Periodization is a rather ignorant term. Why? Because it is a blanket that is often used to justify using ineffective training methods for extended periods of time in order to “peak” when the more useful training is applied later in the season. The usual reference for periodization is: “planning training in regards to performing the best at the most important competition of the year”, but unfortunately, it usually ends up something like: conditioning and fitness > weight training > specific power work…. or something to that tune.
How long are you willing to let your athletes focus on work that offers minimal benefit to their ultimate improvement?
Periodization many times ends up as this: do the training that doesn’t really help early on in the year so at least your athletes don’t burn out later due to the poor planning of grinding speed and power the whole year. In the majority of situations, the use of traditional linear periodization often justifies laziness or a lack of control of the weekly workload in many coaching situations. A good coach, or a smart athlete evaluates the training effects of each workout on a week to week basis and has a good idea of the next manipulation of volume or intensity in the workout.
I prefer to use the term “training arrangement” rather than periodization because it frees some of the shackles of things like “an aerobic base” or “conditioning” or “training to train”. I highly dislike those terms, and to the vertical jump athlete, the concept of focusing on general preparation style work heavily throughout the year will be detrimental to the ultimate result of a high vertical leap. At the same time, always working specifically on power without knowing how to arrange it correctly can also land you in the hurt-box. So athletes and coaches alike should be aware of the governing principles that lead to optimal development.
This two-part article is designed to give you the keys to continual progress in your training. If you want to hit plateau’s less often and reach a higher level of training, read on! When it really comes down to it, there are five principles that anyone planning their training should look at:
- The principle of managing fatigue
- Principle of deposits vs. withdrawals
- Simplicity principle
- The principle of “training effect”
- The principle of “block periodization”
Managing Fatigue for Vertical Jump Athletes
Let’s start with a bit about managing fatigue in a long term training program. First off, any coach or athlete can throw a bunch of exercises in the weekly workout pot, just the same as a chef can throw a bunch of random spices and flavorings in his food, but does that mean the final dish will turn out well? There is absolutely nothing special about finding a bunch of exercises and throwing them into a 3-4 day a week training program, in fact, I heard recently that a team of trained monkeys did just that! (Not really, but perhaps they would be able).
It was recently reported that a team of monkeys have now learned to prepare periodized programs!
The aspect of training that takes time is finding how (link to single leg jump program article) to put all those training ingredients together in a way that each training session is approached in as fresh of a state as possible in regards to the overall goal of the training program. This is where an experienced chef/coach is important as they know what each ingredient does in regards to the training level of their athletes.
Training can take between 24 hours to 2 weeks to really recover from, depending on how much damage you inflicted, and how great the stress response was. So how does one know how long a training session will take to recover from? First realize that advanced athletes have work capacities that are far ahead of beginners. For an intermediate trainee, I would say the following workouts have the following amounts of recovery (not complete recovery, but enough to justify another training session of similar qualities):
Maximal jumping attempts: 1-2 days
Low/Moderate effort jump drills: 1-2 days
Moderate/Heavy plyos/Depth Jumps: 2-3 days
Moderate lifting attempts: 1 day
Heavy lifting attempts: 2 days
Max lifting attempts: 3-4 days
You will see that most of these exercises listed do not have recovery periods of longer than 2 days, with the exception of max effort lifting. All these training modalities have the potential to inflict longer recovery periods, but it is up to the wise coach or trainee to keep that recovery time DOWN. For example, a true max effort squat day where maximal attempts in a state of high arousal are performed can take up to a couple of weeks to recover properly from. Doing depth jumps with high levels of arousal and a weak/undeveloped specific work capacity can also take over a week to truly recover from.
Finally, using the training methods that tend to promote longer recoveries must be used more sparsely than the ones that don’t take long to recover from. Remember, the body likes stable and constant gains much more than it likes quick spikes. It is like trying to run your car with consistent nitrous oxide bursts, eventually something is going to break down, so save it for when it is important! The next point talks about how to accomplish the proper balance of work and fatigue.
Deposits vs. Withdrawals Principle
The absolute key to managing fatigue and allowing for continual improvement over the course of time is to keep tabs on training deposits vs. withdrawals. Track coaches often tell their athletes in fall training: “We are putting deposits in our bank now, so we can spend it in the spring”. What does this really mean though? This phrase means that work done in the fall is carried out in a controlled manner in order to raise the athlete’s state of physical preparedness, the effect of which will be present throughout the spring season. Work done with low/moderate levels of psychological arousal will produce training effects with shorter recovery times, and a healthy disruption of homeostasis. When this type of work is done consistently, long term, steady gains that turn an average athlete into a great athlete become possible.
Major Point: You get far more bang for your buck when you approach training with limited mental arousal in the strength training venue. The difference between 85% and 95% effort as far as your training gains is concerned is fairly small, but it is very large as far as the time it will take you to recover between each session and train hard again. Would you rather work for 1000$, paid once a week, or 500$ credited to your account every two days?
Personal best competition efforts, as well as heavy lifting done with high amounts of arousal will throw the athlete out of homeostasis to the point where it can take them up to a week or two to really get back to normal. That isn’t to say that those things aren’t important, or shouldn’t be done every once in a while, it is just that their occurrence should be somewhat rare, and when it happens, training is backed off immediately, to allow for the next buildup to a PR. Training is all about strategic buildups and retreats!
I have noticed however, that athletes fill a spectrum in regards to their susceptibility to acute overtraining. Some athletes are born to constantly go hard, and in their training they live in fatigue. Many of these athletes really don’t know what it is like to truly be in a fresh state, and a lot of them could use some real deloading periods every now and then. Other athletes are on the opposite end, and they may be too reserved (for a variety of reasons) to go hard enough in training to produce decent results. I feel that most athletes reading this are very well motivated, and would fit themselves into the former group.
Every time a personal best performance is set, time off is needed to repair and recover!
Some great examples of the principle of deposits/withdrawals are the training practices of legendary coaches, Dan Pfaff and the former Charlie Francis. When one of Charlie’s athletes hit a PR in a short sprint during practice, the session was over. They had achieved what they came to accomplish. Continuing to sprint hard at that PR level in practice would result in the athlete depositing more than the athlete is withdrawing, and jeopardizing the success of their future practices and competitions.
Looking at elite coach Dan Pfaff, if one of his athletes was on a international trip and sets a PR in a meet, they had to come home. The reason: In a serious speed/power athlete, a lifetime PR screws up their system for 7-10 days, and further competition is dangerous and possibly counterproductive. For most athletes, back to back PR’s is a CNS disaster, and will absolutely guarantee a subsequent decline in performance. (I strung two lifetime best performances together my junior year of college two weeks back to back, and the last 6 weeks of my outdoor season suffered tremendously because of it, despite the fact that I had trained the whole year injury free and was in great shape).
Bottom Line: Don’t think that you will be able to string PR after PR together for an extended period of time, training is about stragetic buildups and retreats. Set a conservative training PR, then back off and reset! Don’t get too greedy and realize what your body is capable of.
Stay tuned for part II with the last three aspects of arranging your vertical leap training on a long term basis!
References:
CTFS: The Charlie Francis Training System
Easy Strength: Dan John and Pavel. 2011
Interview with Dan Pfaff: Tapering for the big meet. Speedendurance.com July 2012
Science and Practice of Strength Training, 2nd Edition: Zatsiorski and Kraemer. 2006
Free Training Guides!
Sign up for the newsletter, get your FREE eBooks, and receive weekly updates on cutting edge training information that will help take your knowledge of athletic performance to a new level.