PERIODIZATION
Planning
Training should be organized and planned in advance of a competition or
performance. It should consider the athlete's potential, their 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.
Modulated Components
The three principal components that a coach must modulate in a training plan are
intensity, volume and frequency.
Intensity refers to the load quantity applied to a training session, cycle or annual
plan, usually expressed with heart rate, power or speed.
Volume refers to the total amount of training that is applied to a session, cycle or
annual plan, usually expressed as either distance or time
Frequency refers to the number of times a training session is repeated within a
cycle
Periodization
Periodization is the systematic planning of athletic or physical training for long-term
performance improvements. It is a design strategy that includes preplanned, systematic
variations in training specificity, intensity, and volume organized in periods or cycles
within an overall program.
The aim is to reach the best possible performance in the most important competition of
the year. The plan should include all aspects of an athlete’s program, including general
conditioning, sport-specific activities, and resistance training.
Macrocycle
The macrocycle is the longest of the three cycles incorporate all 52 weeks of your
annual plan that works towards peaking for the goal competition of the year.
It provides you with a bird’s-eye view of your training regimen and allow you to
facilitate long-range planning
Mesocycle
The mesocycle is what the macrocycle is broken up into and represents a specific
block of 2 to 8 weeks training that is designed to accomplish a particular goal.
Microcycle
A microcycle is the shortest training cycle, typically a week and includes a number
of training sessions, with the goal of facilitating a focused block of training, which
include progression as well as alternating effort (heavy vs. light days).
Each microcycle is planned based on where it is in the overall macrocycle as it lets
you break your medium- and long-term fitness goals into manageable chunks.
Preparation (Pre-season) Period
This period prepares the athlete with the physical, psychological, technical and
tactical tools necessary to maximize their performance in the competitive period of
the season.
The preparation period lasts approximately three to six months, depending on
factors such as the athlete, whether it is an individual or a team sport and the
structure of the sport’s competitive season.
General preparatory phase
The main focus is on developing the athlete’s basic fitness/physical conditioning.
This will enable the athlete to tolerate the greater volume and/or intensity of
training as the preparatory phase progresses.
Also, the development of technical and tactical skills will be focused on.
Specific preparatory phase
The focus shifts to preparing the athlete for the competitive season. Training
becomes more specific to the skills and technical requirements of the athlete’s
specific sport.
Competition Phase
This phase takes place during the athlete’s competitive season. It would not be
appropriate for the athlete to be attempting to make large gains in
fitness/technique during this phase, as the effort to do this would likely be
detrimental to their competitive performance.
In this phase the goals for the athlete are to maintain general physical condition,
continue improving sport-specific skills and technique, perfect their tactical
approach to competition and gain competition experience.
To achieve this, the athlete’s training volume is reduced, and the focus shifts to
working predominantly on breaking down and improving sport-specific skills.
Transition (post-season) phase
The main goal of the transition phase is to allow the athlete to recover and become
refreshed before beginning the new pre-season phase of training. An effective
transition phase should provide opportunities for the athlete to rest and relax,
physically and mentally, while maintaining an acceptable level of physical fitness.
The approximate duration of the transition phase is three to four weeks. An
effective approach is to encourage the athlete to take part in exercises and activities
that are different to their normal training activities and in different environments. This
will maintain fitness levels while providing the athlete with active rest and relaxation.
Tapering
Tapering is a structured reduction in training volume for a specific period of time
prior to athletic competition as a means to enhance performance. It allows the
body to repair these normal small “injuries” by reducing training volume and
intensity.
This helps the body to recover fully in order for the athlete to perform their best.
1-2 weeks of tapering can improve strength, speed, and power while reducing
feelings of tiredness, depression, and anxiety
Peaking
Peaking is when the athlete is performing at their absolute best during
competition. When planning a training year the coach or trainer attempts to have
the athlete peak for the most important competitions.
Peaking requires the athlete to have great general body conditioning, good sports
specific conditioning as well as great skill execution combined with strategy and
tactics that enable them to perform at their best.
Peaking also needs the athlete to be mentally focused and have optimum arousal
levels in order to perform at their best.