits. You can override any parameter. A show-day countdown sits on your dashboard throughout.
How it reads the rest of MuscleBuddy
Your Training sessions and Nutrition targets read the blocks set here. Change a block's dates and the calendar, the deload week and the diet phase switch move with it. You can share a contest prep update to the social feed if you want it there.
Frequently asked
- Do I have to use the periodization planner?
No. MuscleBuddy runs your program without it. The planner is for lifters who want to plan months ahead, and a beginner can leave it closed.
- Does a deload here override the reactive deload?
They are separate. The planner places deload weeks ahead of time. On Pro, a run of low-recovery days can also bring a deload forward on its own, as the Training page describes.
- Are carb cycling and refeed days on by default?
No, both start off. You or your coach turn them on and set them up.
- What does the contest prep peak week protocol do?
It proposes a day-by-day carbohydrate, water and sodium schedule built from your own prep, and stores it as a protocol you approve. Water and sodium hold at your normal intake by default. You or your coach can change any parameter, and the schedule re-solves around the change.
- Can my coach build my season plan for me?
Yes. Coaches get the same calendar for planning a competition season or annual plan per client, and can adjust it as your training goes.
Plan the whole season on one calendar.
Lay out your mesocycles and diet phases, and let your targets switch on schedule. Free: plans and program generation, plus a specific-number target for your phase: bodyweight, body-fat %, 1RM, or waist. Pro ($9.99/mo) adds the periodization calendar, training phases, training that reverse-plans around your event dates, contest prep worked back from your show date and several training goals held at once.