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The Active Recovery Phase
The Active Recovery Phase has three main functions.
1) First, according to leading strength expert Tudor Bompa, Ph.D., ?you are trying to adapt the anatomy of the body to the upcoming training so that you can create, or produce an injury free environment?. Essentially, your tendons and ligaments should be strong enough to support the stressful periods that will follow.
2) Second, this phase is a great time to address any strength imbalance that your body might have. This is the reason why mostly dumbbell work will be used during this phase.
3) Finally, this phase will act as a great time in which the body will re-charge its energy stores and allow for complete physical and mental recuperation.
The Loading Phase
During the loading phase the body is stressed with an increasing high volume of work that if kept for too long will eventually result in overtraining and injury. During this phase, three things will happen:
1) The growth hormone output goes through the roof due to the short rest interval between sets and the high volume.
2) Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs by the body increasing the levels of creatine, water and carbohydrates inside the muscle cell. This phenomenon is called muscle volumization.
3) The body's recuperation capabilities are upgraded in response to the stress imposed by the increasing volume of work coupled with short rest intervals.
The Growth Phase
During the Growth Phase the body is not stressed by volume. This time, the stimuli for growth is heavy weights. If this phase would be kept for too long eventually the body would cease to stop making strength gains and you would plateau. This is the reason why we always need to go back to a Loading Phase. During this phase the following three things will happen:
1) The Testosterone levels go through the roof in response to the longer rest in between sets and the heavier weights.
2) Hypertrophy (muscle growth) occurs by the body increasing the actual diameter of the myofiber (the muscle fiber size) through increased protein synthesis.
3) Since your body's recuperation abilities were built up to the maximum by the previous phase and the volume has gone down dramatically, these extra recuperation capabilities are used to increase strength and build more muscle mass. The reason the body does this is in order to be prepared for another stressful period like the one it just went through. This adaptation mechanism is the one that ensures the survival of the species.