Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Periodization!

Periodization is a planned and progressive method of changing your workouts.
This is the way I usually workout out.

Basically, it's starting at the Foundation and slowly progressing, usually in 3-4 months, to the Powerful phase.
First we want to understand why: if you work out in the same way all the time, your body will stop responding and progressing. This is a way to constantly challenge and progress your body in ongoing cycles.

Let's begin by understanding each cycle; these are cycles I use; understand there may be times you need to focus more on strength, or more on balance, or endurance. You can still work on these in cycles. The following is my usual focus, with a description of each cycle.

Foundation
This phase introduces you to basic movements you will be doing throughout your program (squats, lunges, lifts, chops). Even if you already know these moves, it's a good idea to constantly review and refine these basics; we can develop imbalances, and these moves will help you address them.

Stability
In this phase, your training intensifies to prepare you for working with more weight and building strength. The moves you're already doing will become more challenging.

Strength
Here you'll be building strength with heavier weights and lower reps. Form is extremely important to keep in mind here (but it is in every stage).

Stamina
In this phase you'll be challenging your stamina with the heavier weights you've been using. You will be getting used to a higher volume of hard work. This phase really kicks up your metablolism and muscle mass.
You will be doing more moves on one leg, or alternating arms, which will address imbalances.

Power

Many people think this is not an important phase, since they're not athletes. This phase will sharpen your reaction time, enable you to perform explosive moves, jump higher. We may not play a specific sport, but this is all useful in our everyday lives. It can, in fact, save a life. These moves will be done quickly, but form is equally important here.




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