Is Periodization A Hoax?
I'm nearly convinced that periodization is a total hoax. Maybe not an intentional hoax mind you. But I'm pretty sure it's a crock. Lemme show you how I got there...
I'm a talk-radio addict. One of my pet shows is Coast To Coast A.M with George Noorey (formerly The Art Bell Show). The show is all about alien abductions, the paranormal, conspiracy theories, Area 51, bigfoot, chemtrails, and various other mythological subjects.
One topic that comes up from time to time is the so-called moon landing hoax. As it turns out, there are a number of people who insist that we never landed on the moon. The subscribers to this particular conspiracy theory assert that the whole thing was a hoax carried out in a Hollywood-style set.
That's about as kooky as it gets, right?
Except that some of these moon landing conspiracy kooks are amazingly articulate, logical, and convincing, given the obstacles they're up against (mainly, the obvious fact that we did land on the moon, and more than once at that).
(If you'd like to research this further click HERE for an excellent summary)
Which brings me to periodization, and specifically, the stated purpose of periodization, which is...
Peaking
Now, I sure would love it if I could design a client's long-term training such that he or she would "peak" on the day of my choosing. I'd even love it if I could get the peak to occur within a 7-day window!
But forcasting your "peak" is probably like forcasting the weather- an exercise in futility. There are simply too many factors which cannot be controlled for. While you might be able to control volume, intensity, density, frequency, and a host of other training-related factors, you'd be hard pressed to eben monitor, let alone control, things like immune system challenges, nutritional intake, social stressors, injuries, financial worries, climatic changes, and all the other day-to-day issues that have very significant effects on performance capacity.
It's almost like trying to "control" your kids- you make every effort to teach your kids right and wrong, you make sure you're a great role model, you pick the best school for them, but unfortunately, you can't control a lot of other stuff that has a profound bearing on how your kids will ultimately turn out.
So if periodization is a hoax, what's the alternative? Well, if I didn't think periodization was a hoax, I'd do it like THIS. But I'll have more to say about the subject on an upcoming post, so stay tuned...