Designing a Training Cycle - Periodisation pt1

So as a PT and competitive sports man myself I am always approach my training, and that of my clients with specific targets in place, whether that be dates, weights to move, distance to cover during cardio based training, whatever it is I am doing in the gym there is always a goal and set date in mind to achieve it by. This is basic principle of 'Periodisation' and should be the building block of any training program.

Periodisation stems from and originates from Hans Selye's model known as the General Adaptation Syndrome, or GAS for short. The GAS describes three basic stages of response to stress: (a) the Alarm stage, involving the initial shock of the stimulus on the system, (b) the Resistance stage, involving the adaptation to the stimulus by the system, and (c) the Exhaustion stage, in that repairs are inadequate, and a decrease in system function results. The foundation of periodic training is keeping one's body in the resistance stage without ever going into the exhaustion stage. By adhering to cyclic training the body is given adequate time to recover from significant stress before additional training is undertaken. The response to a new stress is to first respond poorly and the response drops off. For example when the body is first exposed to sun a sunburn might develop. During the resistance stage adaptation improves the response to a higher level, called super compensation, than the previous equilibrium. The example would be that a suntan develops. The exhaustion stage is a continuation of the stimulus at too high a level and the increase gained from adaptation is now offset and all gains are lost. The example would be that wrinkles, spots, or even skin cancer develop. The goal in sports periodisation is to reduce the stress at the point where the resistance stage ends so the body has time to recover. In this way the exhaustion stage does not reduce the gains achieved, the body can recover and remain above the original equilibrium point. The next cycle of increased stimulus now improves the response further and the equilibrium point continues to rise after each cycle.

Theory Of Planning

Training should be organised and planned in advance of a competition or performance. It should consider the athlete’s potential, his/her performance in tests or competition, and calendar of competition. It has to be simple, suggestive, and above all flexible as its content can be modified to meet the athletes rate of progress.

This can be split into 3 distinct areas of planning;

1. The Macrocycle
2. The Mesocycle
3. The Microcycle

The macrocycle

A macrocycle is an annual plan that works towards peaking for the goal competition of the year. There are three phases in the macrocycle: preparation, competitive, and transition.

The entire preparation phase should be around 2/3 to 3/4 of the macrocycle. The preparation phase is further broken up into general and specific preparation of which general preparation takes over half. An example of general preparation would be building an aerobic base for an endurance athlete such as running on a treadmill and learning any rules or regulations that would be required such as proper swimming stroke as not to be disqualified. An example of specific preparation would be to work on the proper form to be more efficient and to work more on the final format of the sport, which is to move from the treadmill to the pavement.

The competitive phase can be several competitions, but they lead up to the main competition with specific tests. Testing might include any of the following: performance level, new shoes or gear, a new race tactic might be employed, pre-race meals, ways to reduce anxiety before a race, or the length needed for the taper. When the pre-competitions are of a higher priority there is a definite taper stage while lower priority might simply be integrated in as training. The competitive phase ends with the taper and the competition.

The transition phase is important for psychological reasons, a year of training means a vacation is in order. A typical weekend warrior might take three months while a professional athlete might take as little as two weeks.

The mesocycle

A mesocycle represents a phase of training with a duration of between 2 – 6 weeks or microcycles, but this can depend on the sporting discipline. A mesocycle can also be defined as a number of continuous weeks where the training program emphasize the same type of physical adaptations, for example muscle mass and anaerobic capacity. During the preparatory phase, a mesocycle commonly consists of 4 – 6 micro-cycles, while during the competitive phase it will usually consist of 2 – 4 micro-cycles depending on the competition’s calendar.

The goal of the plan is to fit the mesocycles into the overall plan timeline-wise to make each mesocycle end on one of the phases and then to determine the workload and type of work of each cycle based on where in the overall plan the given mesocycle falls. The goal in mind is to make sure the body peaks for the high priority competitions by improving each cycle along the way.

The microcycle

A microcycle is typically a week because of the difficulty in developing a training plan that does not align itself with the weekly calendar. Each microcycle is planned based on where it is in the overall macrocycle.

A micro-cycle is also defined as a number of training sessions, built around a given combination of acute program variables, which include progression as well as alternating effort (heavy vs. light days). The length of the micro-cycle should correspond to the number of workouts - empirically often 4-16 workouts - it takes for the athlete or fitness client to adapt to the training program. When the athlete or fitness client has adapted to the program and no longer makes progress, a change to one or more program variables should be made.

Preparatory phase

This phase consists of the general preparation and specific preparation. Usually which can be subdivided into three different phases. One should always remember that this is a base creation phase with the objective to attain the previous training state, and the longest period of periodization must be devoted towards the preparatory period. The performance depends on preparatory period, and is divided into three phases:

Phase I) To regain previous training

• Low volume, but maintaing high intensity is there.
• competitions.

Phase II) Low training volume & High training load to develop the factors needed for performance.

• works on specific exercise.

Phase III) Decrease in the intensity of load and increase in tactical training and aim at improving tactical under competition condition.

Competitive phase

This phase may contain a few main competitions each containing a pre-competitive and a main competition. Within the main competition, an uploading phase and a special preparatory phase may be included. This also includes hypertrophy.

Transition phase

This phase is used to facilitate psychological rest, relaxation and biological regeneration as well as to maintain an acceptable level of general physical preparation. This phase lasts 3–4 weeks (perhaps longer) but should not exceed five weeks under normal conditions and may be sports specific. It allows the body to fully regenerate so that it is prepared for the next discipline.

• there is no competition in this phase.

References

1.  Rowbottom, David J. (2000). "Periodization of Training". In Garrett, William E.; Kirkendall, Donald T. Periodization of Training. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 499. ISBN 9780683034219. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
2. Jump up^ Arnd Krüger (1973). Periodization or Peaking at the right time, in: Track Technique 54 (1973), pp.1720- 1724
3. Jump up^ Bradford, Mark Rippetoe & Andy Baker ; with Stef (2013). Practical programming for strength training (3rd edition. ed.). ISBN 9780982522752.
4. Jump up^ Arnd Krüger. Nachwort zum neusten Stand der Literatur zur Periodisierung, in: L. P. MATWEJEW: Periodisierung des sportlichen Trainings. Berlin: Bartels & Wernitz 1972, 201 - 231 (2. Aufl. 1978). Also basis for the French translation: Postface.La base de l'entraînement.Paris: Vigot 1980.
5. Jump up^ V.I. PLATONOV: General theory of training of athletes in Olympic sports. Kiew: Olympic Books, 1997.
6. ^ Jump up to:^a b c "Periodisation in fencing". Retrieved 23 January 2015.