What is Periodisation?

Periodisation is defined as a planned manipulation of training variables, like intensity, volume, or frequency, to maximise performance adaptations and reduce fatigue. It is a fancy term for training programme, where you have a prospective training regime or template, from which you can retrospectively adjust as you go.

Periodisation is typically viewed at different timescales.

Macrocycles

A macrocycle typically refers to the widest view of your goal-based training programme. This could be a year for a footballer to reflect their season and offseason or 4 years for an Olympic sprinter to reflect their Olympic cycle.

Mesocycles

A mesocycle typically refers to the widest view of which you would split up your macrocycles. For many, this could simply be a one-month training block. For others, like professional athletes, this may be characterised by specific times in their pre-season, for example, a general physical preparation block or a specific preparation block, prior to their in-season maintenance training.

Microcycles

Microcycles typically refer to the widest way in which you split up your mesocycles. This is often viewed as just a week within a training block but can be more. Those that compete fortnightly, microcycles may be 2 weeks long within their wider mesocycle.

Training Days

More advanced athletes may plan training days if they have multiple sessions in one day.

Individual Training Sessions

These are your individual sessions within a training day. For those that do not have multiple sessions in one day, training days and training sessions can be viewed as the same thing.

What Are the Main Types of Periodisation?

Linear Periodisation

Linear periodisation is where volume and intensity are inversely related. Volume starts high at the start of your programme and slowly reduces to allow for an inverse increase in intensity towards the end of your programme, which is often considered a performance ‘peak’. This makes it great for athletes that train towards individual competitions, for example, boxers, powerlifters or Olympic weightlifters.

Non-Linear / Undulating Periodisation

non-linear periodisation is where volume and intensity are varied week to week or session to session in a wave-like pattern. This can be great for those looking to manage fatigue but also train and maintain multiple performance variables within a season.

Block Periodisation

Block periodisation is where individuals go through heavily targeted mesocycles one after another. This is good as lifters become more advanced and require a greater commitment to a physical quality, like strength or speed, to make progress; thus, combating the diminishing returns in strength gains that occurs as you get more advanced.

Integrated Periodisation Model

Understanding different models of periodisation can be really confusing, especially knowing which to use and when to use them.

It is important to understand that periodisation models are simply ways in which to apply our knowledge on adaptation, they are not the mechanisms of adaptation themselves. So, we recommend not getting attached to one, but instead using them all as and when you wish.

Which is why we recommend using an integrated approach to periodisation, in which no model is mutually exclusive.

For example, you may run a programme that follows a wider linear path, while also running heavily targeted training blocks, which utilise non-linear changes, either week to week or session to session, to train multiple qualities and manage fatigue.

Five Important Periodisation Terms

1 - Phase Potentiation

Phase potentiation refers to the logical ordering of your wider training programme or training blocks, in which one benefits the next. While not essential, this is a great way to order your training. For instance, you may run a hypertrophy block to increase muscle cross sectional area, increasing your potential for force production, prior to a strength training block where you aim to realise such potential with more neurologically specific high force training.

2 - Deload/Unloading Week

This is a planned week of reduced overall volume/load to allow cumulative fatigue to dissipate and adaption to occur. This can be helpful in a programme that doesn’t use any non-linear loading week to week.

3 - Peaking

This refers to your ability to plan a training programme for optimal performance at a competition.

4 - Tapering

Similar to a Deload, a taper occurs before a performance peak and aims to maintain performance levels, while accumulating as little fatigue as possible to allow for optimal performance.

5 - Monitoring

Observing how one reacts to a training programme so that adjustments can be made throughout. this can be done in many ways, objectively with countermovement jump data, or subjectively by simply asking yourself or a client how they are feeling, using the RPE scale.

Written by guest author Ewan Hammond.

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Tags: Misc > Lifestyle