Periodization - AKA: How to add structure to your exercise goals.

Today Jess and Kam talk about periodization as a way to add structure to your exercise goals.

What is periodization? It's the idea of looking at your long term workout plan in blocks of time. So you have, as an example, a year or more as a macrocycle, a month or as long as you're going to do a certain series of workouts (4-12 weeks) as a mesocycle and small adaptations you make to accommodate short term needs as a microcycle.

The mesocycle looks at the big picture. How do we take what you're trying to accomplish as a goal and make a plan to get you there? I know I just said a year as an example, but let's say you're planning for a ski trip in February and it's August presently. Well that's your macrocyle based on time opportunity. We may go further than that for recovery or any de-escalation depending on your needs, but you get the general idea.

When we make a program for a client on our platform, that's inherently a mesocycle. We are planning for a 4-12 week course of 1-5 days a week of workouts. Those workouts will repeat (every day 1 of the week is the same, etc.), and you will try to keep to a regular schedule to accomplish all of the workouts. Why does it ebb and flow for the length of the program? Depends on your goals and realities! Some folks like to keep the cycles short and get new workouts every 4 weeks with a new effort every month, and some people may need longer programs (6, 8 or 12 weeks) to get the most juice from the squeeze before moving on to something new.

And in that program, things happen. You may be traveling and unable to use the same equipment or have to shift your days because of lack of access. You may have a gym that has a piece of equipment go out for repair or replacement and not be able to do certain things. You may get sick or hurt and need a few days to recover, or may not be able to do the exercises in full. Well that's where the microcycle comes in! The small adaptations we make temporarily within the program to accommodate your short-term needs are the crux of it.

So with all of that being said, you should jump into the episode and listen to what Jess and Kam have to say, because there are little insights, tips, tricks and more. And they have a lot of fun chatting about it too.