Periodization: If you fail to plan, you can plan on failing.
In late 2011, I was stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia. We had just had a change of command and our 1st Sergeant came from the Ranger Training Battalion. As a young soldier, ready to make the military my career, I-was-PUMPED. This dude was legit. He promised me and another soldier that if we could be the top two soldiers in the unit, he would send us to ranger school. So naturally, we dove right into training. We absolutely destroyed our bodies as much as we possibly could for the next year.
- 0430 – Swim 500 meters and run 2 miles
- 0630 – Company PT and run another 2-5 miles
- 1130 – Strength training
- 1730 – More strength training or an additional run
Not to mention everywhere that we went, our ruck sacks went too. While we exceeded the standards in events such as physical training, ruck marches, and range qualifications, we were hurting….BAD. We were overtraining and under-recovering by a long shot. We ended up with aches, pains, and to our surprise, NO ranger school. Sadly, this is pretty common for soldiers. Going so hard, feeling pain, and embracing it at every step. This mentality needs to change. Embracing the suck and being okay with pain are completely different concepts. Periodization will help you embrace the suck more rationally and set you up for success in the long run. Periodization is a long-term strategy for long-term goals rather than a short-term strategy for a short-term goal.
Periodization is the second most important phase of creating a physical training program only to be preceded by a needs analysis. FM 7-22 does an outstanding job of recommending and illustrating periodization for those who understand exercise science. But I would like to offer a version that helps everyone conducting training to understand. Knowing how to discuss these items and read them will likely elicit increased buy-in from soldiers, increase situational awareness and allow leaders to develop PACE plans when other missions take priority. In other words, if you can explain that periodization is the method of maximizing performance by manipulating training variables such as frequency, intensity, time, and recovery to allow for maximal adaptation and peak performance at specific times, soldiers and leaders will understand why they are doing what they are doing.
Periodization is nothing more than preplanned and scheduled training (specifically physical training). Utilizing the company’s METL, leaders should develop a plan that progressively intensifies over time and leads up to a field exercise, deployment, or a unit mobilization. Periodization can be broken down several ways and commonly refers to two methods of planning. Working backwards from the long-term goal to the short-term goal, the phases are as follows: Macrocycle, Meso-cycle, and a Micro-cycle. These represent years/months, weeks, and days, respectively. All planning should always begin with the macrocycle in mind as well as when training will culminate in the form of a real-life event or large training exercise. There are two forms of periodization commonly utilized: traditional (block) periodization and non-traditional (undulating) periodization. Articles will appear on these at a later date. For the purposes of this article, I will utilize traditional periodization schemes. I have one note before entering an example. Periodization is not the process of writing workouts, rather, it is the overarching plan that guides programming. Therefore, periodization does not initially involve the process of writing workouts but informs leaders on what types of training should be planned over specific time frames.
From this point, I will utilize an example scenario to demonstrate a 6-month training cycle that ends with the culmination of a unit mobilization to JRTC. **Note: needs analysis for individual soldiers should always be conducted before beginning any physical training program.
Start with the METL:
Image acquired from:TC-3-21.8
This METL is essentially the 3 primary functions of a soldier: shoot, move, and communicate. All this while under load and increased stress. This movement is set to take place in 6 months, and you have 2-weeks to develop a periodized PT plan.
Macro cycle:
Now that the overarching cycle has been planned, block out the specific weeks with your mesocycle. This overview is a general guide of the specific variables being utilized and how they will progress. Therefore, you will see only percentage values, repetition recommendations, intensity, and some time values. These are not the specific activities or workouts. In general, the program should increase in intensity and decrease in the amount of volume/repetitions overtime. This is repeated throughout each block with a greater intensity and resetting of volume at every new block.
Mesocycle’s: Build 1, Build 2, Peak 1, Peak 2/Combat
The final and most specific cycle to plan is the micro-cycle. This cycle is where you will write specific movements which should encompass the following overarching patterns: hinge, squat, push, pull, roll, crawl, run, jump, and rotate. These movements should be varied, progressed and regressed throughout the training cycle. Utilizing these patterns within the confines of the predetermined constraints previously discussed will allow for a successful training program that is easily tracked and progressed from a large scale to a small scale. For specific military drills, reference FM 7-22 on recommended preparation, conditioning, movement, and climbing drills that are suggested.
Final note: Planning does not solely stick to what is utilized in the example programs provided by any one source such as FM 7-22. FM 7-22 is a guide that allows leaders to vary training utilizing free weights, training machines, fitness centers, swimming, and any other tool at your disposal to allow for physical readiness to meet the demands of future missions. The most important aspect of being successful with FM 7-22 is going to be planning to ensure you have the resources needed to train. In my next article, I will begin to dive into practical programming considerations and needs assessments.