Periodization
of Conditioning: A Scientific Practical Approach
by
Professor Angel Spassov
The major difference between present-day
athletes and those from the past is the ability of present-day athletes to perform
their skills at a greater intensity. This is possible because today’s athletes
are much better conditioned than those from year's past. But what exactly is conditioning?
Conditioning is the balanced development of the following qualities: speed, strength,
endurance, agility and flexibility. The needs of conditioning training
relate mainly to three important areas:
• Decreasing the probability
of injuries
• Increasing the intensity of the applied skills
• Fulfilling
the requirements of a difficult sports calendar The ultimate planning
of long- and short-term sports training requires a certain structure of the volume
and intensity of the training load. To solve this problem it is necessary that
the total training time be divided into different periods. This process is commonly
called periodization. L.P. Matveev, published in 1965 in Moscow, formulated the
scientific basis of the periodization in the book “Problems for Periodization
of the Sports Training”. What is periodization?
Periodization is the structuring of volume, intensity, and the means
of the sports training -- depending on the sports calendar -- for the complete
development of athletic potential. Periodization requires dividing the total training
period into smaller period time units with certain duration and tasks. The following
is a sample periodization calendar with the three training periods of Off-Season,
Pre-Season and In-Season: Off-Season
/ Fundamental Preparation Period
1. Active Rest (one month)
2.
Fundamental Training (two to five months) Pre-Season
/ Direct Preparation for Certain Competitive Events Period 1.
Intensive (4 weeks)
2. Tapering (2 weeks) In-Season 1.
Mesocycles: Usually these are sub-periods lasting from 1.5 to 3 months. Every
mesocycle contains 4 microcycles: - Initial
- Fundamental
- Intensive
- Tapering 2. Microcycles: These are the most
important units of the periodization, lasting from a few days to a few weeks.
They are:
- Initial (1-2 weeks)
- Fundamental (2-4 weeks)
- Intensive
(2-3 weeks)
- Tapering (1-2 weeks) For
Long Competitive Seasons Sometimes in an intensive, long,
competitive season we can structure weekly cycles on the base of microcycles.
For example: Initial – Monday
Fundamental –
Tuesday
Intensive – Wednesday
Tapering – Thursday
Pre-competitive
Warm-up – Friday
Competition – Saturday
Full rest –
Sunday
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