 Breaking
the
training
programme into periods of
time that will help the athlete
reach their peak performance
at a certain time
 ATHLETICS
 GOLF
 SWIMMING
 CYCLING
 TENNIS
What makes these sports easier
to peak for than, football or rugby?
Some sports have obvious times when you want
to peak such as a World Cup, Olympics
World Championships or Commonwealth
Games.
Other sports have long seasons where peaking
is less obvious as these sports are based on
league tables such as football and rugby.
Saying that both rugby codes have play offs so
peaking at the end of the season is more important
but you must have qualified
When you know what or when you want to peak
you can start to develop a training programme
for instance:
:they’ve been thinking about
this since Beijing 2008
Chris Hoy – Cycling
Christine Ohorogu – Running
Rebecca Adlignton – Swimming
Macro-cycle
Meso-cycle
1 YEAR
4-6 WEEKS
Micro-cycle
UNIT
1 WEEK
1 DAY
 The length of each cycle will depend on
their aims.
 Macro-cycle
 A yearly programme with the aim of peaking
for a specific event. Ex. 1 year
 Meso-cycle
– a phase (4 – 6 week blocks)
 Micro-cycle
 A training week within the meso-cycle
• Training unit a day within that week
 Establish current year and long term
priorities for athlete preparation.
 Consider
 Physical preparation
 Technical preparation
 Tactical preparation
 Mental preparation
 Competitions
 Other
 Determine dates of all major phases of the
training year.
 General Preparation
 Specific Preparation
 Precompetition
 Competition
 Peak
 Recovery or Transition Phase
YOU MUST
REMEMBER
THESE
6 PHASES
There are 6 separate phases that
are placed within 3 areas
Phases 1 & 2 - PREPARATION
 Phase 1 – General Preparation
 General fitness work
 This phase is usually known as “training to
train”
 Phase 2 – Specific Preparation
 Specific fitness, ex. Speed, strength, skills and
techniques
 Intensity of training increases significantly
 “training to compete”
 Evaluate the previous year’s plan and actual
achievements (Strengths & Weaknesses).
 Consider the following
 Physical preparation;
 energy systems
 strength/speed/power
 flexibility
 recovery & regeneration
 peaking
 others
Phases 3, 4 & 5 - COMPETITION
 Phase 3 (pre-competition/ comp)
 Beginning of competition season
 Lots of fine tuning
 Low level competitions
 General training is reduced
 Training is competition specific
 Phase 4 – Competition
 Competitions will occur every week
 Leagues are in full flow, races, galas, etc
 Phase 5 – Peak
 The championship final (nationals, olympics,etc.)
Phase 6 – TRANSITION
Recovery phase during which the
body can recover from the rigours
of training and competition
1. Define the length of your macro-cycle?
What are you planning towards?
2. Divide your macro-cycle into meso-cycles.
Do you need all 6 phases?
3. Design a micro-cycle from each of your
meso-cycles? Demonstrate the difference
in content depending on the time of year?
Other factors:
Remember the PRINCIPLES of training!!
PEAK
MONTHS
HEAVY
WEIGHTS
SPEED
ENDURANCE
TECHNIQUE
& MATCH
SHARPNESS
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
Describe what is meant by the terms:
Macro-cycle, meso-cycle, micro-cycles
Discuss the benefits of periodisation in
planning a training programme
10 Marks