Another version is just working up from say 50% of your 1RM for a single. Then continue to increase that weight as you go in say 5% or 10% increments for singles until you get to your max efforts where you may complete just 1 or as many as 5 or 8 1RM's to complete your workout. Cut a long story short heavy singles should be used consistently and should not be shied away from. Some may argue you increase your risk of injury however this is not the case. You are for more likely to become injured when you are tired and into your 6th, 7th or 8th rep. When you are doing heavy singles you are likely to keep perfect form and concentration for that one rep. Just make sure you progress to those singles to ensure you are warm and ready for that maximum effort.
In regards to the second part of this title - Cycling....and no, I don't mean cycling through gear! What I'm talking about is this notion of periodization or cycling through heavy workouts and starting again from say 40% and working back up over a period of weeks. Some would recommend that you say complete a 12 week cycle working up to a new 1 RM and then starting again from as low as 40% or 50% of your 1RM. Whilst this is fair and it is important to give your body rest the thought of going back down to 40% doesn't make sense. Sure it is important to get sufficient rest after a heavy cycle but it is time to man up. If your doing 200kg+ deadlifts what good are you going to gain from starting again at say 80kg's? Not much I would argue. When you enter the gym to work then anything less than about 70% of your 1 RM and you are wasting your time (with the caveat that this is if your seeking maximum strength, if your specifically seeking speed and power than reps with a weight at say 50% of your 1 RM is very beneficial if it is done at speed seeking real speed & power in each rep). Think about it for a moment, if you are working on 12 week cycles if you began at 40% it would take you say 4 to 6 weeks before you began lifting in the 80% range leaving you only an additional 6 weeks to really reach into some significant weight territory with say only 2 to 3 weeks when you are beginning to hit 100% or 105% 1RM weights. Alternatively if you hit your next 12 week cycle at about 70% you are likely to be hitting your previous 100% best at about week 6 or 8 leaving you still with another 4 weeks or so of 100%+ weights meaning you are much more likely to break through your 1RM PR from the previous cycle earlier and finishing much higher.
Saying all this is worth bugger all if you aren't pushing yourself in every workout. the likes of Grimek, Ahola, Pudzianowski or Pyrros Dimas aren't considered as some of the strongest men to ever walk the planet because they pushed submaximal weights around. Almost every session they entered the gym they went in with the sole purpose of pushing more weight than they have before. This takes fierce guts and determination, however anyone with enough mental toughness can make themselves into anything they want provided they are prepared to push themselves mentally and physically with complete consistency over many years.