RSP48: 1,000 to 1 Foot View: Planning a Year of Training

Anything important deserves a plan. In the strength and conditioning world, it’s called “periodization.” Within the periodization conversations there are weird terms like “undulating,” “concurrent,” “mesocyles,” and so on. Long story short, these are all just terms for having a plan.

In episode 48 of the R/Strong Podcast, I break down how I look at a year of training for our adults on our Strong Life program and our athletes. Starting with the “1,000 ft” year outlook and whittling it down to what we are doing today can be a daunting process. The R/Strong solution is to “chunk out” the year into smaller segments that are all designed and planned to build on each other towards the main goal.

“The Chunks”

Year

January 1-December 31

Season

12 weeks

4 seasons per year

I call them Delta, Omega, Alpha and Bravo

That’s a joke. I’m assuming you know what they are called

Block

6 weeks per block

2 blocks per season; 8 blocks per year

Cycle

3 weeks per cycle

2 cycles per block; 4 cycles per season; 16 cycles per year

Week

3 weeks per cycle; 6 weeks per block; 12 weeks per season; 48 weeks per year

4 weeks “off” per year

Day

1-7 days training per week depending on your training plan

Here’s a visual of our winter season and how I apply some global programming strategies to the plan.

As you can see, there is a plan. Forgive me, I have not filled out the exercises for Block 2 yet in the template. It’s in my head. I’ll get to it.

Check out the podcast for more tips and strategies for executing an annual training plan.

Have a plan. Work the plan.

Interested in R/Strong Training? Check out more information and contact us for how we can help you be the best athlete you can be.