Elite Swimmers ’ Training Patterns in the 25 Weeks Prior to Their Season’s Best Performances: Insights Into Periodization From a 20-Years Cohort

Conclusion: Progressive increases in training load, macrocycles lasting about 14–15 weeks, and substantial volume of training at intensities ≤4 mmol⋅L-1 and>6 mmol⋅L-1, were associated with peak performance in elite swimmers. Introduction To achieve the fastest competition performances, elite coaches periodise athletes’ training loads over multi-year and annual training programs (Turner, 2011; Mujika et al., 2018). Periodization is the purposeful sequencing of training units (long-, medium-, and short-term training cycles and sessions) designed to produce cumulated adaptations that peak during major competitions (Mujika et al., 2018). Current theoretical models of annual periodization (Issurin, 2016; Mujika et al., 2018) argue for cyclical or wave variation of the training load, evolving from the beginning of each general training mesocycle toward increasingly specific and intensive overload periods before the taper. During the taper phase, reduced training volume while maintaining intensity helps potentiate the adaptations while enabling athletes to recover from the detrimental effects of physiological stress (Mujika et al., 1996, 2018). The social environment, training regimes, and competition all place heavy demands on elite athletes, pushing them to the limits of adaptation (Sandbakk and Holmberg, 2017; Mujika et al., 2018). Strategically alternating phases of overload and recovery can limit performance decrements through injury,...
Source: Frontiers in Physiology - Category: Physiology Source Type: research