I received some new training books this last week. One of them being
Periodization Training for Sports by Tudor Bompa. Getting some great training ideas and most importantly understanding about some anecdotal observations I've made in my training over the years. After reading through the book, the two primary program templates I've been coming back to are pretty good. The rolling split one now I'm using for more of a winter/inside/gym strength and power program, and the previous one for more of a summer/outside endurance program.
Some of the big takeaways from this book for me this first time through:
- Choose the intensity/rep scheme for a specific objective (there are more specifics than I thought)
- Undulate volume rather than intensity during the week/microcycle for fatigue management (H/M/L days)and undulate intensity for de-loading during the macrocycle.
- Use step loading for the low end of the intensity range when starting into training and use flat loading when at the high end of the intensity range. (I've never seen anything about static weight for a couple weeks with a barbell before)
The biggest change is using a more static rep scheme for my objectives. 5s for bench press because I want a little hypertrophy to improve absolute strength in the upper body. However, my lower body is much thicker and extra lower body weight only makes everything I enjoy more difficult so squats will be 3s for more relative strength and deadlifts will be 2s for more power orientation. The next biggest change is a more narrow range of intensity to work with. Bench press in the 70-80% range, squats in the 75-85% range, and deadlifts in the 75-85%. The jumps will only be 2.5% increases also. Lastly, once I'm in the high end of the intensity range, I will keep the same intensity for two weeks, deload, then repeat a little heavier.
As a tactical athlete, I have a burden of constant fitness. I am in a continual competitive season and the flat loading is what is recommended for the competitive season to manage fatigue and keep the intensity high to prevent involution. In the military I had a more normal "season" that I could periodize for because the in-season was a deployment and the off-season was being home. I also read an article this week from a major league baseball strength coach that had modified his strength training to be higher intensity and lower volume during the season to keep athletes more peaked for baseball's very long in-season.
Overall, the rolling split template is working well. I really like the A+A conditioning work after strength training, especially on the skierg. Actually seeing watts displayed on the screen really helps for motivation and knowing the status of training. I keep hitting new highs every so often which is motivating and inspires confidence in the training approach. The antagonistic approach of alternating the skierg with swings really creates some great power output and manages fatigue well.
I am noticing that if I don't do a 5min warm-up on the skierg, it takes 18-20 sets before I start hitting higher numbers. For both, that works out to being about 120-150 reps. I've seen improvements in strength training after doing a 75-100 (3-4x25) rep warm-up also. This anecdotal evidence is that it takes about 100 reps to prime all the muscles to start working together. I've heard of Litvinov conversion training, doing a heavy set of squats, then dropping the barbell and sprinting. The idea is to invite all the muscle to the party before asking them to do the work. I don't know if that's considered potentiation of some kind or what, but it's taking me a significant warm-up before being as strong/powerful as I can be.
Using INOL is still appearing to be the best way to select the appropriate number of sets and total volume each week to manage fatigue and ensure enough volume to create adaptation. I'll still use linear intensity increases, but the INOL from week to week might undulate a little by modifying the number of sets. Not sure if it will be necessary but I'll play with it to see if I notice a difference.