As Promised - Periodization Notes

Hopefully this post isn’t too deep, or too confusing.  I want to emphasize that, if you are training, you should always try to get the most out of your time.  People spend years going to the same aerobics classes, and end up looking like they did after their first 8 weeks in the class.  They aren’t changing their training stimulus.  I had a ton of clients like this when I was a trainer in VA.  They were in phenomenal shape cardiovascularly, but they still had their “spare tire,” that just wouldn’t go away.

Their body had gotten used to the “aerobics class” stimulus.  It didn’t need to burn the fuel around their midsections.  They didn’t know this, so they continued to go to more aerobics classes…wearing their joints down, wasting their time, not getting what they wanted.

To get what you want, you have to decide that you want it!  Then you have to make a plan to get it.  Periodization is part of that planning process.

Periodization is the breaking down of the sport-training year into distinct phases, each with a distinct purpose, that all build up to the day of the competition.  Usually, we talk about a Macrocycle (e.g. one year, or the time between tournaments), a Mesocycle (smaller increments within a Macrocycle, that focus on the development of specific strength qualities or strength skills - usu. 2-6 weeks), and a Microcycle (which breaks down the Mesocycle into manageable blocks - usu. 3 days - 1 week).

The challenge, at a certain stage in training, becomes maintaining or increasing gains in different energy systems in the same phase.  For example - If you’ve built up your cardiovascular endurance in Phase 1, and want to build Max Strength in Phase 2, how do you maintain your gains in cardio endurance while still having enough recovery time to devote the energy needed to building Max Strength?  Because you’re training for specific strength-qualities whenever you train, this becomes tough.

For an athlete, periodization is very simple.  They have a specific target date by which they have to be at peak-performance levels.  The rest of the year is organized accordingly.

For many MMA athletes, they have no such year-long Macrocycle in which to prepare.  They have to be ready to go at any time (pretty much).  This is the professional conditioning situation that most closely approximates that of the general populace.

Ross Enamait (www.rosstraining.com) has adopted one solution from Mel Siff, which is called “conjugate periodization.”  It involves cycling different strength qualities on different days within a Phase, increasing the overall intensity as the Phase moves on, with all exercises adding up to a cumulative training effect (i.e., all the exercises on different days should complement each other - you don’t want to do leg extensions on Max Strength day and Leg Curls on Endurance day…that’s not complementary).

I think with some serious consideration, this is the best method.  But I think you have to be very careful about exercise selection, and separation of distinct energy systems on different days.

It would look like this:

Monday - Max Strength Training

Tuesday - Proprioception/Cardiovascular Endurance

Wednesday - Endurance Training

Thursday - Proprio/Cardio

Friday - General Physical Preparedness training - obstacles, running + calisthenics, etc.

Saturday and Sunday off.

Even with this breakdown, your max-training day would have to be very focused and very intense to have a cumulative effect over time, what with the full 6 days between training sessions.  It’s almost a little too much recovery time.  However, there is so much nervous system stimulation in a program like this, that you definitely NEED one or two days completely off to recuperate.

One thing to consider, when creating your own training program, is what you’re after.  If most people really stopped and thought about it, they’d see that hypertrophy (bigger muscles), and max strength, have limited applications in their daily lives.  Internal martial artists have to balance this very specifically, since the aim of Neigong is to “move a thousand pounds with one ounce.”

Staying relaxed and loose when you’re constantly training yourself to be tense outside of practice gives the body/mind mixed messages.

As you can see, having your goal clearly defined becomes of primary importance!  As I said at the beginning - you’ll get whatever you really want.  If you don’t decide what you want, you’ll get whatever’s left over.  Seriously consider your training goals, for physical conditioning and Bagua.  Decide what you really want, no matter how insane, and write it down.  Post it on a wall or mirror where you’ll see it all the time.  Make a plan to get it.

I don’t know of anyone practicing at Zong Wu Men who couldn’t gain Tony Jaa’s “light body” skills (at least to a large extent…).  But to do that, you have to be very focused in your training.  You definitely shouldn’t be wasting your time on the WOD’s!  hahah…

If you want the 1-inch punch, you have to devote time to it.  You have to focus on bringing all of your power into a single compressed moment/space.  You need to practice every day, and have a plan that changes the variables of your training.

Most of all, your goals should be useful to you, and be in line with your life-values.  If you haven’t figured out what those are…start there.

All of this will lead to a richer experience of yourself.  And richer experience of Bagua.  It all leads to you becoming who you really are, instead of going along with who you think you might be, or who others thing you might be.

This entry was posted on November 28, 2007 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.