Developing an athletics

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Developing an athletics
training programme
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[he third article in his series, Marc Crosso, describes a step-by-stepapproach to
developinga training plan and how to incorporate the concepts of periodization.The
examplegiven here can be adapted for use by any training group in any setting. Grosso
the 2002-2003school year, as defined by New York State, as the basis for the
plan example. The plan is tied to the season startlend and state meet dates as
usedby New York State in 2002-2003.
HOW TO DEVELOP A TRAINING PLAN
When developing a train~ngplan, you need to collect
some very specific information. F~rst,you need the
,comperitionschedule in each macrocycle (season)
50 you can Identify when the peak performance
si desired for each individual athlete and/or team.
Somerimes it is not possible to know exact date of
every competition but you can usually estimate the
dates of the major meets because there are often
traditional weeks or weekends when they are held.
You also need to know the following information
about each achlete for whom the plan is being
developed:
gender
age
prlmary events for major competitions
craining background
training age,
work capacity and prevlous tra~ningvolume
strengths
weaknesses
goals
personal records (PRs) or personal bests (PBs) in
each competitive event, and
history of injuries.
Once all of the necessary information has been
collected, you can begin to create the train~ngplan.
As a guide, Table 2 summarizes che dates of each
segmenc of the train~ngplan being developed In this
article and the applicable dates for each segmenc. In
this example, we use the 2002-2003 school year to
determine the dates of the craining plan. We start
microcycles (weeks) on Sunday and end on Saturday.
Next, decide how the training year will be divided,
thac is, how many macrocycles (seasons or peaks)
will be used: one, two, or chree. For purposes of this
example, we will use two macrocycles in che craining
year: one for Cross Country and the second for
Track and Field. How to expand your plan to chree
macrocycles IS presented later In this article.
Now thac you have decided the number of
macrocycles to use, decide on the startlng and end~ng
dates of each. Count and record the number of weeks
In each macrocycle. You will use this count as the basis
for determining the number of weeks in each craining
phase of the macrocycle. For this example, the Cross
Country Macrocycle will begin on Sunday, June30,2002,
which follows the four-week transltlon period from the
previous macrocycle. The Track and Field Macrocycle
will begin on Sunday, December 8,2002 and ends on
July5,2003. Note that the designated start of the Indoor
(wincer) season for local high schools is the week of
November 10,2002.So, the Transition Period, wh~chruns
from November 10 to December 7, overlaps the start of
the school based indoor (wincer) season.
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Adjustments should be made co [he cralnlng
program to allow every athle~eco have a "break"
between seasons In th~sexample, we are build~ngthe
transition period from the Cross Country Macrocycle
into the start of the Track and F~eldMacrocycle for the
d~stancerunners. Th~sapproach is reasonable to use for
any athlete coming off a fall season sporc
Thus, [his example training plan covers a total
of f~fty-threeweeks. No provision is made For an
Extra Competition Phase in chis example The Extra
Competicion Phase w~llbe addressed In a later section
of this artlcle.
Before going into the more detailed parcs of che
[raining plan you should spec~fytralnlng objectives for
each macrocycle.
The following list contains sample training objecc~ves
you can consider when you begin co develop che
crainlng plan (Bompa 1990):
increase general endurance
increase general strength
furcher development of speed
improve general flexlb~licy
obtain high level of coord~nation
development of absolute and relacive screngch,
muscle mass, and elasticicy
development of spec~f~c
strength
improve movement and reactlon time
furcher development of coordination and
suppleness
@ Further develop capacity to perform all technical
accions correctly
8 develop racing stracegies and tactlcs
@ develop confidence and w~llpower
Bii fortify athlete's health
@ prevenc injuries
@ improve theorec~calknowledge
DE'FERbXINIINC;THE BATE$OF EACH
'I'HAININC StGNIENT
At this point, you have completed the macrocycle
porcion of the plan. Th~s1s the f~rststep. The
nexc step is t o set up the training periods for the
macrocycle(s). Each macrocycle has three train~ng
periods: Preparation, Compet~cion,and Transition.
The Transition Period is typically four weeks in
lengch. The Preparation Period is sixty percent of
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the macrocycle and the Competicion Period is [he
remaining forcy percent of the macrocycle See ~ ~
1 for how to calculate the lengch of the components
oFa macrocycle. In our example, there are nineteen
weeks in the Preparation and Competlcion Perlods
of the Cross Country Macrocycle. The Preparation
Period is eleven weeks in lengch (19 x 6 = 11.4
rounded to 11) and the Competition Period IS
weeks (19 x .4 ~ 7 . 6rounded
,
co 8)
The phases of each period also have a 60140 ratio.
The General Preparation Phase is sixty percent of the
Preparacion Perlod The Spec~ficPreparation Phase
is the remaining forcy percent. Thus, che General
Preparac~onPhase is seven weeks (11 x .6 = 6.6, rounded
to 7 weeks) and the Specific Preparation Phase is four
weeks (11 x .4 = 4.4, rounded to 4 weeks). The PreCompec~tionPhase IS f~veweeks in lengch (8 x .6 = 4 8 )
and the M a ~ nCompeticion Phase is three weeks in
lengch (8 x .4 = 3 2)
There are a cocal of ch~rcyweeks for che Track
and Field Macrocycle.Adjusting for the four week
Transition Period at the end OF the macrocycle, this
leaves twenty-SIXweeks for the Preparation and
Competition periods The Preparaclon Period is sixteen
weeks in lengch (26 " .6 = 156, rounded to 16) wh~le
the Competicion Period is ten weeks in length (26 ' . 4
= 10.4, rounded to 10). This allows ten weeks for [he
general preparaclon phase (16 * .6 = 96, rounded to 10)
and six weeks for the specific preparation phase (16 .4
= 64, rounded to 6) The Pre-Competition Phase would
have six weeks (10 * .6 = 6) and the Main Competicion
Phase would have four weeks (10 ".4 = 4).
Scanning the dares presented In this example
(I~stedbelow), che competition period of the Cross
Country macrocycle covers [he entire cross country
season (wich che exception of very early season
meets) and che main competition dates colncide
w ~ t hche LeagueICounty Championships, Sectional
ChampionshipsIState Qualif~er,and the Scace meet In
New York Scace For the Track and F~eldMacrocycle,
che competit~onperiod covers the entire outdoor crack
and f~eldseason and the main competit~onphase daces
co~ncidewith the four most important meets of the
year (eg., League/Councy Champ~onsh~ps,
Secc~onal
Champ~onships,Scate Qualifiers, and Scace meet).
For a college team / athlete, the main competic~on
b
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Total Number of Weeks
60 Percent of Comoec~r~on
Per~od
1
I
1
8 * 8= 48
1
S Weeks
1
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Iuntry Macrocycle 119 (plus 4 weeks Transltlon) june 30- December 7
ricific Prepararion Phase
14
!tra Compec~c~on
Phase
None Planned
cion Per~od
4
November 10 - December 7
kcon Period
16
December 8 - March 29
10
December 8 - February 15
6
February 16 - March 29
10
March 30 -June7
6
March 30 - May 10
4
May11 -June7
eneral Preparation Phase
ic Preparac~onPhase
~rnpeclrlonPerlod
ppetloon Phase
~ C o m p e c ~ r Phase
~on
Comwer~c~on
Phase
*
I Augusr 18 - September 14
None Planned
Table 2: Summary of Tralnlng Plan
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me applies to the Tradr and Fidd Macroc)ccfe,
lofbrei the ercdmpk plan presentedherecan be
would be either two or three mesocycles(threeweek
and four weeks or some combination of three weeks;I two weeks, and LWO weeks) in the general preparation
phase, There are four weeks in the specific preparation
phase. Thus, there would be one mesocycle (four
weeks). The pre-competition phase has Five weeks, so
there would be two mesocycles (three weeks and two
weeks). The main competit~onphase is chree weeks in
length and that would become one mesocycle.
The mesocycle and microcycles for the Track and
Field Macrocycle are determined in the same way
Table 3 contains the specific dates for the
mesocycles and microcycles for this plan.
ADJUSTINGTHE PLAN
Fks is the easiest to work with and tends to be
!,effective.However, the number of weeks in a
&cycle should be adjusted to ensure thac the
essary training object~vescan be addressed and to
tch up wich che number of weeks in each phase.
Also d~scussedin "Tra~ning
Theory - A Pr~meron
kriodiration"(The Coach, issue 33), m~crocyclescan be
k m 7 to 21 days in lengch (or 7 to 21 training sessions
i.ngth). Since it is easiest co work wich and think
?terms of the calendar week, we will use this as the
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Ingth of microcycles in this example plan.
Mesocycles are determined for each training phase
do not overlap two training phases Recall chat
Fch segment of the training plan must have training
~bjectives.The training objectives in each of the
3wer segments of the plan must support the training
jbjectives of the segment directly above. The length
feach m~crocycleshould be long enough co ensure
li,eeting the planned training objectives for each
cralnlng phase. Assuming thac this can be done in
three week increments, simply divide the number of
I-weeks in the training phase by chree to decerm~neche
number of mesocycles in the phase. In our example
plan for the Cross Country Macrocycle, there are seven
weeks in the general preparation phase. So, there
\
t
What if you are working wtth an athlete that wants to
peak for the indoor track and field season as well as
the outdoor track and field season (regardless of what
happened in the fall)?
Or, you are working with achletes chat compete in
chree different sports In each of the three seasons of a
typical school year and only have them for the outdoor
(spring) season?
Or, you have a very high level athlete whose season
goes beyond che regular season?
How do you develop a training plan for these
situations?
Each of chese issues is addressed below.
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1. The three season plan adding an Indoor
track macrocycle
For chose teams that want to peak durlng both the
indoor and outdoor seasons in a school year, the
plan needs to be modified to allow this to happen
effectively.
Regardless of what the athlete(s) do for the fall
season (cross country or another sport), there needs
to be a transition period Failing to allow time for
the athletes to recover from the previous season can
lead to less than the desired performances. However,
an indoor season typically lasts a total of sixteen to
e~ghteenweeks. For many athleces, the fall season
ends with championship meets on the Saturday before
the winter (indoor) season begins. Clearly, there is no
transition period built into che schedule.The training
plan for the Indoor season needs to build in time for
The Coach
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May 18 - May 24
J6 4: Summary of Mesocycles and Microcycles for the Track and Field Macrocyde
ksltion period For the athletes whose playoff
t
: ..
npetltlons or championship meets go late into
&her, the start of a transition period is further
and the training plan for the indoor season
~dsto accounc for this. These athletes should
rbegin intense training or racing until they have
jpleted an appropriate and adequate transition
bd. This reduces the training time of the season for
'affected athletes.
e will use the same starting date for the indoor
I
,on that was used to start the Out door Track
crocycle in our original example. The dates used
able 4 accounc for the transition period when
irmining the length of the season' and the length of
:training periods and phases.
-he ratios used above to determine the number
Leeks in the periods (.6 and.4 of the macrocycle)
I phases (.6 and .4for each period) were used
e as well.
or the Indoor Track and Field Macrocycle the
two weeks of the Main Compet~tionPhase covers
the sectional championships1 state qualif~ermeet,
and state championships. The two week the Main
Competition Phase of the Outdoor Track and Field
Macrocycle again covers the sectional championships
/ state qualifier meet, and state championships. Th~s
rneans that all other competitions occur during the
developmental phases of [he training plan.
From even a quick review of the three season annual
plan (Table 5), it is easy to see that this is less than ideal
for e~therthe indoor or outdoor seasons. Such is the
plight of school based competition schedules.
2. Another approach to preparingfor indoor
championship meets
What would be done ~fyou wanted your team to
use the training plan as outl~nedin Table 4, with one
macrocycle,f8rtrack and field, but st111wanted the
athletes to basharp or to have a mini peak at the
indoor track and field championships?
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?dunder license from the Publisher.
5.igm;es of Extra Competitions include:
cross Country:
New York Stare Federation Meet
Footlocker Regional Championships
'6 Footlocker National Championships
0 Nike Team Cross Country Championships
0 USATF Regional Cross Country Championships
,o USATF National Cross Country Championships
I
ar Indoor Track and Field:
o Nike lndoor Nationals
o National Scholastic lndoor Track and Field
Championships
Outdoor Track and Field:
to
I
1
I
,
1' o Nike Outdoor Nationals
o USATF JuniorTrack and Field Championships
o USATF JuniorOlvmpic
Track and Field
, ,
Championships (Association, Regional, and
National)
o USATF Youth Track and Field Championships
o various local, association, and regional summer
track and field competitions
The meets listed above for the fall season are
conducted through the second weekend in
December, adding five to six weeks to the cross
country season. The meets listed for the indoor track
and field season are held on the second or third
weekend in March, adding as little as a week or two
to the season For some. The meets listed for the
outdoor track and field season start in mid-Juneand
can go to the end of Julyor the middle of August.
The longer the Extra Competition Phase, the greater
the impact on the athlete and the longer the delay in
returning to the regular training plan. Once the Extra
Competition Phase is completed, it must be followed
by a Transrcion Period. Rushing through (shortening)
or eliminating the Transition Period will result In the
effected athletes becoming tired, overtrained, and /
injured during the next season. Often, the arhleces will
peak very early in the next season or be flat by the rime
of the important championship meets.
Generally, [he training volume remains relatively
low and the intensity moderates during the Extra
Competition Phase. The goal of this phase is to
maincain the fitness level and allow the athletes to
compece / perform at cheir maximum level. Trying to
improve fitness or do a heavy training load will prevent
the arhlete from achieving cheir best compet~tive
performance. Note that any athlete can maintain their
current fitness state on approximately 25 per cent of
their previous training program. Intense training efforcs
will scill occur but the craining volume will be greatly
reduced and the number of Intense efforts will be also
be greatly reduced.
TRAINING SESSIONS AND TRAINING
UNITS
Within each training day, there will be one or more
training sessions. The content of each training session
will be determrned by the coach. Each training session
should address one or more of the tra~ninggoals,
determined early in the trarning plan development
process, for the athletes involved.
Each craning session will consisc of one or more
training units. Which tra~ningunics (and subun~ts)to
use is up to the coach. Knowing which training units
(and subun~ts)to use and how to properly sequence
the training units (and subun~cs)at each part of the
season is the defining aspect of the art of coaching.
Each coach will have his or her own take on this,
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,",dlilrn.. <P""X"
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by [he auchor:
Warm-up
o Jog
o Continuous
Drills
Warm-up
General Conditioning
Event Speclhc
o Strldes
The Main Lesson
o Specific to the training goals
o Can be any of:
Distance Run
Intervals
Repetitions
Circuit Tralning
Hill Training
Tempo Run
Cruise Intervals
True Fartlek
T~medFartlek
Time Trial
Competition (meet)
Warm-down
o Strides
0 Jog
o Stac~cStretching
Note chat static stretching comes only at the end
of the training session. This 1s intentional and is the
recommended sequencing to use at all levels.
SkSMMABtPI
This article presents the steps involved with creating
a training plan for a team / group competing in
Athletics (Cross Country, and Track and Fleld). It
provides an example training plan, based upon the
school year for New York State hlgh schools.
Th~sexample trainlng plan lists all components of
the two Macrocycles used for the year. The Preparatlon
Period (wrth the General Preparatlon Phase and Spec~fic
Preparat~onPhase), [he Cornperit~onI'eriocl (wlth the
Pre-Cornpetition Phase, Marn Cornpeeltion Phase, and
Extra Cornpetition Phase), and the Transition Periods
(with the Transit~onPhase) are presented.
Each Perlod and Phase is then broken into
Mesocycles and Mlcrocycles.
How the length of each of these components are
46
The Coach
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determined 1s explained.
How to modify and adjust these plans to
accommodate common sltuaclons (three sport
of Tralning
ecc.) isSessions
explained.
and Training
athleres,
Finally,Extra
the concepts
Compet~c~ons,
Units are d~scussedand an outline of the typical
tra~ningsession used by the aurhor is presented.
[iBB&$OGRAPtllY
1. Bompa, Tirdor 0 . (1983). Theory and Methodology
c$Traini~~.q.
The Key GOAthletic Performance,
First Edition, KendallIHunt Publishing Company,
Dubuque, [A. 1983.
2. Bompa, Tudor 0 . (1989). Physiological lntenslcy
Values Employed to Plan Endurance Training, Track
Technique, Summer 1989. No. 108, pp. 343553442,
Track and Field News, Mountain View, CA.
3. Oompa, Tudor Q ( 1990). J/?i?ooryand M e r i ~ u d o l o ~
Q/ Trurnuig. The Kcy ro Arhleric I'er fortnance
Second Ed~rion.Kendallll-lirnr P~lbl~shing
Co~npan~
Dubuque. IA. '1990 ISBN:0-8403-6015.0
4. Bompa, Tudor 0.(1994). Theory and Methodology
ojTraming The Key to Athletic Pe$ol.mance., Th~rd
Edition, Kendall/Hunr Publishing Company,
Dubuque, IA. 1994. ISBN: 0-8403-9061-0
5. McFarlane, A. Brent (2000). The Science ojHurdling
and Speed., Fourth Edltion. Achletlcs Canada,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Pp. 214-260.2000. ISBN:
0-919375-48-0
6. McFarlane, A. Brent (2002). The Sciences of SAC
Speed Agility Conditioning,, Second Edlcion. SAC,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. pp. 184-222.
63 Marc Grosso, PhD has suc~es$i~Iiy
served as a coach,
Master level competition oficial and administrator since
1974. He has USATF L e v d ~Coaching
l
Certftcution in the
Endurance Events and in the Sprints and Hurdles, and
is a USATF Cert6ed Levei i lead Instructol: He directed
two USATF Level I coachingschools, seven track andbeid
camps and twenty-one clinics in the last twelve years.
Dr Grosso earned his PhD m Science Educationfiom the
University oojBujalo. He also earned an MSE in Computer
Sciencefrom the University of Pennsylvania and an M A
from BaIlState University where he studied Exercise
P h y s i o l ~7
~0~read
.
more articles by Dr Gross0 vfiit his
website: www3rTrack.com