Preiodization (planning of training to maximise performance capacity) Its vital that athletes not only understand what they are trying to develop from an athletic perspective (strength, power, speed, agility, aerobic endurance, anaerobic endurance, flexibility, mobility,stability etc) but also how to plan and progress the stimulus to maximise adaptation and minimise stagnation/overtraining. Periodization is planning of training stress into periods or blocks emphasising specific physiological goals of the athlete. These goals are dependant on the athlete, sport, position and time of season. I get asked all the time how I plan and periodise for my athletes. One thing I first want you to understand is this... What is theoretical is not always practical. What sounds great in scientific literature can not always transfer to the practical environment. Remember how I bang on about the art of being a coach, well for periodization this could not be more true. Yes, you should understand the science behind programming and planning but remember real world application and bridging the gap is vital. I am in the private sector meaning most of my athletes (I do have pro guys in the off season) are not full time athletes (same in the institutes of sport) hence they have to work and like all other pro athletes have out side stressors (family, work etc). The reason why I say this is because I might only see them for 2 hours a week and unlike pro sport I cant control what they do on a day to day basis, I can only hope they listen to me in terms of restoration/nutrition/hydration etc. This is WSSC way of planning athletic development; Cycles are broken into periods Macro cycle (yearly) Meso cycle (monthly) Micro cycle ( weekly) Daily Then depending on the time of the season and the goals broken into phases; General prep (off/pre season) Specific prep (pre season) Competitive (in season) Transitional (off season/recreation activity) Phase duration depends on athletes sport and training age. The two main variables of planning are volume and intensity which we manipulate to maximise adaptation and neural stimulation (promote overload and a novel stimulus to adapt to). Traditional planning of strength development for athletes looks like this; Functional strength (anatomical adaptation) Hypertrophy (accumulation phase- volume phase) Max strength (intensification) Conversion = power (low/high load, train power continuum) or strength endurance At WSSC we develop power (both low/ high load) and strength at the same time as we believe it creates a unique stimulus and since we have limited time with athletes we use a multi factorial approach (train entire F-V curve)/mix methods approach = high force/low velocity | high force/high velocity| low force/high velocity = total neuromuscular development! Example Football athlete - 19 years old, 1st year VFL football, training age = 1 year strength training basic lifts Time of season: In season Goal: maintain strength, power, speed feel fresh for games = performance Since he is not highly trained we have found most of our boys increase strength and power in season even with the high amount of aerobic load. What we found as long as the boys completed 2 x neural loading sessions it off setted the strength decay also they maintain their lean mass (important in season as athletes lose a high amount of muscle tissue = decease in force generating capacity of the muscle _ two factors of strength and power= size of the muscle (number of contractile units) ¥ the extent which the CNS can activate the tissue). ** concurrent training is training two different bio motor qualities eg strength and conditioning = they both off set each other its called an interference effect . They have found in literature that strength training improves running/aerobic performance but endurance training decreases strength, power and speed (anaerobic capacity). Also remember an athlete who is lower trained should be lifting heavier weight at quicker movement speeds every week, their window of adaptation is large (genetic ceiling). We work in 5 week blocks, with the 5th week being the unload/de load week then the 6th week being new motor patterns (exercises) new loading parameters! Eg front squat Week 1 4 x 6 Week 2 4 x 6 try and increase weight by 1-1.5% Week 3 4 x 4 (overload week) Week 4 4 x 4 try and increase weight Week 5 2 x 6 @ light unload Week 6 Box squat Week 1 4 x 6 etc Normal peridization goes from high volume /low intensity to high intensity/ low volume General to specific stress Low to high task complexity Non competitive to competitive Pretty much as you get closer to season and in season training stress becomes highly specific when training and intensity is high / volume is low = focus on developing skills and recovery for games. Remember what we coach athletes for = to become better at their sport, if they cant train they cant get better! Hope this gives you a brief idea of planning of programs for athletes. Lift strong. CW & WSSC Christian@woodfordssc or PM. Under Armour Australia
Posted on: Thu, 29 May 2014 23:56:12 +0000