Stop Wasting Your Time. Start Maximizing Your PerformanceTraining Time

It’s all about time management. None of us have time to waste. Especially performance training time that should lead to peaking at just the right moment! The development of a properly outlined training regimen has a tremendous effect on an individual and a team’s success. With this in mind, the theory of periodization (the principle of developing a yearly training outline for a specific sport’s competitive year) applies. Periodization plays an important role in a strength and conditioning coach’s decision-making throughout the year. Here’s how to maximize your performance training time.

Here’s A Plan To Help You Play At Your Peak When It Counts

The main concept is to break down the competitive year into “phases.” Each phase has specific goals and program guides to help prepare you to be physically and mentally ready for the competitive season.

There are plenty of factors to be considered in the development of a successful periodization model.

● Volume

● Intensity

● Frequency

● Exercise selection and choice

● Recovery

● Linear speed development

● Change of direction

● Plyometric training

● Basic skill development

● Aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, etc.

It’s not all set in stone, but a periodization outline allows a coach to have the framework for the specific goals through-out the year. And this allows the coach to have a plan in place that can be adjusted to future training stages. What does all this mean? We’re going to show you how to maximize your performance training time.

How To Create A Schedule That Works For You

An annual plan is based specifically on the competitive year for college football. However, the model can be adapted for all sports at any level, like club and high school.

The plan begins the day after our last competition of the year and ends the day of the last competition of the upcoming season. This allows for gradual increases in your development from one season to the next, without unnecessary breaks that would hinder performance improvements.

Four Phases to Maximize Performance Training Time

There are four phases in an annual sports performance program for football. Each phase has a very specific set of goals and a period of time in which to achieve these goals.

Phase 1: The Regenerative Phase. This phase starts immediately following the Championship game and is generally 2-8 weeks (5-15 percent of the year) long.

Phase 2: The General Physical Preparedness (GPP). The GPP phase begins immediately following the Regen Phase and is 12-16 weeks (23-30 percent of the year) in duration.

Phase 3: Next is the Strength/Speed Phase. This phase is 12-16 weeks (23-30 percent of the year) in duration.

Phase 4: And finally, the Competitive Phase. The Competitive or “In-Season” Phase is 17 weeks (33 percent of the year) which makes it the longest phase of the year and the most important.

For next time in my INSIDERS post, we’ll look at how to properly time your training toward peak performance.

Story By Ethan Banning, CSHS,CSCS,

Human Performance Director EliteAthletesTV.com