What is periodization

Periodized training works on a concept of overload and adaptation, by stressing the body over time,
allowing it to recover, and then stressing it again, athletes can gradually build fitness / strength.
Periodization consists of three types of cycles

• Macrocycle: refers to your entire season
• Mesocycle: refers to a particular training block within that season, e.g: the oxidative phase /
  strength phase / recovery phase / specific competition peak phase
• Microcycle: refers to the smallest unit within a mesocycle; usually a week of training or often a
  single days worth of training.
  By structuring your seasons with these cycles in mind, you can ensure that you’re building and recovering
  adequately for optimal adaptation to transfer into performance.

MACROcycles

The macrocycle is the longest of the three cycles and includes all stages of a periodized training program. These stages could include (but not limited to), endurance, intensity, strength, capacity, competition and recovery. Because macrocycles incorporate all 52 weeks of the annual plan, they provide you with a bird’s-eye view of your training regimen and allow you to facilitate long-range planning. For example, if you want to peak for a notable event one year from now, you can mark that date on your
calendar and work backward to create a program that allows you to peak at that time. You can use the same process to identify several major events throughout the year and develop a plan that facilitates multiple fitness peaks. Be mailable because of its length, you will need to make changes and adjustments to your macrocycle throughout the year.

MESOCYCLES

The mesocycle represents a specific block of training that is designed to facilitate a specific stimulus / goal / adaptation. For instance, during the strength phase, you may look at developing overall muscular development, body mass, and maximal strength. Certain times of the season will aid in specifying which exercises are used also due to the central nervous system depletion, overloading or ability to recover from a specific training session. The mesocycle may consist of two training sessions per week over an eight week period that will help develop a certain stimulus / adaptation. Similarly you might use a 3 week period of intense threshold outputs followed by 1 week recovery and repeat this scheme twice in the same 8 week block. A mesocycle is typically made of either 21 / 28 day training blocks. This is formatted by using 3-4 microcycles designed to attain a particular goal. You can repeat this format multiple times to lengthen the mesocycle OR until you see diminishing returns on the training aspect.

MICROCYCLES

The microcycle is the shortest training cycle that would have narrow vision on a week of training and furthermore, a single day of training. The design of the micro cycle is to facilitate the intention of the mesocycle within a larger block of training. An example of this may be the athlete performing variations of back squats and front squats 3 times in a week of training to facilitate the growth of the clean in Olympic Lifting. Another example incorporates an intensity threshold development with 3 days of hard anaerobic efforts back to back with an equal amount of recovery. This would constitute an ‘Intensity Microcycle’ with the goal to improve lactate threshold and the ability to clear metabolite waste. In general, 3-4 micro cycles are used to make up a mesocycle.

Conclusion

You can get the most out of your training by having a good understanding of each of these 3 cycles of periodisation and using these cycles to develop a resolute plan that allows peak performance at the identified markers in the calendar year. Quality coaching staff will work together to best produce plans with a healthy mix of strength and conditioning with linear progression for athletes that is sustainable across the weeks / months / year plan. More time spent in trainjng will of course result in more total training volume accrued in the week.

Example training load in a week

● Monday – Medium to High Intensity (80-90% load intensity)
● Tuesday – High Intensity (90-100%)
● Wednesday – Medium Intensity (70-80%)
● Thursday – Low Intensity / Regeneration (70%)
● Friday – Medium to High Intensity (80-90%)
● Saturday – Match Day OR simulation High Intensity (90-100%)
● Sunday – Regeneration/Rest Day (60%)

This is how we program our training, making use of the various cycles to maximise the returns of your training, and to make sure you are working as effectively as possible. Want to get the best programming and not have to worry about whether you’re wasting your time in the gym and missing out on progress? Check out our programs here.