There’s a big thing
going on around this one.
-
Should or shouldn't PT’s Periodize?
I stumble upon this
one every time I teach my Girevoy Sport course and when we get to the Program
Design and Periodization, all hell is breaking loose on this one and for a good
reason!
Most (if not all) of
us agree that building programs for our clients is a must do if we want
to make them progress towards their goals but it’s a very slippery road since
we all familiar with a situation where our client disappears for one reason or
another for a couple of days or weeks, in a middle of a cycle and all of our
time and effort goes down a toilet…
Jon Goodman
wrote a very enlightening article on a subject on PTDC - Personal trainers shouldn't Periodize where he advises for a different approach regarding periodization and
program design but as we all know, there are two sides for everything, so allow
me to present my POV on the other one.
1. Legal stuff
We all want our
clients to be healthier, stronger and happier - otherwise we won’t be doing
what we do! But life is a dynamic thing and as Forest Gump put it: “Shit
Happens” and our clients might get injured, regardless if it was our fault or not
and he or she might press charges for us being responsible and when this
happens – again, I wish no one of my colleagues such an experience – you’d
better have those workouts and progressions written down from day one to prove
him or anybody else that the progress was gradually built and there’s no chance
that you are personally or professionally responsible for that unfortunate
incident!
2. Don’t improvise - adapt!
Improvisation is a trade of actors and
stand up comedians. In our field, good coach doesn’t improvising but rather adapting
to whatever may roll.
Let’s say that
today is a squat day (for me, everyday should be a squat day but hey, someone
have to DL and press either J) and you planned a heavy 5x5
session. You client comes and drops the bomb: “so and so, this and that…..” and
you see that he’s in no position for a heavy squat, what do you do?
-
Improvising? Taking him for some TRX session or Biceps curls to make him
feel good and break the cycle? Maybe, if the case is that bad.
-
The other scenario that instead of improvisation you apply adaptation
and change the 5x3 to 1x8 + 3x5 + 1x10
(make him work hard for three instead of five) or 5x2 or, if thing’s really bad,
you do 5x5 60% for technique…
You get my point
here? We’re adapting inside the planned cycle instead of breaking it!
One other thing is
that muscles don’t get confused and a plan dictated by clear goal
gets results so improvisation is a sign of laziness and dilettantes - it can be
very embarrassing if a client keeps track of his progress and catches you improvising…
3. Team work
You and your client are a team, the A team! The more involved he’ll be in his own
process, the more you educate him and include him in a decision making
regarding his own training, the more devoted, serious and personally
responsible he becomes!
4. In the name of science
Unlike the real scientists we have a rare
privilege to “test on humans”! We all know how our own body reacts to this or
that protocol, method or system but we are not our clients so we test - yes,
this is exactly what we and the best coaches in the field do, we test, tweak
and modify different workouts on our clients, whether it’s a college team,
Olympian or an average Joe, with one exception – elite coaches take notes and
later publishing books we all buy and learn from…
We should do the
same - make an excel sheet for every client with every workout he ever did and
monitor his response for different protocols, seasons, life crises and every
other aspect that affects his life.
Only if we do so, we will be able to track
back and analyze the reason for a sudden sensation of tiredness and lack of
recovery – overtraining maybe, we can scroll back and prevent potential
injuries (re-read №1…) and we can compare which protocol works
best in an annual plan.
5. Set a “close call” goal and roll with punches
There’s no reason to periodize more than one month (three, if your
client is a devoted trainee) in advanced. The options for method, approach and exercise
selection and articles that were written on a subject are numerous!
So my two cents
here will be: “Keep it simple but don’t simplify!”
Set one-three (no
more!) clear and simple goals for and do everything within your
power to nail them by taking it step-by-step, adapting if necessary for
whatever reasons may be, write it all down and at the end of a period sit with your
client, open up the excel sheet or a notebook and take him on a journey of his
own training by sparing him no details and making him involved – it’s his body
and his finances that are invested here, RESPECT THAT!
Summary:
ü
Programming and documentation may protect your name (and money) in a
legal affair.
ü
Don’t improvise – adapt to the circumstances but follow the path you’ve
set.
ü
You’re a team – you want him to train harder, make it his own and
educate him.
ü
We are all unique, everyone adapts differently to a stress so act like
scientist – take notes, observe, test and lead forward in a safest way.
ü
Set no more than one to three clears and measurable goals, for a period
not longer than one-three month and “roll with the punches” to nail them.
Well, in the words of mighty Donald Duck: “That’s all folks!” but, as a matter affect, it’s only a beginning of an individual quest for YOUR way – enjoy the trip!
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