I was reading about the different ways people use periodization in their training. One way was like the fitrex plan I am currently working on.

Another started with 1 week high reps/low wt (endurance)then 1 week at 10-12 reps/medium wt, then 1 week of low reps 3-8/high wt. Then they showed 2 more weeks, 1 week with 1-3 reps/max type wt and then the last week (5 week cycle) was low/ no training at all, just doing a sport (racquetball) for a week to let your body rest.

What style would you recommend to try, and why? I would appreciate any response you can give me, as I am new to trying different approaches to lifting wts.

Periodized programs have been scientifically proven to provide greater results in strength and conditioning than a non-periodized program. However, with any program, if you switch from high volume training to low volume training too quickly or if the cycle is too short you will definitely limit your overall physical potential.

In the program you mentioned you go from a high rep/low weight phase to a low rep/high weight phase in 4 weeks with the 5th week being an active rest type of phase where you play racquetball etc. This workout is way too short to provide enough stimuli for maximal development.

An ideal "minimum" length for a full training cycle is 12 weeks. This is why I have written all of the Fitrex programs to be 12 weeks in length. I will eventually write programs that will span from 4 weeks to 28 weeks in length. However, the shorter programs will be used in the context of fitting into a longer overall cycle. They will not be written to take somebody from a general preparation phase to a peak phase in such a short time span.