The key to any workout is an athlete’s readiness to train. Coaches, trainers, and athletes can determine this by paying attention to signs of fatigue, testing before starting the session, and monitoring the workout performances. For example, if a 6- to 8RM training zone is used and the athlete had performed 8 repetitions of the squat with 425 pounds (~193 kg) on the previous Monday and Friday, but today the athlete can complete only 2 reps with 425 pounds, it demonstrates a deficit from the previous identical workout. Acute overtraining is a possibility, and continuing with the 6- to 8RM zone during this training session would be ineffective. At this point the athlete might need to switch to a lighter training session. The strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer might also want to determine what caused the performance deficit—perhaps hard practices, psychological stress, or physical stress. Whatever it is, a reduction in resistance stress and close monitoring of the other exercises in the session might be warranted to determine whether it is a whole-body problem or a problem with a specific muscle group or body part (such as the legs or lower back in the previous example of squatting). Thus, the workout continues with a modification of the squat protocol and monitoring to see if other exercises have to be modified to accommodate recovery.
Preworkout evaluations can consist of a host of items, but an action as a result of the test results must be in place. As noted previously, what is the alternative workout if an athlete cannot perform the planned session effectively? This is where coach–athlete interactions come into play. A coach must first have a good sense of the athlete’s capabilities, habits, and personality. Next, the coach and athlete can quantify fatigue with the use of a simple fatigue scale. A scale from 0 to 10 (shown in figure 4.4) can be used in assessing physical and mental fatigue (Kraemer et al., 2000). It is important to note that mental fatigue can be present when the body is physically able to perform. This has been seen in female tennis players who, after a weekend of match play, were mentally fatigued, yet their physi-cal performances were not affected after a 24-hour recovery period (Kraemer et al., 2000). Thus, getting a handle on the athlete’s mental fatigue may be as important as determining physical capacity to train.
This is easy to accomplish at the beginning of every workout, along with evaluations of body mass to evaluate hydration status, which is important in many scenarios, especially when heat stress is involved in the training environment.
When an athlete goes into a workout 2 to 3% under his or her normal body mass, the athlete might be hypohydrated from a prior workout or even chronically dehydrated over longer periods. The potential then exists for a loss of performance and workout quality and an increased susceptibility to heat illness. This performance decrement during the workout is especially apparent in the smaller muscle groups, which appear to be more sensitive to the effects of hypohydration and dehydration. When an athlete has a weight loss of 2% or more from one workout to the next, unless the athlete is in a prescribed and monitored weight-loss diet program, it is likely that the athlete is hypohydrated or, even worse, chronically dehydrated. In this case a rest day is warranted for recovery to normal body mass.
The key is to rest and ingest adequate water and food over the next 24 hours to be ready for the next workout. Chronic dehydration is a problem with many athletes caused by poor drinking and eating behaviors. This can negatively affect workout quality, sport perfor-mance, health, susceptibility to heat illness, and overall well-being.
In chapter 6 some of the basic assessments are discussed. The assessments determine the functional ability of the individual going into a training session as well as the progress of the individual in relation to the resistance training goals for a particular mesocycle or macrocycle. Many times coaches, trainers, and even athletes think, I don’t feel like training, but I still can. That may be why the workout goes forward as planned if the physical performance markers in the preworkout session are not decreased as the initial exercise
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mances in the session will dictate if there is a true physical decrement.
The beauty of the flexible nonlinear periodization approach is that a session can be altered if warranted, and therefore more flexibility is allowed in the recovery process.
The typical preworkout check-off might involve the following points in order to determine readiness to train at the beginning of a workout:
1. Coach–athlete interactions
2. Injury check, especially in combative sports
3. Body weight check, hydration, and fluid intakes, especially in athletes who may be chronically dehydrated, such as weight-class athletes
4. Mental and physical fatigue ratings 5. Vertical jump power
6. First- and second-set performances in comparison to the recent workout performances for the same workout (is the athlete handling the workout as well or better than previously?) Switching to an alternative workout if the trainee is not ready to perform the planned workout is an important strategy. In chapter 8, case studies help in determining when alternative workouts might be needed. This is a judgment call that combines both testing and working with trainees in the context of the overall needed number of specific workouts in the mesocycle. The overall training plan and priorities of the mesocycle come into play in the decision-making process concerning whether or not a certain type of session should or should not be performed. However, the optimization of the athlete’s training determines progress. It is also important to keep the use of a rest day as an option when cycling through the various workouts both in the scheduled and flexible nonlinear periodiza-tion models.
summary
Scheduled periodization and flexible nonlinear periodization were developed with the use of the concepts of training variation found in classic strength and power periodization. With nonlinear periodiza-tion, determining the order of recruitment of muscle fiber types and motor units aids in planning the sequence of training sessions to allow adequate recovery between sessions. The practical implementation of
a planned nonlinear periodization training program is done with the use of a planned sequence of training sessions. A flexible nonlinear periodization program involves using a master plan of training session types for mesocycles and macrocycles as in a scheduled model, but the exact day of implementation of a given workout type is dependent on the athlete’s ability to optimally perform the workout that day.
This optimization is determined from interactions among coaches, athletes, and personnel trainers; limited testing before a workout;
and monitoring of the workout as it proceeds. Rest and recovery of each aspect of the neuromuscular system as well as mental capaci-ties to train are monitored and are important elements in the flexible nonlinear model for resistance training periodization.
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