Sports Periodization
What is sports periodization? Sports periodization refers to the use of cycling through more and less intense training throughout the sports season to prevent fitness plateaus.
This article will help you better organize your training around your year! Now, keep in mind that this is just a general template, so it might not work for your activity of choice.
Off Season
The off season is a good time for low intensity, high volume training. You should aim to improve muscle endurance and work capacity during this time. You should aim to focus on resistance training. After you have built some muscle endurance, you can transition to some lower volume, higher intensity training with basic barbell movements.
Pre Season
During the preseason, you want to decrease resistance training slightly and add more sport specific training, like plyometrics and speed training.
Remember to ramp up gradually as most injuries happen during the preseason.
Competitive Season
The competitive season is a time to reduce volume and frequency in the weight room to maintenance levels. This allows you to show peak performance on the race track or field!
Post Season
After the season is over, allow for active rest and recovery. You may choose to take a break from your sport and just do cross training at a low intensity. You can also use this phase to heal up any nagging injuries.
Sports Periodization Across the Season
Becoming the best athlete you can be requires a long term approach over the training season! If you use sports periodization, I would love to hear more in the comments below!
