Periodizing major lifts

Ok, so i'm going to try periodizing to get past some plateaus. Question I have is - can I *just* periodize my major 3 lifts (squat, dead, bench), and leave everything else as is? Tonight I started this scheme, and went light on my squat so I could survive the 12 reps called for. But then I did SLDL and leg-presses. I just did those with the same weight I've been using for months. Should one periodize EVERY lift, and all at the same time? That seems like it would get REAL nasty when you reach the 2-rep period.

You're talking about following that decreasing volume / increasing intensity progression in response to your earlier post, right? It's fine to just do it with squat, DL and bench and leave your other lifts alone. And, no - you don't have to have them all in synch. www.jackalsgym.com has a little more detail on that particular progression. http://www.weightliftingdiscussion.com/routines.html has some other routines you might find interesting - the Gaugler wave routine in particular

Exactly. And when I read that post, I wondered why I hadn't thought of such a scheme myself. I had assumed that one simply kept adding weight to what you lifted last week 'forever'. Obviously I got stuck somewhere along the way. Anyway, thanks for the info.

Your welcome. BTW, I re-read your first post and realized that the Gaugler wave routine I mentioned probably wouldn't be appropriate yet. Anyway, have fun.