Periodization: The Blueprint Behind Effective Training

Every athlete has goals: “I want to get faster,” “I want to jump higher,” “I want to put on 15 lbs of muscle.” To achieve these goals we want to put together the best plan for each athlete based on any number of factors (i.e. training experience, age, injury history, etc.) which, in the realm of strength and conditioning, is referred to as periodization.

Periodized training is commonly organized into three levels, or cycles; essentially the building blocks of the program:

1. Macrocycle: the overarching “master plan.” This typically covers multiple months

   or up to a year and leads to the athlete’s ultimate goal

2. Mesocycle: smaller blocks within the macrocycle. These typically run for several

   weeks, depending on the coach, program, and athlete; each one building off the

   focus of its predecessor

3. Microcycle: these are the short-term buildouts of the plan, think weekly or even

   daily training regimens, which make up each mesocycle

While there isn’t one universally perfect periodization model, truth be told: all of them are going to be better suited to achieve the desired results than simply going to a gym with no plan and performing a random assortment of exercises. The latter can still see some results, but the former will maximize those gains, avoid training plateaus, and manage stress while reducing risk of injury.

Here at Stride, we employ a number of different Periodization Strategies to help your athlete realize their goals, from linear to triphasic and beyond. Stay tuned for more on these strategies and the insights behind them!