Resistance Training Periodization

Implementing a year-round resistance-training (RT) program has many benefits for athletes who wants to maintain optimal performance during the off-season and in-season (Clark, Sutton, & Lucett, 2015). The purpose of periodization training is to maintain an athletic training and skills through constant variations either through direct or undulating methods (Pelzer, Ullrich, & Pfeiffer, 2017). A training plan not only helps organize a training program for athletes, but also for the general population who wants to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle year-round. Ultimately, goal is to have a plan that is organized for both short-term and long-term to reach an individual training and performance goal (Jimenez & Paz, 2011; Clark et al., 2015).

​The variation time of acute variables along with undulation periodization, depending on the goals of the specific individual athlete, determine the success of an athlete’s long-term goals (Clark et al., 2015). When implementing a long-term training plan, trainers and athletes must acknowledge that the goals are achieved through a commitment in the time factor of a long-term periodized training plan. The short-term training wouldn’t affect much if the variables are similar (Pelzer et al., 2017). So, the benefits of periodization in training plan is not an instant result, but a long-term effect.

The periodization of a training plan can be weekly, monthly, or yearly (Clark et al., 2015), thus, knowing the difference between the macrocycle, mesocycle, and the macrocycle so that intensity and adaptation can occur at an appropriate fitness level (Clark et al., 2015).  Depending on the age and level of athletic, periodization within these cycles need serious consideration of the athlete’s fitness, experience, and age (Jimenez & Paz, 2011).  For instance, younger athletes prior to puberty should consider periodization in the general sense with proper training using the general multiple-set system for resistance training (Clark et al., 2015). 

​In a concrete example, after a sixteen-week of periodization of resistance training in vertical jumps in men volleyball players (ages 25 ± 1), the 16-weeks of training show improvements in both vertical jumps and other sports performance tests (Pellegrionitti, Crisp, Manji, & Verlengia, 2015). The study follows closely to the OPT model in that a basic preparatory period (BPP) lasted 10 weeks, and the specific preparatory period (SPP) lasted for 6 weeks, which seems like a stabilization phase then a strength and power phases to follow (Clark et al., 2015; Pellegrionitti et al., 2015). Of course, 16 weeks is not year-round, but rather a macrocycle according to the study. 

Again, the goals of periodization of resistance training year-round is to maintain an athlete’s competitive performance through a series of either direct or undulating period of training phases (Clark et al., 2015). The overall plan is to divide the training term into period or phases; and, train for different adaptations, such as balance, core, strength, or power (Clark et al., 2015; Pellegrionitti et al., 2015). Ultimately, periodization aims to cycle through training phases with variations, intensities, and volume to minimize the overtraining, fatigue, and injury episodes of an individual athlete. 

References
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Clark, M., Sutton, B. G., & Lucett, S. (2015). NASM essentials of sports performance training. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Jimenez, A., & Paz, J. D. (2011). Short-term effects of two resistance training periodization models (linear vs undulating) on strength and power of the lower-body in a group of elderly men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25, page #s doi:10.1097/01.jsc.0000395609.42144.99

Moran, J., Sandercock, G. R., Ramírez-Campillo, R., Meylan, C., Collison, J., & Parry, D. A. (2016). A meta-analysis of maturation-related variation in adolescent boy athletes’ adaptations to short-term resistance training. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(11), 1041-1051. doi:10.1080/02640414.2016.1209306

Pellegrionitti, Í L., Crisp, A. H., Manji, M. A., & Verlengia, G. (2015). The influence of 16-weeks of periodized resistance training on vertical leap and TW20meters performance tests for volleyball players. International Journal of Science Culture and Sport, 3(9), 67-67. doi:10.14486/ijscs235

Pelzer, T., Ullrich, B., & Pfeiffer, M. (2017). Periodization effects during short-term resistance training with equated exercise variables in females. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 117(3), 441-454. doi:10.1007/s00421-017-3544-x