Training Variation: Periodization

Periodization

Exercise Training Programming • A training program should seek to improve all physiological abilities in proportion to the needs and overall goals of the individual through systematic manipulation of program variables • The program should strive to improve function, overall health, and changes in physical appearance • A person’s needs should be the first focus • Needs are determined by a fitness assessment • Exercise Programs should focus on building a base of strength, endurance, stability, flexibility, and mobility

Exercise Program • A collection of exercises grouped together into routines and performed with a certain amount of volume for a specific amount of time • You can assemble an endless combination of exercises and techniques for any program • You can perform these exercises with an infinite number of intensities, reps, sets, and tempos • With so many programming options, it is important to establish systems to adjust all these program variables

General Training Goals • Before beginning, ask yourself why you are choosing this exercise for your client and why you are having them perform it in a certain manner • Example of a general goal is to increase muscular endurance and have your client perform 12 reps of a body weight squat

Program Design Variables •

Intensity –

•

Load

Volume: – – – – –

• •

Reps Sets Duration Frequency Tempo

Recovery Sequence

Volume • Volume for a muscle is the total amount of time it is under tension • Most critical component of volume is the number of reps performed • Use a preplanned number of repetitions to select the necessary weight loads • The number and the tempo of reps determine the duration of a set; therefore dictate the energy systems and muscle fiber types that will be trained

Tempo • The most overlooked element of exercise technique • Defined as the specific movement speed of the body or segments during any given exercise • Tempo for resistance training deals with the actual speed of each repetition

The Science of Tempo • Golgi tendon organs, muscle spindles, connective tissue, joints, tendon, and the muscles monitor muscle force and joint range of motion which makes tempo very important and demonstrates that no one speed can offer the best results for all training goals

The Science of Tempo • Breathing is also closely related to the tempo and will tend to speed up or slow down with the tempo of the exercise • Example: 4-2-3-1 tempo on a squat would mean to lower the body and bar four-second eccentric, hold at the bottom for two seconds, press the body and weight load back up with a three-second concentric movement, and then pause for one second at the concentric-isometric phase then repeat • This would be a nine-second tempo for the squat

The Science of Tempo • Slower tempos with longer pauses at the eccentricisometric phase are ideal for developing maximal strength gains • The muscle must learn to produce more force and recruit more motor units (i.e., fast-twitch muscle fibers innervated by the nerve) in absence of the stretch-reflex • Faster tempos are ideal for speed, agility, and power exercises. These exercises are designed to increase power-producing capability of the muscles by exploiting the stretch-reflex

Tempo Examples Training Goals

Tempo Assignment

Endurance Hypertrophy Strength

2-1-1-1 (5 sec) 3-1-2-1 (7 sec) 4-1-2-2 (9 sec)

Recovery • Recovery is necessary for the adaptation process referred to as supercompensation • It might take 2-10 days for tissue repair and protein synthesis, depending on the levels of intensity • Muscles become bigger and stronger while resting , not while training

Recovery • Lack of recovery leads to exhaustion and overtraining • Exhaustion is the result of short-term imbalances of stress and recovery • Overtraining is the long-term result • Overtraining causes declines in tissue repair and nervous system function

Recovery • Overtraining can create hormonal imbalances and often results in severe deficiencies of the immune system, leaving the person weaker, chronically fatigued, mentally drained, and prone for illness • You need more rest when working with higher intensities • Nerve cells take five to six times longer to recover than muscle cells

Sequence • Sequence is the specific planned exercise order in a given routine • Place exercises of high neurological challenge and demand before those with low demand – DB Lunge before Seated Horizontal Leg Press

• Train the more functional movements before machine exercise

Sequence • Compound movement before isolation exercises –Squat before a Leg Curl

• Place new exercises in the sequence before those previously mastered • Place exercises requiring high balance like BOSU and SB’s before fatiguing the primary movers

Metabolic Changes • Neural metabolic changes take place within the neuromuscular system based on intensity and duration of a given set • More neural, intramuscular adaptations occur with sets performed with low reps and high intensities • Conversely more cellular, metabolic adaptations of the muscle result from prolonged sets or greater amounts of time under tension

Neural Metabolic Continuum of Adaptation Energy System

Primary Muscle Fiber Types Stimulated

Neural Metabolic Adaptation

ATP-Creatine Phosphate (Anaerobic)

Type IIb

Neural

GlycolyticLactic Acid (Aerobic and Anaerobic)

Type IIa and IIb

Oxidative- Type I Aerobic

Recovery Specific Training Goals Between Sets

Metabolic

StrengthPower

5 + min

StrengthHypertrophy Hypertrophy

1-4 min

HypertrophyEndurance Endurance

0-30 sec

Designing A Beginner Exercise Program 1. 2. 3. 4.

Teach the Basics/Fundamentals Use Body Weight First Progress from Simple to Complex Use a preplanned number of sets, repetitions, and rest intervals to correspond with the appropriate intensities

Periodization and Progression • The key to designing successful exercise programs year-round is to develop a system that manages all program variables • Long-term planning and tracking is what periodization is all about

Periodization • Strategy to promote long-term training and performance improvements with preplanned, systematic variations in training specificity, intensity, and volume organized in periods or cycles within an overall program

Periodization • Periodization involves shifting training priorities from non-sportspecific activities of high volume and low intensity to sport-specific activities of low volume and high intensity over a period of many weeks to prevent overtraining and optimize performance

Periodizing Your Training Plan • Dividing up your long-term training program into discreet blocks of time and varying both training intensity and skill set from one block to the next • Working at different levels of intensity over time improves your overall fitness, teaches you to cope with fatigue both physically and mentally, makes training more enjoyable, lowers your risk of injury and helps you to avoid the dangers of overtraining.

Periodizing Your Training Plan • Periodization introduces structure and efficiency to your training plan, allowing you to make the most of each workout session • There’s no wasting time on sessions that don’t help you to reach your goal, which translates to better performance on event day

Periodizing Your Training Plan

• Periodizing your training plan involves two concepts: –Figuring out a workable timetable that fits you and your schedule –Selecting the appropriate workouts for each time period that will help you achieve your fitness goals

Periodization Goals • Promote long term training and performance improvements through manipulating training variables: –Intensity, volume, recovery, and sequence • Reduce overtraining • Peaking at the appropriate time or providing a program for sports with a specific season

• • • • •

What Periodization Can Do For You Reduce risks of overtraining Promote physical and mental recovery Promote an optimal response to a training stimulus Encourage consistent physical improvement Avoiding the tendency to plateau

• You stay fresh and motivated which improves your adherence and enjoyment.

Responses to Training Stress • The roots of periodization come from Hans Selye’s model, known as the General Adaptation Syndrome, which has been used by the athletic community since the late 1950s • General adaptation syndrome describes the body's short-term and long-term reaction to stress • The general adaptation syndrome describes a three stage reaction to stress • Later the concept was applied to training

General Adaptation Syndrome Phases • Alarm/Shock Phase: – Where the body detects the external stimulus (lifting heavier weights), the individual experiences excessive soreness, stiffness, and or drop in performance

• Resistance Phase: – Body adapts to the stimulus and returns to normal.

• Exhaustion Phase: – When the training stress is too great or there is no variation in the programming, monotony or overtraining can occur

Periodization Cycles • Three time divisions of a periodized training plan:

–Macrocycle –Mesocycle –Microcycle

Macrocycle • Macro = large • Typically an entire training year but may also be a period of many months up to four years (for Olympic athletes).

Mesocycle • Meso = middle • It is the intermediate increment of time between the largest and the smallest • There are several mesocycles in a macrocycle • Each mesocycle lasts anywhere from several weeks to several months

Microcycle • Micro = small • The smallest increment of time in the training plan, usually lasting from seven to 14 days (could last as long as four weeks) • Two or more microcycles make up a mesocycle

Periodization Cycles • Think of a workout session as the basic building block of the training plan; several workout sessions occur in each microcycle • Mapping out a periodized training plan involves: – Put your goal or event on the calendar and work backward – Determine your macrocycle – Divide your macrocycle into mesocycles – Divide your mesocycles into microcycles – Plug workout details into your microcycles

Training Period

Macrocycle

Typical Length of Time Characteristics

One training year

General plan Overall goals

Mesocycle

6-8 weeks

Detailed plan Specific goals

Training Phases

1-3 weeks

Endurance, Hypertrophy, Strength, Power

Microcycles

Daily

Fine adjustments for maintaining goals

Training Phases Within Cycles • • • • • • •

Preparatory Period Transitional Phase Hypertrophy/Endurance Phase Basic Strength Phase Strength/Power Phase Competition or Peaking Phase Active Rest Phase

Preparatory Period • Longest phase (up to four months) • Occurs when there are no competitions • Emphasis of this period is to establish a base level of conditioning to increase the individuals tolerance for more intense training • Conditioning activities begin at low intensities and high volumes; long slow distance running, low-intensity plyometrics, and high-repetition resistance training with moderate loads

Transitional Phase • This phase is typically the first week of a mesocycle and is characterized by low-intensity and low-volume training • It is common to place these weeks following mesocycles that end with high-intensity strength or power phases • During this week assessments to measure progress should be performed to measure progress and identify adaptations achieved in the previous mesocycle

Hypertrophy/Endurance Phase • Increase lean body mass • Develop an endrurance base (muscular and metabolic) for intense future training using a resistance training program that includes sport-specific or nonsport-specific exercises performed at high volume and low intensity • 50%-75% of the 1 RM • 3-6 sets of 10-20 repetitions

Strength Phase • Increase maximal muscle force by following resistance training program that focuses on sport-specific exercises of moderate volume and intensity • Examples: – Sport Skill is Freestyle swimming and related exercises would be the lat pulldown, lunge, and lateral raise

• 80%-90% of the 1 RM • 3-5 sets of 4-8 repetitions

Strength/Power Phase • Increase the speed of force development and power by integrating sport-specific power/explosive exercises of low volume and high intensity • Example: – Sport Skill is sprinting and the related exercises would be assisted and resisted sprinting and plyometric drills

• 75% -95% of the 1 RM • 3-5 sets of 2-5 repetitions

Competition or Peaking Phase • Attain peak strength and power by performing very high intensity and very low volume sport-specific resistance training program • Example: –Sprinter will focus on speed and reaction time

• 93% of the 1 RM • 1-3 sets of 1-3 repetitions

Active Rest Phase • Allow physiological and mental recovery through limited low-volume and low-intensity resistance training or by having the athlete perform physical activities unrelated to his or her sport • Example: –Athletes playing a round of golf

Classic Periodization Model • Linear –Training intensity gradually and continually increases and training volume gradually and continually decreases from one mesocycle to the next –There is no variation in the assigned number of sets and repetitions within each mesocycle

Linear Periodization Example

• Hypertrophy/Endurance Phase –2-4 weeks in duration –3-5 sets –8-12 repetitions –1-2 minutes of rest –75% of the 1 RM –Multijoint to single-joint Exercises

Linear Periodization Example

•Strength Phase –2-4 weeks in duration –3-5 sets –5-6 repetitions –3-5 minutes of rest –85% of the 1RM –Multijoint exercises

Linear Periodization Example

• Strength/Power Phase –2-4 weeks in duration –3-5 sets –3-4 repetitions –2-5 minutes of rest –90-93% of the 1RM –DB clean, agility drills, and plyometrics

Linear Periodization Example

• Competition Phase –2-3 weeks in duration –3-4 sets –1-2 repetitions –3-5 minutes of rest –95% or less of the 1 RM –Sprinting and Plyometrics

Linear Periodization Example

•Active Rest –Intensity and volume are decreased to facilitate recovery –1-3 weeks in duration –No resistance training –Rehabilitating any injuries

Nonlinear Periodization Model • Also referred to as Undulating • Varies the intensity and volume of exercises throughout the week or microcycle • The key element of this type of training is the variation and ability to allow rest • This type of training is most popular so that training can continue through the season • This model may be more effective at promoting muscular strength gains

Nonlinear Periodization Example • Monday: – Strength (heavy day)-85-93% 1 RM – 3-4 sets – 3-6 reps – 2-5 minutes of rest

• Tuesday: – Endurance (light day) - 65-75%1RM – 2-4 sets – 10-15 reps – 1 minute of rest

Nonlinear Periodization Example • Thursday: – Power (high intensity) – 3-4 sets – 2-4 reps – 2-5 minutes of rest • Friday: – Moderate Intensity -75-80% 1RM – 2-4 sets – 8-10 reps – 1-2 minutes of rest

Applying Sport Seasons to Periodization

• Most sports have an annual schedule that includes the following mesocycles: –Off-season –Preseason –In-season –Postseason

Off-Season • Period between the last event and six weeks (varies) prior to the first event of next year’s season • Includes most of the preparatory period

Preseason • Leads up to the first event • Later stages of the preparatory period and first transition period

In-Season and Postseason • In-season: – Events

• Postseason: – After the final event – Active rest before starting next year’s offseason