The addition of planned training phases into your program is one of the big logical steps towards your goals. If implemented properly, it can super-speed your progress. Here's an in-depth look at phases used to skyrocket your fitness goals. Learn more.
Training phases can be broken down into a multitude of categories.
Each phase is concerned with improving that aspect of the athlete.
You want each phase to lead into the next.
For me, it used to be 100% strength training 100% of the time. Strength, strength, strength. Strength, even if I had an existing problem that needed the use of other modes to be fixed.
Only recently have I realized just how crucial training phases are to one's program. They draw spotlight to different aspects of training for strictly defined periods of time.
This concept is especially dominant in sport specific training as if allows for altered focus as the athletes move from off-season to pre-season and then to in-season.
Training phases can be broken down into a multitude of categories. Core, conditioning, hypertrophy, strength, power and peak are a few of the most common. As the names suggest, each phase is mainly concerned with improving that particular aspect of the athlete.
Click Image To Enlarge. Author, Andy Chasse: "Only Recently Have I Realized Just How Crucial Training Phases Are To One's Program."
There should be several clearly defined goals that state exactly what the athlete should be gaining from this specific portion of the training. In addition, it may help to write an even more general set of emphasis statements to give a more basic idea of this phase's purpose.
A pre-season block for a collegiate lacrosse team may look something like this:
Major Emphasis:
General Endurance
Speed Endurance
Core
Skill
Minor Emphasis:
Testing
Competition
Speed
Goal: Increase overall work capacity and endurance levels, retain top speed for an increased duration, improve core strength necessary for phase II speed/power training.
The emphases are broad, while the goals are a bit more specific. Not number crunching specific though, that's not the point here. We're not necessarily looking to hit certain numbers on certain exercises, but simply an increase in that area, be it 10 pounds or 100 pounds, 1 second or 10 seconds.
Something important to notice: the last goal listed. It talks about building the strength necessary for the next phase. That's the other big concept here. You want each phase to lead into the next. All of your training builds off of itself. You want to meet the expectations of each phase to ensure that you are ready for the following.
Click Image To Enlarge. All Of Your Training Builds Off Of Itself.
The addition of planned training phases into your program is the one of the big logical steps toward your goals. If implemented properly, it can super-speed your progress.
The Explanation
Now that we've talked about what training phases are and how they can be used effectively, let's go into an explanation of each type of phase. There are a few staple phase focuses that you will see consistently showing up in programs.
You non-competitive athletes don't need to worry too much about the power, peak or recovery phases. Don't even pay attention to them.
The first four on that list are going to be used most often. Depending on your goals, you may not even have to worry much about the conditioning phase. For the competitive guys, you're probably going to want to pay attention to those last three. They're kind of a big deal, if you know what I'm saying.
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Okay, so now we've got the phases listed. You're probably sitting there with a blank look on your face thinking ... "that's all fine and great, but what now?" Chill out for a second and breathe. It's actually easy. Keep reading.
Core/Stabilization:
This phase should be used if you are new to exercise or returning to exercise after a long hiatus. Don't dedicate much time to this area, unless you absolutely need it; maybe two weeks. All we're doing here is getting your core ready for the rest of the program and making sure you are injury-free.
Workout Of The Week: Strengthen Core Stability.
Strong core muscles are a standard "must have" for a great athlete's physique.
[ Check Out The Workout Of The Week Here! ]
Conditioning:
The addition of this phase is up to you. Depending on your goals, you may or may not make use of it. This is generally a high volume period of training, both in the weight room and outside of it. You are building a solid foundation so you are better equipped to handle the rest of the program.
Work during this phase may include high volume weights, circuit training, GPP (general physical preparedness), or whatever floats your pretty little boat. The focus may be aerobic or anaerobic. Either way, you're getting into some serious shape here. Utilize this phase in blocks of 4-6 weeks.
Click Image To Enlarge. This Is Generally A High Volume Period Of Training.
Hypertrophy:
Moderate reps, moderate volume. Moderate amount of compound exercises, high amount of isolation exercises. You might spend up to 8 weeks in this phase.
Muscle Hypertrophy:
Muscle hypertrophy is a scientific term for the growth and increase of the size of muscle cells. It differs from muscle hyperplasia, which is the formation of new muscle cells.
Strength:
I understand if you didn't know what hypertrophy meant, but all of you better know what strength is. People are always talking about it. By the way, how much do you bench? Just kidding. Low reps, low volume. Plenty of recovery time. Heavy on the compounds.
The phase that many of you were probably looking forward to the whole time. I won't lie ... I sure was. Depending on the length of the overall program, you may also spend up to 8 weeks here.
RELATED VIDEO: COMPOUND VS ISOLATION
Inside The Life Of A Natural Pro:
Episode #4: Compound Vs. Isolation!
In this fourth episode, watch as IFPA/NGA Pro Natural Bodybuilder Layne Norton talks about his hybrid hypertrophy/powerbuilding workout (a high volume bodybuilder/powerlifter workout), and the differences between compound movements and isolation exercises.
Everyone wants power, right? In this phase, everything you have developed in the previous phases is going to come together and allow you to make it through what will most likely be the highest intensity period of your program.
We are focusing strongly on the athletic characteristics here. Speed, agility, and explosion. Mostly explosion. The purpose of this phase is to train you to react quickly and explosively. Don't spend longer than 4 weeks in the power phase. It can be extremely taxing on your body and the last thing you want this far into the program is an injury.
This additional phase is most often seen in powerlifting and Olympic lifting. It is a period in which you are slowly increasing intensity and decreasing volume to allow your body to be at it's strongest come meet time. You may spend as little as 4 weeks peaking and as many as 12.
Click Image To Enlarge. This Additional Phase Is Most Often Seen In Powerlifting And Olympic Lifting.
Recovery:
This particular aspect is mostly utilized by competitive athletes. This may be the first post-season phase for a high school football team. It may also be used by a collegiate powerlifter after competing at Nationals. This is a time for your body to rest and get ready for the start of a new program. Some athletes dedicate as little as a single week for recovery, while others may spend up to 4.
See, not that difficult, right? So now you have it all explained. You should understand what most of that means, at least that's what I'm hoping. It is pretty easy to tell how each phase differs from the next and how one phase leads into another.
The Design
Okay, so now we've covered the use of the training phase and I've even given you an explanation of each particular phase. Now I think we might actually be ready to move on to the actual design of a training phase for the weekend warrior. I'm a big fan of that term so I will be using it often. Just ignore it and read instead "dedicated, non-competitive gym-goer."
If you're reading this particular section, you're probably not a competitive athlete. Or maybe you are and you're just bored. Let's just assume you're not. Throw out power, peak and recovery. We're not even going to look at those just yet. So here's what we're dealing with then:
Just four distinct phases. Not near as intimidating as the original seven, right? Good. So now comes the question ... "What exactly do we do with these four distinct phases that aren't near as intimidating as the original seven?"
Again, take a deep breath and keep reading. First I'm going to go over the different types of exercises and training aspects that will be used and applied during each phase.
Phase I: Core/Stabilization
For the sake of my sanity, we're going to assume that you are not new to exercise and not coming back to exercise after a long hiatus. It's just easier this way. Let's just say that you are coming off of a two week break after the rather disappointing failure of your last program in which you focused 100% on strength and didn't yet understand what a training phase is.
All of your work is going to be extremely light during this phase. Remember the last one we talked about, recovery? Yeah, this is very similar to recovery, but a little more intense. During this phase you're going to be performing some dynamic core exercises along with a tiny bit of pre-hab work for your problem areas.
Click Image To Enlarge. All Of Your Work Is Going To Be Extremely Light During This Phase.
Again, for the sake of my sanity, let's just say you have recurring issues with your rotator cuff and lower back. These are two very common problem areas. This phase has a corrective nature, even if the need for correction is not 100% necessary. It's just a precaution and an important step toward injury prevention.
We'll break this down into three days. There will be little volume. But don't worry ... you volume junkies will get your fix after these relaxing couple of weeks.
See, relatively low volume. The few weight-bearing exercises should be limited to a low intensity. Sets and reps are listed. This is a single week of the Core/Stabilization phase. I recommend that you do not stay in this phase for longer than two weeks unless one of your problem areas is really flaring up.
Cutting To The Core!
Whether you are trying to improve your physique or simply optimize general health, the core and use of free weights are critical to a successful fitness plan.
Okay, now we're getting into the real stuff. As I mentioned in the explanation, this phase may not be necessary, depending on your goals. That being said, I do strongly advise you to include some conditioning work. Let's assume you take my advice.
We're going to spend 5 weeks in this phase. The goal here is to continue to improve core strength and to become conditioned both aerobically and anaerobically. We're jumping up to 4 days a week now.
The above is a basic layout for the conditioning phase of your program. As you can tell, it is heavy on the core work (sledgehammer training, burpees, swings). Each day is also based on a movement rather than a muscle. I highly encourage you to train this way. The muscle split is an outdated philosophy. Start thinking about functional movements: push and pull.
RELATED POLL
Do You Currently Train By Muscle Or Movement?
Week 5 will be your first trek into the wonderful world of the deload. A deload is basically defined as a period of reduced training. You may reduce the frequency, volume, intensity, or any combination of the three. This reduction will allow your body to recover between high stress cycles. Believe me, you're going to want a little recovery before you move into the next phase.
So you should be in pretty good shape at this point. You're probably beginning to get a little sick and tired of all of the conditioning junk. I would too. But don't worry about it because we're moving on to the mass-building phase. Now that we're extra conditioned, it's time to pack on some muscle. This phase will last 4 weeks. We will still be at 4 days per week.
You should notice that the reps have decreased a bit and that most of the exercises are now gym based. There are also a lot more exercises now. We're trying to get away from the endurance aspect during this phase and focus more on the building of muscle. We're not so focused on the core anymore because at this point the entire posterior chain should definitely be up to par.
We're here ... the final frontier. Well, the last phase in the program ... same difference. Now that you've built some solid muscle, it's time to bring your lifts up to par. You probably look like you can move some serious weight now ... but maybe you really can't. Let's fix that.
Click Image To Enlarge. You Probably Look Like You Can Move Some Serious Weight Now.
We'll be in this phase for 4 weeks, just like the hypertrophy phase. Although the 4-day lifting regimen seems to be working just fine, we're going to bump it up to 5 days for this particular phase so we can get hammer those triceps a little harder.
Let's check out some of the differences between this phase and the previous one:
Lower reps
Less volume
A slight change in the type of exercises
We're mostly using heavy compound exercises in this phase. We're not so concerned with muscle anymore. It's strength time. Leg press was replaced with the more demanding split squat. A low rep clean and press was added in on the first bench day.
Heck, we even added a second bench day just to wreck the triceps. The dips and pullups are now weighted. And we have switched over from any row variation to the more compound bent rows. These are the big changes and they are all conducive to strength gains.
The fourth and final week of this program will be dedicated to ... yep, you guessed it! Deloading! Aren't you excited? I know I am. I sure do love me a good deload. This deload will be structured exactly like the deloads from the previous phases. Very simple.
Congratulations Mr. or Mrs. Weekend Warrior! You've now made it through an entire training program, phases and all. It's a tough process, but you'll find that with the help of training phases to shift your focus to different aspects of the training, your progress will skyrocket.
From here you have a couple of options. You can move on to a new program or move into another 4-week strength phase. Whatever you choose, just remember to stay with the phase mentality and you will continue to progress!
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