There is so much mumbo and confusion in this whole area I am not sure where to begin. Perhaps these thoughts will lend some clarity.Lets start by defining Periodization, it is the planning and organization of training into a cyclic structure to develop all biomotor qualities in a systematic, sequential, and progressive manner for optimum development of performance capabilities.Another way to look [...]

Many current gurus provide sample speed/power plans that recommend volumes of speed/power elements that I find paltry for the majority of situations. I think a lot of this bias can be traced back to incomplete backgrounds heavily centered toward the force end of the force/velocity curve (weightroom centric strength and conditioning backgrounds, heavily powerlifting based backgrounds, etc..) If [...]

The concept of continual adaptation is something I have been working to get my arms around since we all met to plan the Michigan Women’s swim dryland program this past September. Jim Richardson, Women’s swim coach at Michigan got me thinking about this. Continual adaptation is not continual improvement. Continual adaptation is a viable concept because different physical qualities adapt at diff [...]

Training is a cumulative process. The workout is one piece of a much bigger picture. Training is not one spectacular or particularly tough workout, rather it is a succession of workouts designed to fit into the overall plan in pursuit of specific training objectives. Anyone can make a workout hard, but the essential element is context. Where does it fit? One workout cannot stand alone. One great w [...]

This Christmas, like many men across the globe, I received some new razor blades in my stocking. These are always a welcome gift because I generally prefer to use a blade over my electric razor. My razor of choice has 5 blades. I've been using this kind for the past 18 months or so. Before that I used a blade by the same company that had only 4 blades. At the time this was the latest and greatest [...]

It is so easy to verbalize that more is not better, but when it comes right down to it seems our comfort zone is to revert to more. To quote my good friend Gary Winckler: “Volume is not a biomotor quality.” Regardless of the event or sport eventually it is quality and intensity of effort that is rewarded in competition. It is easy to do more, difficult to train with intensity. You are walking [...]

Tim Sullivan wrote the following in response to my Rules for Robots post from yesterday:My understanding is if you keep bending it like a credit card or hotel card eventually it will break or law of repetitive motion... to this rule only applies to a small amount of the training program, when heavy superficial external loads are place on the body... to this is another way of saying [...]

In my previous blog entry, I challenged everyone to reflect on what they’re thinking and doing to make sure there is actual evidence supporting their thoughts and actions. As a site primarily focused on sport training related discussion, I’d like to tie this in to a quick examination of two training philosophies that can currently be found on the web. In fact these two training methods actuall [...]

I keep seeing reference to the difference between linear and undulating periodization. Isn’t that an academic argument? Isn’t all training adaptation undulating? The body does not adapt in a linear manner. We may write linear progressions but that is not what happens in reality. Unless I have been missing something all these years isn’t periodization the timing of the applicat [...]

A couple days ago it occurred to me that I had one more blog entry to reach 400 and figured it would only be appropriate if my 400th blog post was about the 400m (thanks to Nick for the suggestion). The 400m is one of the weird birds of track and field. Probably more so than any other event (other than the 800m) the 'Many Roads to Rome' concept seems to hold true. I'd like to take a look at why [...]