Training modalities for athletes and competitors have evolved since the organization of sporting events dating all the way back to Greek civilizations. As the popularity of sports and training grew, so did the demand for athletic results. Further sports progress demanded athletes be stronger, more powerful and focused in their training. Though designed to meet the training needs of athletes, these athletic training modalities can be applied to anyone striving to reach a fitness goal.
Spaced Training
Spaced training, when it comes to learning, is a way of producing skills by allowing for repetition over time. According to a study done by the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital of McGill University, "memory formation responds not only to total amount of training, but also to the patterns of trials used during training." The study stated that "trials distributed over time are superior at developing long-term memory." This can be applied to not only psychological memory but muscle memory as well. Athletes have adapted to these psychological responses by incorporating periodized training methods into their routines.
Traditional Methods
Traditional periodization spaces training into cycles. A macrocycle is the entire training period. For athletes, this may be the training season for their particular sport. For any competitor, this would be the total training period leading up to a particular competition. Mesocycles are shorter cycles within the framework of the macrocycle that varies exercise frequency, type, intensity, volume and duration in an effort to achieve your goals. Those goals are often focused on increasing power, speed, agility or an enhanced aptitude of your sport. These smaller spaced cycles of training are alternated with cycles of active rest.
Problems with Traditional Periodization
In theory, periodization training should lead athletes to greater levels of performance. However, there have been some contradictions to periodization training when put into practice. A study in the Journal of Sports Medicine found drawbacks to mixed training techniques such as overtraining from adapting to multiple workloads, insufficient training stimuli and an overall inability to peak at performance time. The intense training and blurred results led researchers and coaches seeking an alternative to traditional training modalities.
Block Training
The block concept focuses on repetition of a smaller amount of stimuli at one time. The training is geared toward a minimal number of motor and technical abilities. In block training, a specific skill is the focus during the mesocycles, rather than a variation of training modalities, in order to reach peak performance at multiple intervals within the microcycle. The goal of this type of training is to allow mastery of a specific skill set in a short amount of time and still allow for adequate recovery time.
References
- "The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness"; Block periodization versus traditional training theory: a review; V. Issurin; March 2008
- "Texas Racing Life"; The Next Four Weeks and Beyond: Block Periodization Training; Ken Day; June 2011
- "Science Daily"; Why one way of learning is better than another; McGill University; October 2009
- "Shapefit"; Periodization Training - Cycle Your Strength Training Workouts; Landon Dean
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