Part II: How is Periodization Related To Cycles?
Part III: What are the Periods Associated with Periodization?
How is Periodization Related To Cycles?
The first part of this article describes the basis for Periodization and why cycles occur in nature. In this second part, we describe Periodization and its relation to natural cycles.
So we established that cycles are needed to achieve balance and strength in nature. If that is true, then wouldn't it make sense to apply Periodization to your training? You do want to do well in your key races this year, right? And in endurance racing one needs to get strong in certain areas to achieve his/her goals, right? So it makes perfect sense to incorporate cycles into your training plan.
The main cycle that you will need to maintain is a balance between the two critical forces of training, exercise and recovery:
PERIODIZATION: EXERCISE<------------------------->RECOVERY
Exercise tends to break down the body when stresses are applied to it. Recovery is the ability of the body to heal itself to a point where it is much stronger. These two forces must stay in constant balance with one another in order to get stronger, faster, and healthier:
The chart above illustrates a sound Periodization training plan. Exercise puts a load or stress on the body and breaks it down. A good recovery will heal your body to a point better than before (called "supercompensation").
Unfortunately, many competitive athletes abuse exercise and neglect the recovery. This leads to an unbalanced condition where the body is broken down so much that leads to overtraining and injury. Ample recovery MUST be built in to the training plan for the body to rebuild itself stronger.
Periodization supplies the balance every sound training plan needs. As the name suggests, this balance is done through several periods (or cycles) of exercise and recovery. Planning workouts in this way allows the athlete to build in his/her rest and recovery in every period, and to allow the body to fully recover stronger from the stresses you apply through exercise. In the next segment, I will show you the types of periods or cycles that exist in this model.
Part 3 - What are the Cycles or Periods Associated With Periodization?
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