PERIODIZATION IN DETAIL

Today I thought I’d give you a bit of a structure to work with and you can adapt this structure as you see fit! As long as you adhere to the principles in this article you will set yourself up for success!

However, I must warn you, if you do not physically and mentally practice these steps, then you will fail. I want you to to be strong, durable, fit, healthy, and live a long life with minimal to no symptoms, and for this reason, you must pay this price in effort . . .

. . . Are you ready?

Exercise Periodization involves your fitness plan for the year and the steps it takes to reach it. It is known in the Fitness Industry, as your Fitness MACROCYCLE, which encompasses the entire year of training.

Your Fitness Macrocycle can be further broken down into four segments: your Recovery Mesocycle; your Base Mesocycle; your Build Mesocycle, and your Peak Mesocycle.

Your Recovery and Base Mesocycles take as long as you feel you need. Your Build and Peak Mesocycles usually take specific durations in keeping with the fitness goals, competition, or adventure, you are training for.

Your Mesocycles can be broken down even further into Fitness Microcycles, which last from 7 to 14 days max. The Microcycles involve the types of sessions you will be doing for each day of the week.

Your sessions can be even further broken down into the individual exercises, repetitions, sets, rest periods, and adaptations for each exercise (e.g. strength, or endurance).

RECOVERY – Prioritize Sleep! Needed to recover your muscle, bones, joints, tissues, and nervous system. Nothing replaces the benefits of sleep! After this, you need to prioritize calories, nutrition, mobility, water, and consider your work schedule!

BASE – Emphasize building your Aerobic Capacity through long distance cardio sessions! These can be swimming, running, cycling, and rowing. The Base Mesocycle still needs to include your prehab/rehab exercises that support and promote the strength of your joints, ligaments, and tendons.

BUILD – Is when you ‘Add Gears’ to your Cardio by including high intensity interval sessions in your training. This is where you can start introducing movement-specific exercises to your sessions. Training starts to mimic the movements and intensity of the personal best (PB) or adventure you’re training for.

PEAK – Prioritize the Conditions of the PB or Competition you’re training for. The frequency of your sessions decrease and the intensity of your sessions increase. To prevent injury and promote recovery, give your body an extra day of rest.

Daily Exercise Plan Sample (DEPS)

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Final Notes: Pick exercises that you can do consistently, but challenge you, and scale your week from there.

Please, don’t do too much too fast, as it’s not sustainable. if you’re new to this type of eye-for-detail type training’ that’s okay. My hope is that it has helped you think about things you may be missing from your training that will serve you.

REMEMER: NOTHING, and I repeat NOTHING, replaces SLEEP! Make sure you get adequate amounts of high quality sleep - this is paramount for adequate recovery!