Tag Archives: periodization

Improve Cycling Performance Through Base Training

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By Robert Forster, P.T., PHASE IV Founder & CEO

With summer right around the corner, making sure you’ve put in the work to build an aerobic base is more important now than ever. A lot is happening beneath the skin and improvements are not readily apparent by outward appearance. In fact, the low-intensity “Base Training” is where your most significant fitness growth will come. Impatient athletes may want to rush the early season preparation and get to the “hard stuff” too soon. Developing fitness is a recipe where adding the intensity ingredient too early will ruin the final product. In fact, to the extent you develop Base Fitness will dictate the extent of your peak fitness later. Like a pyramid-shaped building where the foundation needs to be broader than the upper floors, the Base fitness you develop early on must be broader than the ensuing layers of fitness you apply. For these reasons it’s important for the cyclist to intellectually understand the science happening under the skin.

Most cyclists have by now been exposed to some elements of Periodization Training ideology and have incorporated these principles into their training. The Eastern European concept of breaking the training year into cycles or phases is not as foreign as it once was and cyclists now realize it’s the most effective way to train. Furthermore, most understand the importance of a preparatory phase to precede the harder work that follows. However, confusion still exists as to what needs to be accomplished in the Base Training phase of their yearly program.

Developed by Soviet Era Sports Scientists during the Cold War, Periodization Training was developed in an attempt to dominate the world of sport. Specifically designed to avoid the performance plateaus and mental burnout in communist athletes; Periodization Principles were the result of controlled research techniques. In research, controlling variables is paramount and behind the Iron Curtain the Soviets were able to do so with impunity. Each country began, of course, with ethnically homogenous groups (Russians, Bulgarians, Germans, etc.) they then “centralized” their promising young athletes to isolated training facilities.

Ability to control diet, sleep, and environment while ignoring research edicts regarding things like consent, they manipulated exercise stimulus in search of the most effective training program design. The results may have been ethically corrupt; but proved to be scientifically sound. What emerged is a model of human adaptation that provides predictable outcomes when exercise is orchestrated in a scientifically rational sequence.

“FIRST THINGS FIRST”

Research from around the world has confirmed that development of substantial physiological infrastructure must precede the hard work of the competitive phase.

Without the necessary infrastructure developed through Base Training, the hard work to prepare for competition will not be as effective; and in fact may not be tolerated at all, and instead lead to injury or illness. Signs of inadequate Base Training include inconsistent performances throughout training and the competitive season, failure to achieve optimal competition body weight (fat loss or muscle gain), frequent illness or injury, chronic fatigue, and poor attitude and focus. In 35 years of designing programs I have found that athletes who wish to perform well consistently, avoid injury, and reach their greatest potential, must be scientific in their approach to Base Training.

To achieve this there are two distinct areas of preparation to be considered: Metabolic Fitness and Structural Integrity. Metabolic fitness translates to optimal cellular physiology in all the applicable systems of internal bodily functions: cardiovascular system, pulmonary system (lungs), nervous system, endocrine system (hormonal system), and the energy production systems in the muscles themselves.

Structural integrity speaks to the resiliency of the mechanical structures of the body. This includes muscles, tendons, fascia, ligaments, and bone. This aspect of Base Training is the least understood and most underdeveloped in recreational and competitive age group athletes. Too often an athlete in pursuit of optimal cellular fitness is sabotaged by insufficient structural preparation. As you ramp up the intensity of training, you will need a strong foundation of physiological and physical infrastructure.

METABOLIC FITNESS

The main limiting factors of metabolic fitness prove to be the circulatory system and energy production within the muscle cells themselves. (Improved heart and lung function and neurological adaptation to exercise occur more readily). Low-intensity workouts promote better vascularization of the muscles. By working the muscle at low-intensity (aerobic range) the blood vessels open as demand for oxygen increases. This stimulates a profusion or growth of the smallest blood vessels (called capillaries) into the working muscles. This “capillarization” is the vascular infrastructure that will be necessary later, when the increased work demands of interval training stress the working muscles, requiring a more efficient energy system to deliver oxygen and nutrients, as well as remove carbon dioxide and waste products. This process of vascular growth takes 8-12 weeks and requires that exercise intensity remains low.

The second metabolic adaptation necessary in Base Training is an increase of the muscle cells aerobic energy production factories called mitochondria.

These small powerhouse structures use fats and oxygen to make energy while not producing fatigue causing lactic acid and waste. Again, the stimulus for growth is low-intensity exercise of increasing duration. The body will meet the demand for aerobic energy production by increasing the number of mitochondria in each muscle cell. However, any intense exercise will cause the body to meet these demands through anaerobic energy production, and thwart your pursuit of aerobic efficiency.

Here lies the secret to vast improvements in performance. The aerobic machine can and should be developed to a much higher degree than most athletes are aware. Conversely, the improvements in anaerobic energy production are more limited. The challenges for athletes and coaches are determining the proper intensity of training to develop the aerobic energy system and secondly to determine when it is adequately developed.

Intensity training measures where lactate levels increase in the blood and therefore when energy production is primarily aerobic, and at what level of exertion a more significant contribution from anaerobic energy machines occurs.

Determining this LACTATE THRESHOLD is paramount in determining the proper intensity of work in the Base Training phase.

PHASE IV proprietary technology gives accurate, reproducible data that is reliable in determining the heart rate zones which you need to train to enhance your aerobic energy production capabilities. Once developed to the proper extent you will train better, have an easier time recovering and perform consistently throughout the year.

Aerobic training will develop your ability to produce more power (speed) while burning fats, which are in abundant supply, and thus sparing the limited stores of carbohydrates in your body. Higher intensity exercise (anaerobic) begins to burn precious carbohydrate and after they are gone (BONK!!) your day is over! In addition, relying on more of your power from the anaerobic energy systems results in fatigue producing lactic acid production.

These aerobic system adaptations require extended periods of low intensity exercise and can be seriously sidetracked with even an occasional bout of higher intensity work.

STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY

What happens under the skin is crucial to athletic success. During Base Training the well-conditioned cyclist must develop physical and mechanical infrastructure to withstand the arduous task of hill work and interval training that comes later in the Periodization training phases. The forces developed in these harder workouts put great demands on joints, bones, tendons and fascia. Base training must address two primary areas of structural development: Biomechanical Efficiency and Musculoskeletal Resiliency.

Cycling requires a high degree of mechanical efficiency in terms of sound technique and form. Optimal technique affords the well-trained cyclist two advantages. First, proper technique provides the greatest economy in energy expenditure possible, i.e., movement that produces the greatest power for the lowest cost in energy. Secondly, proper technique avoids excessive stress on tendons, fascia, joints and bones.

Conversely, faulty technique wastes precious energy and overtax the mechanical parts of your body. Specifically, poor technique leads to early fatigue and further breakdown in the technique, which results in poor performance and puts stress on bodily structures resulting in injury. Developing proper technique in Base Training involves a sound flexibility program, weight training, and drills.

FLEXIBILITY TRAINING

Flexibility is defined as the range of motion of bones around a joint. Bones must have the freedom of movement to be positioned just right in the sequence of sport motion we call “proper technique”. Without adequate flexibility the muscles work overtime in an attempt to attain the best position of the bones. The muscles have to work harder as they fight the limiting effects of inflexibility. This exacts a cost on energy demands which accumulates during a race, and as a result fatigue sets in and performance suffers. Regular stretching will improve flexibility and promote efficiency while avoiding injury. (In addition, stretching promotes recovery).

A well-designed flexibility program addresses each of the major muscle groups in positions that promote relaxation of the muscles and associated structures and allows for ease of breathing. The target of your stretching program is the connective tissue elements of the muscular system not the fibers themselves. The red-blood rich muscle fibers are elastic and will stretch without much resistance. Surrounding each muscle fiber and wrapping the muscles into bundles is the white connective tissue, which inhibits range of motion. Additionally, connective tissue is the material of tendons, (which attach muscles to bones), and comprises ligaments, (which attach bones to bones at the joint).

Connective tissue is not immediately elastic and requires the application of slow sustained stretching to lengthen. Permanent lengthening of these structures equates to good flexibility and you are therefore one step closer to good technique. (See sidebar for stretching guidelines.) In bicycling, flexibility in the muscles of the pelvis and spine allow for the correct biomechanical position on the bike. Without this, the hips rock back and forth with each pedal stroke and you are unable to bend forward easily into the aerodynamic position.

STRENGTH TRAINING WEIGHTS AND PERFORMANCE

Done properly, strength training for the endurance athlete is in many ways the quickest way to achieve the structural goals of the Base Training Phase of cycling training: Joint Stability and Musculoskeletal Resiliency. Using light weights and FTS resistance band exercises will isolate the small muscles around each joint; and will not only help prevent injury, but will directly improve performance throughout the season. If you were to do nothing more than the low-intensity strength work of early season training, the payoff in developing musculoskeletal resiliency and biomechanical efficiency will benefit you all year.

JOINT STABILITY

Joint stability describes the blend of proper flexibility and adequate strength necessary to maintain optimal joint alignment throughout a movement. When aligned properly at the joint bones work as levers to multiply the force of muscle contraction, whereas misalignment of joints wastes tremendous amounts of energy and causes trauma and injury.

MUSCULOSKELETAL RESILIENCY

The tendons respond to the stress of the weight training by increasing in size and strength. This adaptation is not obvious on the outside, but is part of what’s happening below the surface that is so important. Likewise, the bones will become stronger through weight training as the muscle tug and stress the bones at the attachment of the tendon. Again this adaptation is critical to avoid injury later.

The Base Training weight program called the “Anatomical Adaptation Phase” must strengthen all of the often-neglected little muscles that surround joints. Typical cycling training creates imbalances in these small stabilizing muscles throughout the training year. Base Training is where these imbalances must be corrected to avoid injury and optimize mechanics. Since these are small muscles the weights must be kept light. For example ankle, shoulder and hip exercises requires no more than 2-3 pounds weights to start. Using heavier weights will only cause the larger stronger muscles to substitute and “protect” the imbalance. Furthermore, light weights and high repetitions will stimulate strengthening of the tendons, fascia and bones while avoiding over training these structures. The result is a musculoskeletal system that is resilient to injury.

Weight training further enhances performance by training the nervous system to stimulate more efficient muscle contractions. Muscle fibers are called into action in recruitment patterns dictated by the nervous system. Weight training fast tracks improvements in this important aspect of sports performance by burning in these nerve-muscle connection patterns quicker than sport training does. In addition, efficient movement requires one muscle to relax while the opposing muscle contracts.

Energy is wasted if this contraction-relaxation sequence is not seamless and smooth. Weight training facilitates this coordination by creating strong nerve impulses to the muscle which creates more coordinated muscle function and thus facilitates good form. The caveats to early season weight training includes using weights that are too heavy, working muscles to fatigue, and not stretching before, during, and after weight training sessions (see strength sidebar for guidelines).

By exaggerating certain aspects of cycling, specific drills are designed to strengthen muscles, improve nerve recruitment patterns and condition the mechanical components of your body. These drills should be done at low-intensity levels to start and only once per week until you are sure they are being tolerated. Drills require good flexibility and therefore stretching before and after is important to avoid injury. Basically, drills convert fitness you gain in the gym into functional gains on the bike.

SIDEBARS:

Base Training: Flexibility and Stretching

Benefits:

Stretching improves flexibility and therefore allows for correct mechanics or technique
Stretching is crucial as part of your warm up to perform better and avoid injury
Stretching after workouts improves recovery by “wringing” waste products out of the muscles and returning them to their normal resting length

When:

Before and after every workout and competition

How:

Long sustained stretches 10-30 seconds in positions that relax the target muscle and allow for easy breathing
How Hard (intensity)
Follow the subsiding tension principle by moving slow into the stretch position and tuning into the tension you feel in the muscle. If tic increases as you hold the same position you have over stretched and you need to back off. If it decreases you may advance the stretch slightly

How Many:

Stretch all muscle groups 3 repetitions

How Long:

Before and after workouts a 10-20 second hold is good, on the evening stretch problem areas lightly for 60 seconds each

Base Training: Strength Work

Benefits:

Increase Musculoskeletal resiliency (injury prevention)
Improve muscle fiber recruitment patterns to improve efficiency of muscle contractions
Improve relaxation of opposing muscle groups (antagonists) to improve coordination (better form)
Balance muscle strength around a joint to improve joint stability

When:

Two to three workouts per week per body part

How:

Moderate controlled movements of body part while exhaling on the lifting portion of the exercise and inhaling on the lowering portion of the exercise
Stop briefly at the end of each movement up and down

How Hard (intensity)

Use only light weights that you can perform twenty repetitions each set while avoiding lifting to exhaustion

The Missing Link From Your Training Program

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By Shelby Stoner, PHASE IV Exercise Physiologist

It seems like you’re doing all of the right things, you’re training 4+ days per week, incorporating a variety of workouts, working in your Long Slow Distance, eating well (at least to the best of your ability), yet progress has stalled and workouts have become stale. So what’s missing?….

Recovery. It’s a simple concept, yet often overlooked and not properly implemented into your routine. Sure, you drink protein shakes after your activities or foam roll every so often, but in reality that’s not enough.

Training for success is a balance; a balance between achieving optimal performance or reaching your goal weight while avoiding the negative consequences of overtraining and the staleness conundrum. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to recognize when recovery is needed as us highly motivated individuals usually respond to a plateau or drop in performance with increases in our training load without fully recognizing the signs of overtraining and overreaching. Consequently, it’s actually telling us that the training related factor leading to negative states is a failure to include adequate recovery in the training regimen.

It is apparent that in any training program there is a need for formally structured recovery processes. It is especially important to select appropriate recovery methods that are matched against the training stimulus. That is, the harder the workout, the greater need for recovery efforts. While recovery efforts cover a wide variety of modalities and tactics, some of the most common include active recovery (i.e. low intensity workout), massage, foam rolling, ice, and most importantly sleep! Among these different approaches towards recovery, 4 main categories have been identified: Nutrition and hydration, sleep and rest, relaxation and emotional support, and stretching and active rest.

1. Nutrition and Hydration

HOW MUCH you eat and WHAT you eat are major factors in the recovery process. Digestion is not only regulated by what you eat, it is regulated by what is taken in and assimilated. A poor diet with an insufficient caloric and fluid intake will decrease the capacity to tolerate physiological stress, a.k.a exercise! That being said, hitting your daily caloric requirements is important with the quality of those calories being even more important. Rather than reaching for a bagel in the morning, opt for organic steel cut oats with fresh fruit or nut butter. Organic oats offer a much healthier and less processed form of carbohydrates especially on days where your exercise intensity is higher. Fresh fruits also provide a quick source of natural, simple carbohydrates that are easily digestible along with the healthy fats offered in nut butters.

In addition, fluid intake is a necessity for maintaining performance capacity, weight loss, and overall health. Aside from keeping you hydrated, adequate water intake helps flush out toxins that build up in the body especially after exercise. It is imperative to replenish water stores that are lost from sweat and environmental factors as insufficient fluid intake will inhibit performance by allowing less glycogen to be stored in the muscle (we want to keep these stores high!). For starters, try and consume at least 64-80oz of warm/room temperature water daily and even more on exercise days!

2. Sleep and Rest

The most frequently mentioned factor for enhancing recovery is the most obvious one, sleep! When you think about it, sleep is your body’s natural mode of recovery! Not only do we need recovery from exercise, we need recovery from daily lifestyle and activities as well. This is why sleep is so important for improving day to day function, performance, and promoting weight loss. Sleep gives you more than just rest; it recharges your “battery,” a.k.a nervous system and replenishes your energy stores. Naturally the deeper and better you sleep, the better you reload. Not to forget, your hormones are working while you’re sleeping. Good sleep helps bring down harmful cortisol levels that accumulate as a result of stress and exercise. In a stressed-out state, cortisol levels are high which can hurt performance and goals over a long period of time. It’s important to help these levels return to “baseline” as excess cortisol promotes fat storage and is a contributing factor to the overtraining syndrome.

One of the best ways to ensure you’re getting GOOD sleep each night is to create a ritual. Lie down, meditate, utilize positive self-talk, read a book, or talk to another human being (Or if you’re like me, your dogs); all of these things can be relaxing and help slow your heart rate preparing you for a good night’s sleep.

3. Relaxation and Emotional Support

Regeneration strategies such as relaxation therapy, counselling, and massage have increasingly gained popularity with athletes especially in Eastern Europe as ways to recover from daily life and exercise. Eliminating or at least minimizing common daily stressors whether the source is occupational, financial, social, etc. is another strategy commonly used by sport psychologists to promote mental and physical well-being.

Relaxation techniques such as massage, foam rolling and myofascial release are also important to incorporate as proactive recovery interventions. These specific techniques help target problematic areas and promote blood flow and oxygen to the muscle to enhance the recovery process.

4. Stretching and Active Rest / Recovery

Stretching has effects similar to that of massage as it increases blood flow through the muscle. Stretching should be incorporated into your daily routine to help promote good posture and flexibility, as well as before and after exercise in order to help prepare the body for activity and prevent injury. Stretching in the morning after you wake and before bed is also beneficial especially in areas that are tight or underdeveloped.

While sometimes it may seem like a great idea to lounge on the couch after a long or hard workout, it actually may be in your favor to get up and moving. This is what we refer to as active rest, or active recovery. Active recovery is defined as low intensity exercise with the purpose of getting blood flow to your muscles and helping them recover. So while watching Netflix or taking a nap seems like a great idea, doing something more active like taking a walk, an easy swim, or hopping on an elliptical may actually speed up the recovery process. How do you know how hard to go? Essentially, an active recovery workout should keep you below a 4 on a 1-10 rating of perceived effort scale (see scale below). An active recovery day should feel light and rejuvenating, and serve as a psychological break. In this way, exercise is used as a therapeutic tool. Ultimately, not EVERY recovery day should be an active one, but don’t discount them altogether. Make sure you have at least one FULL recovery day where yes, Netflix and napping is allowed, and incorporate active recovery in the rest of the week.

Take Home Message

Just as you may track your calories or monitor heart rate during exercise, it’s helpful to keep tabs on your recovery. Even asking yourself simple questions like “How do I feel today?” or “Am I sore—is my soreness symmetrical?” and “How well did I sleep?” can expose simple measures of fatigue.

Most importantly, pay attention to your body. Are your feet starting to get a little bit heavy? Are your feet hitting the ground harder? Is that knee acting up more frequently? Nobody knows your body like you do. If you’re overly tired, call it quits; better you get the rest you need than hurt yourself.

In order to help keep track of recovery and prevent harmful overtraining, try using the Total Quality Recovery (TQR) process or the Wellbeing Quiz below!

…

Total Quality Recovery (TQR) Assessment Process

Evaluate your last 24hr training period.
Determine your score for each category:
- Nutrition
- Sleep and Rest
- Relaxation and Emotional Support
- Stretching and Cool-down

Nutrition (10 points)
- Breakfast – 1 point
- Lunch – 2 points
- Dinner – 2 points
- Snacks between meals – 1 point
- (This assumes quality, healthy balanced meals)
- Adequate hydration
  - throughout the day – 2 points
  - during/post workouts – 2 points
- (Environmental factors will effect greatly how much is an adequate intake of fluids)

Sleep and Rest (4 points)
- Good night of quality sleep (7-8 hours) – 4 points
- (Quality of sleep is measured using individual perception)

Relaxation and Emotional Support (3 points)
- Full mental and muscular relaxation after training – 2 point
- Maintaining a relaxed state throughout the day, finding ways to reduce stress – 1 point
- Here the goal is to use a variety of relaxation techniques (breathing, massage, etc.).

Stretching and Cool Down (3 points)
- Proper cool down after each training period – 2 points
- Stretching all the exercised muscle groups – 1 point

Tally your points. A total of 20 points are available and a score of less than 13 points indicates that recovery from training is incomplete.

…

Wellbeing Quiz

Assess your state of training and recovery by visiting these statements each morning. See where you are excelling in the recovery process or where you may need some work.

Assess yourself each morning against the following six questions/statements:
1. I slept well last night
2. I am looking forward to today’s workout
3. I am optimistic about my future performance
4. I feel vigorous and energetic
5. My appetite is great
6. I have little muscle soreness

Rate each statement on the following scale:
1. 1 – Strongly disagree
2. 2 – Disagree
3. 3 – Neutral
4. 4 – Agree
5. 5 – Strongly agree

If your score is 20 or above then you have probably recovered enough to continue with the training program. If your score is below 20, you may want to consider rest or an easy workout (active recovery) until your score rises again.

SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING – NOT JUST FOR OLYMPIANS

By Ron Berry, P.T., Director of Rehab Services

With the Winter Olympics in full swing so many of us will be tuning in to the Short Track Speed Skating Events to catch some of the excitement of the racing, the tactics, and the intense bursts of energy the racers put out. Those athletes are amazing and powerful, and most of them are in their 20’s. But, there are also masters racers who have competitions around the country. One of those athletes is Peter Smokler, 68, who is rehabilitating a partial knee replacement utilizing the Phase IV periodization program.

As a youth he was an ice hockey player and always loved skating. After losing touch with being on the ice for a few decades and working hard as a cameraman and doing a variety of physical things, he wanted to get skates back on and use something he loved doing as a youth to help him get his middle aged body back to being fit. He thought the pounding of hockey would be too much on him so he gravitated to speed skating. He found groups in Southern California to skate with, at the Toyota Center in El Segundo, and with the Santa Clarita Skating Club. The more traditional long track speed skating is apparently harder to get into in Southern California because of a shortage of large frozen lakes, and large track skating rinks. So, short track speed skating with the sharp turns and more demands to be quick and powerful was where Peter found himself. He participated in several competitions and developed quite a passion for the sport.

Unfortunately, with all the adventures he had in his life and a predisposition for osteoarthritis he ended up having a partial knee replacement. This sounds pretty life changing, but in this day and age is fairly smooth to recover from. He rehabilitated at Forster Physical Therapy in Santa Monica following a conservative path of developing maximal range of motion, good contractability of all his critical muscles aimed for full body structural stability, what we refer to as Base 1 in our Periodization Structural Integrity program. He then moved from the arena of rehabilitation into sports performance enhancement. He was shown, by Rachel Suson, D.P.T., a comprehensive program to do at his gym that included strength challenges to critical areas of his body in a comprehensive manner, what we refer to as Base 2.

He has recently returned to the ice and is refining his technique with strength and stability beyond what he had before his knee replacement. Next up is to go to the next cycle of the Periodization Structural Integrity Program. It will be more specific to Skating and be aimed at improving his ability to create greater forces with his skating, a Strength Building phase. Actually, next up is to root on the athletes as they compete in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

If you have any questions about PHASE IV’s Periodization Structural Integrity Program or rehabilitation from injury or surgery, please contact us at (310) 582-8212 or info@phase-iv.net

PERIODIZATION: THE SOLUTION FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE

PHASE IV Science Based Coaching

An Excerpt from Healthy Running Step by Step by Robert Forster PT & Roy Wallack

If you just want to stay active and don’t care about getting faster or losing large chunks of time to nagging injuries, keep doing your regular workouts But if you want to improve, get fitter, stop getting injured, and maybe score a personal record at a race, your run-of-the-mill haphazard training won’t cut it. To kick your running up several notches, you have to train in a way that is good for your body, building it up and speeding it up while limiting the potential for injuries.

To do that, you need a strategy that is almost bipolar, in that it combines increasingly hard efforts with rest days and rest weeks. Over the weeks and months, this hard-easy schedule is the paradigm that gives your body time to heal, recover, and build bigger, stronger, faster muscles and connective tissue.

Sequence is the key. The science shows that you have to properly sequence your training to develop one aspect of fitness at a time and then use that as a foundation to build the next. In fact, to be your fittest by the time the starting gun goes off, you must be incredibly patient. You will spend a long time building a broad base of aerobic infrastructure and musculoskeletal resiliency before adding on layers of higher-intensity work such as hill training and intervals as you approach race day. This strategy is virtually foolproof, used by the world’s best athletes in every sport, and it’ll work for you if you have the discipline to follow it.

It’s called Periodization.

Basically, the Periodization model builds the athlete up to optimal performance with a stair-step series of methodical, progressive challenges and recoveries that strengthen your body and keep brain and brawn fresh. It starts with a goal (such as a marathon or 10k) and plans a workout schedule leading up to it, breaking up your training time for your targeted event into five training cycles or phases, each with a specific fitness goal in mind.

To learn how you can incorporate Periodization science in your training, contact us for a complimentary consult with a member of our Exercise Physiology staff. 310-582-8212 or email info@phase-iv.net.

PERIODIZATION TRAINING FOR LIFE: PART ONE

By CEO Robert Forster, PT

To kick your fitness up several notches and keep it there year round, you have to train in a way that is good for your body, building it up methodically while limiting the potential for disruptive injuries and permanent metabolic damage. One only needs to revisit the Biggest Loser debacle to understand why.

A safe training strategy is almost bipolar in that it combines workouts that progress your fitness with rest days and rest weeks in an effort to train as well as protect your metabolism.

Over weeks and months, this hard/easy training schedule is the paradigm that gives your body time to recover and get stronger, more flexible and leaner.

The four training phases of Periodization ultimately help you avoid the pit fall of lifelong fitness: Overtraining, which leaves you burned out, sick, injured, and unable to control your weight.

Sequence is key.

Training science shows that you have to properly sequence your training to develop one aspect of fitness at a time and then use that as a foundation to build the next. In fact, to achieve your best fitness levels you must be incredibly patient. You will spend a long time building a broad base of aerobic infrastructure and musculoskeletal resiliency before adding more intense workouts. This strategy is virtually foolproof, used by the world’s best athletes in every sport, and it’ll work for you if you have the discipline to follow it.
It’s called Periodization.

The foundation of all modern sports training, Periodization was developed in the Eastern Bloc countries during the cold war in an attempt to dominate the world of sport. It proved so effective that now athletes all over the world, and across all sports, use it routinely to achieve the highest levels of fitness while avoiding burnout and injury.

The reason this approach to fitness is so effective and has replaced of all other approaches is because it is on based research showing how the body best responds to exercise. It’s all about human adaptation and it provides predictable outcomes when exercise is orchestrated in a scientifically rational sequence.

Basically, the Periodization model builds your fitness up with a stair step series of methodical, progressive challenges and recoveries that strengthen your body and keep brain and brawn fresh.

Periodization plays out like this:

• Phase 1: “Base Building.” An 8 week training cycle of gradually ramping up your workouts with the dual goal of building up your metabolic and structural foundation. The low intensity “aerobic” training teaches your body to rely on fueling itself using fat, which all bodies have a huge supply of, and hardens your body against injury for the tougher workouts to come. Similarly, your weight training is done with light weights to isolate and strengthen all the little “helper” muscles that act to stabilize each joint and perfect your running mechanics.

• Phase 2: “Strength Development” A 4-8 week training cycle of increasingly challenging aerobic workouts and weight training designed to increase the strength of the bigger muscles that will help you perform better in your life activities and sport.

• Phase 3: “Power Conversion” A 4 week training cycle where intensity is increased to build anaerobic fitness with interval training and harder gym workouts designed to convert strength into power. The training loads are decreased in the gym to teach your muscles to contract faster and harder!

• Phase 4: “Peak Fitness and Speed Development” An 8 week cycle of bringing your fitness to a peak with shorter, harder workouts designed to peak your metabolic fitness while working with super light loads in the gym for high rep sets that make your muscles more fatigue resistant.

• Phase 5: “Transition.” After achieving peak fitness you chill out a bit with easy workouts designed for recovery. Then get ready to start all over again.

In a nutshell, Periodization keeps you fresh physically and mentally because the exercise stimulus is constantly changing. It proves that development of substantial physiological infrastructure must precede the hard work of the later phases as you approach peak condition. Without developing the necessary infrastructure first through Base Training, and progressed in Strength Development, the hard work needed to prepare for the highest levels of fitness will not be as effective and also may not be tolerated, leading to injury or illness. The four training phases of Periodization ultimately help you avoid the pit fall of lifelong fitness: Overtraining, which leaves you burned out, sick, injured, and with sub-optimal health.

Stay tuned next week’s for Periodization Training: Part Two

PHASE IV IS UNDETECTABLE IN THE BLOOD

PHASE IV is Undetectable in the Blood

by Robert Forster, PT

These times of fallen sports heroes and recent exposure of widespread drug cheating in professional cycling, confirms my urgent message that it is more important than ever to use a scientific and ethical approach to achieve athletic excellence.

Whatever we might think of Lance Armstrong and his ruthless drive to keep his dark secret, the more striking truth that came to light is that he competed on an even playing field because the top riders in the Tour De France were doping. In fact, many believe that only a handful of the nearly 200 peloton riders in the Tour De France were not doped.

My fundamental disappointment in the Lance Armstrong mea culpa is that the true context of doping throughout all of professional sports has yet to frame this conversation. I believe Lance when he said the US Postal Team program was conservative in terms of dosage and duration of his drug regime. After all, he certainly would never be mistaken for a bodybuilder, an NFL lineman, he never failed a drug test and he did not win every race he entered. Informed opinions suggest that players in the NFL, NHL or NBA are not nearly as conservative in their performance drug use.

A three part New York Times expose last year regarding drug use among NHL “enforcers” was astonishing in terms of the common place use of drugs for performance and pain in that sport. There is no indication that these are isolated players rigging the system. Similar press coverage of drug use in the other professional sports leagues has not registered in the minds of sports fans that condemn Lance Armstrong as a cheat but hail their grid iron and ice heroes as gods of fair competition.

Some voices in the sports media have said that professionals know the risks of doping or competing against drug strengthened athletes and accept those risks as part of the game they get paid to play. But, what about our kids? What about young athletes who are led to believe they can achieve their dreams of Olympic or professional sports glory without cheating? Is it fair to hold up doped athletes as role models and present their accomplishments as achievable ethically? How about the young middle school and high school athletes who fall prey to the lure of performance enhancing drugs but have no chance of ever playing professionally? Is the threat to their long-term health from these drugs worth sacrificing with the disingenuous value proposition that all it takes is hard work to compete at the highest levels of sport?

For any athlete, doping exacts a great personal toll. All athletes begin building their career on an ethical platform. Athletes succeed at first by developing a healthy degree of self-reliance and personal drive. No one can do the work for them; no one else’s sacrifices are going to get them on the podium. The decision to take that first step out onto the slippery slope of drug use displaces that mode of control from what’s in their heart to what’s in the little bottle on their night stand. That is when they begin to lose their most precious strength; self reliance, and then they are truly lost.

PHASE IV METABOLIC TESTING

Scientific metabolic testing is the foundation of exercise and nutrition science. This testing lets us see what is happening inside your body during exercise, and at rest. From this data we create accurate heart-rate training zones and nutritional guidance to assure all your workouts are fueled properly and 100% productivie with no wasted efforts. As exercise intensity increases so does your heart rate. As your heart rate increases your body’s preferred energy source shifts from primarily burning fat to burning carbohydrate. By training in the proper zone you will teach your body to burn more fat and less carbohydrate, lowering lactic acid levels, cortisol, and fatigue. Proper heart rate training replaces random workouts and is essential to optimizing the effort/reward ratio of your training.

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BUILDING EARLY SEASON STRENGTH AND FITNESS

The Science of Building Early Season Strength & Fitness

BY Robert Forster, PT

Featured in Scientific Fitness

It’s springtime and you’ve logged long workouts to develop a sound foundation of fitness. You have focused on the goals of Base training: aerobic development, cleaning up your diet, stretching, drills and some form of strength development. You trusted the science behind these long slow aerobic workouts of the last months and accordingly have developed a better metabolic infrastructure. You can’t see it but you know an extensive vascular network (capilarization) has been built to better serve the metabolic needs of your working muscles.

You know the muscles are more efficient at using fats as a primary source of energy while producing less lactic acid and sparing precious carbohydrate stores. You also know the light weights and easy workouts have hardened the connective tissue supporting your muscles and comprising the tendons, ligaments and fascia that will propel you to an injury free season.

You have felt the stabilizing effects of the trunk strengthening exercises you’ve done and know that along with the drills you performed you are now more mechanically efficient. You feel this preparation will serve you well and with race dates quickly approaching you are motivated to turn up the heat on your training and jump into hard-core workouts.

STOP: DANGER AHEAD!

Caveats still exist for achieving a successful injury-free season. How you layer on the requisite fitness attributes of strength, anaerobic fitness, power and speed will either deliver you to athletic nirvana or crushing defeats. To move directly to high intensity intervals and long hard group rides would short change the ultimate level of fitness you might attain. Instead you first need to get stronger.

With improved infrastructure and structural integrity you will tolerate and benefit greatly from strength building work in the gym and low heart rate hill climbing on your bike and run workouts. Strength is an essential ingredient in power output and these workouts will improve your power and improve your race times.

DEVELOPING MAXIMUM STRENGTH

All endurance athletes benefit from a maximum strength phase in their periodization training program. As each muscle fiber becomes stronger i.e., able to develop more force, it requires less of them to complete a given task. Muscle fibers contract in specific recruitment patterns to generate force. While the first set of fibers are bearing the burden of the workload, others rest to be called upon later. In addition, strong muscles support joints, improve form and prevent injury.

For athletes of higher body weight strength will help hill climbing speeds and momentum on rolling hills. Additionally utilizing heavier weights specifically train fast twitch muscle fibers and cause a natural increase of testosterone levels. Studies have shown the maximum strength weight exercises boost testosterone levels to promote recovery. If adequate rest is provided the testosterone boost, (even in women) will improve lean body mass & strength. However, successful weight programs for the endurance athlete are predicated on proper program design and execution.

METHODOLOGY: IT’S NOT BODYBUILDING

Your strength program design must produce results consistent with the needs of the sport. Weight training goals for endurance sports are very different than that of bodybuilding. Triathletes ultimately want to improve the mean power output over the course of a race. The last thing a triathlete needs is big bulky muscles. Any muscle mass not being specifically used in your sport is just an anchor. To get stronger without adding size simply follow this rule: never exercise to exhaustion.

Bodybuilders train to the point of failure with high repetitions and many sets. This produces more size than strength. Most athletes think accumulating fatigue in a weight exercise is necessary to make the muscle stronger. It’s quite the contrary. Pushing heavier weights causes your nervous system to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible to contract all at once. At the end of a long set of exercise some of the muscle fibers fatigue and the muscle contraction deteriorates past useful levels. It’s critical to provide a five-minute rest between sets thus facilitating another massive muscle fiber recruitment unencumbered by fatigue.

To avoid fatigue use the vertical sequence of exercise in your weight sessions. This dictates that you perform one set of each exercise before returning to the second set of the same exercise. In contrast the horizontal sequencing of exercise dictates performing all of one specific exercise before progressing to the next.

Another caveat to using weights is skimping on your stretching. If you continue stretching, weightlifting does not decrease flexibility. The opposite is true; weak muscles stay tight to improve their meager contractile force. In physical therapy we find chronically tight areas need to be strengthened before they ultimately “let go” and allow freedom of motion. Stretching before, during and after workouts is crucial in making strength gains in the gym functional and not counterproductive.

GETTING STARTED

Three weeks before starting hill workouts begin to prepare with heavier workouts in the gym. The maximum strength phase involves transitioning from lighter exercises used to isolate the small muscles around each joint to heavier multi-joint (compound) exercises for the larger muscle groups. The heavier exercises should mimic the movements of your sport (think leg press vs. knee extension). Increase loads to 80% of the maximum amount of weight you could lift just once for any given exercise. Due to the risk of injury triathletes should not attempt a one repetition maximum test. Instead, the appropriate load can be derived using a weight you can do 4-10 repetitions to exhaustion and use the formula provided (see sidebar 1) to calculate your one rep max weight.

The choice of exercises should include a low row (rhomboids/middle trap), lat pull (latissimus dorsi), leg press (quads, gluts, hamstrings), toe raise (calves), and leg curl (hamstring). Core strengthening exercises continue. Arm curls and tricep extensions round out the program. At this phase of your training workouts are the shortest as you reduce the repetitions (8-12) and number of exercises. (Big muscle groups only.) Perform one warm up set at 50% of your 1 rep max and two training sets in the 80% range.

Stretch before, during and after workouts and be sure your diet has lots of high quality protein. Stretching before bed, icing and massage further promote recovery. Remember no one ever became stronger during a workout, it’s afterwards; during the recovery process that muscles become stronger.

OUTDOOR WORKOUTS

After two weeks of strength preparation in the gym you are ready to begin strength work on the roads and in the pool. (see sidebar 2) Even with adequate preparation these workouts are high stress activities for joints and tendons. You must stretch and warm up thoroughly and never “work through” joint or tendon pain. Even if the pain improves or disappears with warm up you risk further debilitating injury. All tri-sport strength workouts must be performed with focus on form over speed.

Maximum Strength Phase Weight Training

Duration: 4 – 8 weeks (1 – 2 cycles) Days per week: 2 Load:70-85% of 1 rep max Sets: 2 sets in training zone Number of exercises: Low (prime movers only) Variety of exercise: Change every 3 week cycle Order of exercise: Vertical Rest between sets: (w/stretching & shaking out muscles) 3 – 5 minutes Speed of movement: Slow to Moderate Calculation of One Repetition Maximum 1. Perform warm-up sets. 2. Select a weight you can do 4-10 repetitions to exhaustion. 3. Use the table below to find the Factor on the right column. 4. Divide that Factor into the weight you used to calculate your theoretical One Repetition Maximum. Example: 5 Reps @ 150 lbs. Factor = .875 150 lbs./.875 = 171 One Rep Max # of Reps Factor 4 .900 5 .875 6 .850 7 .825 8 .800 9 .775 10 .750

Note: If you choose a weight that is too light and you lift beyond 10 reps, increase weights and try again after a five-minute rest. Program design by Phase IV Founder, Robert Forster, PT.

TRI SPORT STRENGTH WORKOUTS

Swim

Part 1. After adequate warm-up perform 10 x 50m Pull with paddles & rubber band around ankles (even pace off 20 secs rest) then 10 x 50m Pull with paddles (build pace within each 50m off 20 secs rest) Part 2. 10 x 25m pull with paddles/ 25m pull/ 25m fast swim off 20 secs rest. Cool down. Focus is always on technique. The pace is below Anaerobic Threshold apart from the fast 25′s in the part 2, so swim strong but controlled to ensure that strength is challenged.

Bike

Session 1. 3 x 15 mins @ 5-10 bpm below AT (Anaerobic Threshold) at 75 rpm on undulating terrain off 5 mins recovery. (This is a pre-strength workout done as a Transition from Base Conditioning work to a pure Strength phase. This should be done for 1-time per week for 3 weeks before replacing it with Session 2) Session 2. Seated Hills: 4 x 10 mins @ up to AT power output & 50-60 rpm off 5 mins easy spin recovery. Stay seated through and focus on smooth pedaling. Do this workout once a week for 4-6 weeks for optimal strength gains.

Run

2 x (5 x 2 mins Hills up to AT heart rate) off a jog down & partial recovery. (This set is about developing Aerobic Strength and not Anaerobic Capacity. Keep this set just below AT and allow only partial recovery. Focus on High Knee lift, extending the ankle for maximum power and keep a high cadence of 180 strides per minute)

Periodized Strength Training

Periodization strength training breaks the training program into cycles (or periods) where fitness is developed in a scientifically rational sequence. After about six-to-eight weeks of the same activity the body becomes stronger and can handle the load without experiencing stress; performance will then fade if the exercise stimulus is not altered in such a way as to create new stress on the body, and peak hormone production again.

Your PHASE IV team is using state-of-the-science training methods to set up your plan of Periodized Strength Training. Matching the requirements of your sport, you will be educated in proper strength development, stretching, warm up, cool down, and aggressive recovery techniques. Pictured here is PHASE IV athlete World Racing Champion Rebecca Ruysch, who credits Forster for “teaching her body how to ride her bike.” Call PHASE IV 310-582-8212 or send us a message

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THE SCIENCE OF RECOVERY

RECOVERY SCIENCE

By CEO Robert Forster,PT

“Recovery should be so well understood and actively enhanced that it becomes a fixed component of your training,” –Tudor Bompa Recovery is when your body actually grows stronger and more efficient. It is when the benefits of your hard training are realized. Working hard is easy, everyone knows how to work hard, but those who know how to recover hard (well) are the ones who win,”–Bob Kersee, Track & Field Coach to 24 Olympic medal winning performances.

Progressive Overload and Supercompensation

Without recovery all your hard work is futile. The foundation of all successful training is the concept of increasing stress on the body as a means of triggering an adaptive response, resulting in a strengthening of the physiological systems to a degree greater than they were before (the Supercompensation Principle). Following periods of hard work, fatigue and an initial decrease in performance occur before the body becomes stronger or more efficient. However, this occurs only if time for recovery is provided. Periodization Training Science was born of the need to avoid mental and physical burnout and peak performance when it counts most.

The well-constructed Periodization Program manipulates intensity and volume (generally inversely related) to create the right amount of stress on metabolic and structural systems of the body.

After an appropriate time for recovery the adaptive process occurs. Using progressive build periods of training followed by a week of decreased workload allows for proper recovery-to-work ratio. Overload of stress without the reprieve of recovery leads to a breakdown of the systems involved and not a strengthening adaptation. The body can only reach an ultimate level of fitness following these principles. Focus on the recovery of the metabolic and structural systems is critical. In endurance athlete’s, limitations of the structural system (tendons, bone, fascia) to withstand the rigors of the training load necessary to peak the metabolic systems (energy production) is often their demise. Additionally, the metabolic system can be overtaxed and weakened not strengthened with inappropriate balance of stress and recovery.

Prevention of Overtraining

The best way to remedy overtraining problems is with prevention with built in rest and recovery periods at regular intervals in your training program. As fatigue is a reasonable and certain result of training it is erroneous to use one’s perception of fatigue as an indication for rest. Fatigue to the point of decreased performance is a natural and predictable response to systematic training and the likelihood of becoming overtrained increases when the uncoached athlete increases training load if they “perceive” a plateau or decrease in performance. The well-designed program accounts for the fatigue and performance deficits associated with hard training and provides, not only the expectation of such, but the recovery time necessary to allow for the subsequent Supercompensation Adaptation.

From the Beginning

The prevention of overtraining begins with Base Training where the expressed goals of improving metabolic and structural infrastructure facilitates better recovery and faster adaptation. Improved vascularization and an increased ability to produce energy aerobically (i.e., metabolic efficiency) are critical.

Improved vascularization facilitates recovery by assuring the presence of capillaries in close proximity to each working muscle cell, thus providing for the quick exchange of waste products and nutrients with the muscles. The prolonged low intensity exercise also improves the athlete’s ability to produce energy aerobically where the burning of fats as a substrate produces no lactic acid. The greater the contribution of aerobic energy production to the total energy production the less waste products and lactic acid produced and the less recovery necessary. Additionally, the greater the fat burning capacity, the less reliance on carbohydrate for energy production and the less likely is the damaging event of glycogen depletion or “bonking”. During long or difficult workouts, once muscle and liver glycogen has been depleted, the body begins cannibalizing muscle to produce energy. This is obviously counter productive to overall fitness.

The structural benefits of the low intensity Base Training exercise include a shoring up of the musculoskeletal infrastructure including fascia, ligaments, tendons and bones. A stronger more resilient musculoskeletal infrastructure will prevent injury and decrease recovery time when the exercise intensity increases later in the season. As important for performance and recovery is the result of strength and flexibility work to improve mechanical efficiency, i.e., economy of motion. The resulting decreased energy expenditure during workouts and races translates into less recovery time afterwards. Considering these benefits the time and effort spent in the Base Training Phase is directly beneficial to your recovery rate later in the season. Better recovery translates to the ability to work harder while staving off the dreadful overtrained state.

Variety of Stress

Another cornerstone of periodization training is a constant variation in the exercise program. The body is such a great tool of adaptation that after about six to eight weeks of a certain type of exercise full adaptation occurs and to stimulate further growth the exercise stress must be altered. This keeps the body constantly off balance and forces further adaptation while avoiding staleness. Conveniently, this variety in training also avoids mental burnout and keeps focus and motivation high. Volume and intensity variation characteristic to each phase of Periodization Training creates a constantly evolving program which keeps the body and mind fresh.

Active Recovery

There is nothing passive about recovery. Recovery is an active process where light “adaptation” workouts stimulate recovery better than rest alone. Light workouts are akin to the self-cleaning oven where the heat is turned up but no roast is placed inside. Light workouts provide the body the same opportunity to do house cleaning functions without having to recover from the damaging effects of a new workout. The vascular system is stimulated to increase blood flow to the muscles delivering oxygen and nutrients to aide recovery. The muscle cells, stimulated by a release of hormones, step up the reparative functions and grow stronger. Similar occurrences improve connective tissue and bone repair as well.

Stretching sessions before and particularly after light recovery workouts are more productive when unencumbered by the tightness that would otherwise occur following hard workouts. In this way your stretching efforts go further toward elongating connective tissue and helping tendons and ligaments heal and grow stronger. A good indication of when your structural system is recovered and ready for another hard workout is when the stiffness from the last hard workout is absent.

Self-massage is an excellent method to aide recovery after workouts. Manipulation of the muscles and tissues increases blood flow, breaks adhesions and promotes adaptation of connective tissue. No specific knowledge or training is necessary. Just take some lotion and begin rubbing your calf and thigh muscles, front and back. You will feel the fatigue and tension leave your body. When coupled with stretching and icing sore areas, these self-recovery techniques can make a very significant contribution to the adaptive process you seek., i.e., increased fitness.

Commandments of Recovery and Prevention of Overtraining

1. Build Adequate Base – early season training builds infrastructure that supports hard work and recovery efforts later in the season.

2. Built-In Rest Periods – your training program must have built in recovery weeks following every two to three weeks of harder exercise. This includes the Base Training Phase. Also, always allow for a period of detraining at the end of your competitive season to allow all systems to recover.

3. Vary Intensity and Volume – every eight weeks change nature of your workouts to keep the body off balance and force further adaptation. Remember, volume must decrease as intensity increases.

4. Stretch Before and After Every Workout- stretching prepares the body for exercise and minimizes the damage created during workouts. Stretching after workouts wrings the waste products out of the muscles and returns muscles to their normal resting length therefore avoiding maladaptive muscle and tendon shortening.

5. Self-massage Before and After Workouts- with this simple technique you can prevent damage and promote recovery like the pros.

6. Ice Sore and Tight Areas- ice reduces inflammation, muscle tightness and spasm and allows muscles to relax and recover better. Ice helps avoid injuries and treats minor irritations before they develop into overuse syndromes.

7. Keep Muscle Glycogen Topped Off – carbohydrate stores in the muscle and liver (glycogen) become the limiting factor in endurance events lasting greater than 90 minutes. Maintain adequate levels with sport drink supplementation during exercise and begin replenishing within 15 minutes after workouts. Back to back long or difficult workouts can create a constant glycogen depleted state.

The most common problem in all athletes is an improper hydration and nutrition schedule. Often overlooked and misunderstood what you provide for muscle energy is vital to your success as an athlete.

PHASE IV will teach you how to tailor your nutrition and hydration to the essential recovery cycle. What we do will increase the fitness value of all your workouts.

What you put in your tank before, during and after workouts greatly impacts the fitness goal.

Recovery nutrition is built in to all Periodization training models, because it’s needed whether you feel hungry thirsty or not. After your workout, your body is in a state of stress and needs nourishment.

Usually after exercise your body will be dehydrated, your blood insulin levels will be low, Cortisol and other “breakdown” hormones will be high, your glycogen (fuel stores) will be low or depleted, and your muscles will be in a state of breakdown. Your recovery nutrition should reverse all of the above and restore your to a hydrated fueled, recovered and muscle building state.

Learn what science teaches about the guidelines for an effective recovery drink. Whether you want to lose weight, put on muscle, or simply perform at the best your genetics will allow, your nutrition must support your workouts, competitions, and your lifestyle! We use real science, not gimmicks or fads to address your personal physiology and nutritional needs.

The time to figure out the best mix of calories and fluids for your personal physiology is now!

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