What is Periodization? The Basics

Goal of Periodization? Which is most Effective for the Athlete?

What is Periodization?

Sports periodization is the planning of athletic training while using a progressively cyclic format with the goal of timing peak performance during the athlete’s major competitive events. Phases of training are meant to provide a change in variables such as frequency and intensity of workouts, focus on endurance, power and strength, and sport specific movement.  Off-season and pre-season training are great for addressing any weakness or imbalances that may have developed over the previous season, thus helping to avoid injury during the athletic season.  Without a structured program, many times athletes will burn out before the season begins. On the other side of the spectrum, they may not be properly prepared for competition.  Many combinations of training duration, volume, and intensity can be used in an attempt to maximize strength gains.

Basics:

Linear Periodization (LP): training initially uses high volume and low intensity. The training for LP progresses through mesocycles or phases where the volume decreases, and intensity increases. This style of training is broken down into phases that focus on hypertrophy, strength, power, and transition phases.  This is known as the “Classic” style of training, created by Dr. Leonid Matveyev.
• Undulating Periodization
• Undulating – This refers to the fact the weight/intensity/load changes on a session by session basis or from week to week.
•  Periodization – The program is set up in such a way that it is progressive, and has periods of light, moderate and heavy work.The key to UP is getting in maximum workout volume, without impacting recovery, which is why the undulating and periodization aspects are critical.

These are the two most well-known and most-used types of periodization.  We are just keeping it simple here to give you a basic understanding.  Now that we know what periodization is and the goals of each, one may ask, “Which is more effective for the athlete?”

Wrap-Up

Applying periodized planning to team sports poses unique challenges due to the variety of training goals, volume of concurrent training and practices, and extended season of competition.  Both of these methods have been proved to work. So then, does it matter which is used? The simple answer is: it depends on what one is training for. Gamble (2006) states, “Team sports require several disparate training goals.  These may include hypertrophy, maximal strength, explosive power, metabolic conditioning, and injury prevention.  Therefore there is a need for planned variations in training programs to systematically shift the emphasis to promote these different training effects at different phases of the preparation period.

References

1. Baechle, T. (2008). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd ed., pp. 507-509). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
2. Baker, D., Wilson, G., & Carlyon, R. (1994). Periodization: The Effect on Strength of Manipulating Volume and Intensity. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 8(4), 235-241.
3. Buford, T. W., Rossi, S. J., Smith, D. B., & Warren, A. J. (2007). A comparison of periodization models during nine weeks with equated volume and intensity for strength. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21(4), 1245.
4. Gamble, P. (2006). Periodization of training for team sports athletes. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 28(5), 56–66.
5. Hamer, P. W., Kok, L.-Y., & Bishop, D. J. (2009). Enhancing muscular qualities in untrained women: linear versus undulating periodization. American College of Sports Medicine, 2010, 1797–1807.