Science and evidence on training periodization have confirmed without a shadow of a doubt that the management of Programming and Planning play a key role in achieving peak performance.
Programming is fundamentally based on the choice of exercises in relation to the characteristics of the athlete and which must therefore be personalized and evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Planning represents the management and alternation of stimuli over time, contained in blocks of varying duration such as the Macrocycle, the Mesocycle and the Microcycle.
In this article I would like to delve into the topic of Table Sparring Planning. A much debated and controversial topic but one on which we need to clarify and leave the field clear of interpretations, customizations or personal choices by passing them off as scientific.
As mentioned above, it is now established that every stimulus that we administer to the athlete or to ourselves must follow rules and principles that are now consolidated and that training science and physiology have confirmed for some time.
The main problem concerns human physiology itself, which does not respond to stimuli in a linear manner over time, is subject to fluctuations and therefore requires taking certain countermeasures, both on the Programming and Planning side.
Having established this concept, it is clear how each training session (including Table sessions) must be managed keeping these fundamental concepts in mind in order to maximize the athlete’s physiological adaptation response.
This obviously happens in any sporting discipline in which a certain degree of physical involvement is expected, because the whole concept implies human physiology and not the sport itself.
Table sessions, the fulcrum around which all the Programming and Planning of the training is then managed, are too often left free to be practiced according to the physical form of the moment or even improvised, effectively creating damage to the athlete and to the rest of the Periodization.
Have you ever wondered why even world-class athletes, Olympians, etc. need a coach? Simply to have an external guide, who knows how to evaluate in the most objective way possible what the athlete needs to perform at his best, regardless of the sensations or perceptions of the athlete himself (obviously there must be a certain degree of dialog but all contextualized to the subjectivity and the period).
Training planning must be seen as a map, which through the administration of organized and coherent stimuli is able to take us to our destination in a safe and sustainable way, otherwise this would not be possible as it would not be possible to trigger that peak of fundamental form in order to be able to express ourselves at 100% of our possibilities, at least from a physical point of view.
Getting to the heart of the matter, how can we plan the Table sessions in a consistent and organized way? How do we determine the stressor of the session when the resistance is not caused by a weight stack or a barbell but rather by another human being? This obviously complicates things a bit and in fact, pure and simple mathematics must leave room for practice, experience and one’s own ability to self-regulate, fundamental qualities that on the one hand make the athlete’s awareness mature and on the other can be the the main driver towards future improvements, understanding over time how much a certain stimulus can be considered sufficient and how much not, with the relative intermediate levels.
Planning comes to our aid again, providing us with a framework within which to go to Program the various exercises and the relative stimuli.
An interesting and functional interpretation is to define within the Macrocycle (of variable duration also in relation to the time available before the next competition) is to define shorter blocks (the Mesocycles), each with its own logic and objective, such as for example the one linked to Hypertrophy and the study of the motor pattern for the first weeks of the Macrocycle which will therefore correspond to the first Mesocycle, to then move on to the one more oriented towards Strength in which we will put into practice with the use of higher loads, what has been built and learned in the previous weeks. To then end in the so-called Taper and subsequent Active Rest in which we will supercompensate for the stimuli administered previously to be ready on the day of the Competition!
This overview allows us to go further into detail finally arriving at our beloved Table session!
Even the Table sessions must follow these logics, integrating with everything else to make the most of all the factors useful for improving our performance, such as General Strength, Direct Strength, already discussed in the previous articles.
We will then start with a low intensity preparatory period (which tends to follow the competition just finished) in which we will focus on technical improvement and the study of variations. The aim is to work in a qualitative way without negative repercussions such as excessive joint, muscle or tendon pain. During this period we will obviously alternate lighter sessions similar to active recovery, with others slightly more intense so as not to lose the feeling with certain sensations of intensity, aware of the fact that the aim of this phase is not to push too hard.
This phase, of variable duration to be defined in relation to the subject, will precede the more intense one, in which we will be able to give voice to our desire to pull!
The next mesocycle will therefore be focused on Performance, with common sense, and therefore with the adoption of higher intensities to be able to follow up on what has been learned and built in the previous weeks.
The light sessions will be more rarefied in favor of medium/high intensity sessions, obviously spaced out so as not to chronicize excessive systemic and physical stress.
Let’s always keep in mind that the light active recovery sessions are as important as the more intense ones precisely because they support the latter, recovery as well as stimulation are two fundamental sides of the same coin and neglecting one in favor of the other does not make us more heroic or even more performing, especially in the long term.
This phase will also have a variable duration in relation to the subject and will precede the Taper phase, in which we will reduce the general stress of training without losing the state of form that has been built in the previous weeks. It will therefore be a decisive phase that will lead us towards the competition in our best possible shape.
The aim of this article was to introduce a fundamental concept, that of the alternation of volumes and intensities, especially in terms of Table Practice.
The sensible management of these stimuli can really make the difference and above all allow us to really reach our maximum potential and practice this fantastic discipline for a long time, making us progress constantly, without haste but without stopping!
