You may or may not have heard of the word “periodization.” If you have, you may think of high-level athletes or elaborate programming. If you haven’t, it’s just a fancy technical word for having a plan that changes the emphasis over time. Periodization takes into consideration the sport season one is in, the craziness of life, and the training qualities you want to improve. Because you simply can’t, and shouldn’t, train with the same intensity every single day of the year, periodizing a workout plan varies the emphasis of your training “blocks” as time goes on.
The human body is incredibly adaptive, but it has limits. If you train at 100% intensity all the time, eventually you will hit a plateau or, worse, suffer an overuse injury. Periodization works by a planned “cycling” of your training focus. By shifting between phases of higher volume (more sets or mileage), higher intensity (heavier weight or faster pace), and intentional recovery, you allow your nervous system and tissues to recover and super-compensate. This ensures that your progress doesn’t stall out and allows you to continue to make progress on your overarching goals.
Periodization for Sport vs. Periodization for Life
The “seasons” of your training should reflect the seasons of your life. For athletes, we use periodization to ensure you are at your strongest and fastest when it matters most—the competitive season. A common strategy is to focus your off-season on building a lot of strength and muscle, and as one gets closer to the start of a season, there is a gradual shift towards more power and speed. While a quality training program will include components of all of these physical qualities at all times, some get moved to the back burner, while others are moved to the forefront.
For all the “regular people” not competing in specific sporting events, the “competitive season” might be a summer hiking trip, a golf tournament, or simply the busy holiday season. Periodization allows you to dial up the intensity when you have the energy and time, and dial it back during high-stress work months or travel. It’s about training hard when you can, so you can maintain your fitness when life gets hectic.
How to Periodize Without the Stress
You don’t need a PhD to organize your training. Follow these three simple strategies:
Change your focus every 8-12 weeks: Don’t try to get better at everything all at once. That may look like spending more time in the winter focusing on heavy strength training and a little less cardio. Then, as you get into spring and summer, shift the emphasis more towards cardiovascular fitness and maintaining strength.
The 3-to-1 rule: A simple way to periodize is to have three weeks of hard training followed by one “deload” week, where you reduce the intensity of your training. If you really plan ahead, you can aim to make this deload week at a time when you know you’ll have a lot of life stuff going on, a vacation, or numerous sporting events.
Listen to life stress: If you didn’t sleep and had a 10-hour workday, that is not the day for a personal record. Periodization is flexible; adjusting your intensity based on your “readiness” is the smartest way to ensure long-term gains.
So, what is the best training plan? The one that evolves with you. By embracing the seasons of training, you ensure that you aren’t just working hard, but working smart.