peridization
Periodization & Planning Periodization is one of the most important concepts in training and planning. Flavios Philostratos (A.D. 170 – 245) wrote several manuals on the planning and training of the Greek Olympians. His surviving manuals, “Handbook of the athletics coach and gymnastics”, teach how to train for competitions including the importance of recovery. In this handbook also mentioned the type of knowledge a coach should have: “He must be a psychiatrist with considerable knowledge in anatomy and heritage”. Planning is the most important tool a coach should have to help the athletes achieve high levels of performance. A well organized, planned training program eliminates the random approach that is still used in many sports. It does not still exists the phrase “no pain no gain” or “intensity all the way” because planning is an art that uses science to build a training program. In training the most important thing is design because nothing happens by accident. “In training you don’t plan work, you plan the physiological reaction to your training plan”. In other words, a coach should be concerned in what the body’s reaction will be to what he plan’s rather than in what he plan’s for today or tomorrow. In our days, coaches must be highly educated and experienced in planning to be effective. A training plan must be simple and flexible so a coach can modify it according to the athlete’s progress and his knowledge improvement. When a coach builds a training plan, he must follow certain requirements of the planning process. An important requirement of the training process is a long-term plan and it can be used as an objective to guide the athletes training. A plan like this requires that skills and performance are continuously improving. The coach must take good consideration of the athlete’s improvement rate, foresee the levels the athlete will achieve and guide the athlete’s training towards these objectives. The objectives of a long-term plan included in the annual plan’s micro-and macrocycles, providing a continuity between the present and the future. This approach is very important for children and teenagers for appropriate guidance through their training. (Bompa.O, Periodization 1999) Periodization refers into two important aspects. Periodization of the annual plan which divides the annual plan into smaller phases, micro and macro-cycles, and that is easier to ensure peak performance for the main competition. Periodization of biomotor abilities which is for structuring these training phases for the highest level of speed, endurance and strength. (Bompa.O, Periodization 1999). Periodization of the annual plan Many people do not know the difference between periodization of the annual plan and the periodization of biomotor abilities. In most sports, the annual training cycle is divided into three main phases, the preparatory, the competitive and the transition phase. The preparatory and the competitive phases are divided into two sub-phases because their tasks are different. The sub-phases of the preparatory phase are a general and a specific sub-phase, based on the different characteristics of training. The competitive phase is usually preceded by a short pre-competitive sub-phase. Each phase is composed by micro and macro-cycles. (Bompa.O, Periodization 1999) Micro-cycle The term micro-cycle is coming from the Greek word mikros which means small and the Latin word cyclus which means that some sequence is happening regularly. In training, a micro-cycle refers to weekly training program that succeeds within an annual program. The micro-cycle is the most important tool of planning because its structure and content determine the quality of the training process. An athlete must repeat training lessons of similar objective and content two or three times during a micro-cycle to have a training effect. However, the athlete must repeat exercises to develop biomotor abilities with varying frequencies during a micro-cycle. The best way to develop general strength, endurance or speed is to repeat the lessons every second day. Strength training is more exhausted, because it has cardiovascular components, and require a longer recovery. For specific endurance of sub-maximum intensity, three training lessons a week will be enough and for maximum intensity two times a week. Two or three times a week is very good for exercises that develop leg power and speed performance under conditions like snow or sand. Finally to maintain speed and flexibility two lessons a week should be enough. Repetition can be used also for micro-cycles themselves. During a macro-cycle, a coach can repeat a micro-cycle of the same nature two or three times. The nature of the micro-cycle may be the same but the volume and intensity should increase for each cycle and specially for elite athletes (Bompa.O, Periodization 1999).