It is undeniable that training programming for a complex, unpredictable and multi-factorial sport like Arm Wrestling is really complex and difficult, and this is also why unfortunately the information circulating is often imprecise, contradictory if not completely wrong!
In the face of a specific discipline so full of variables, there are still several arrows in our bow that allow us to draw up a coherent and effective program, at least on the more “static” and non-specific components.
Therefore, the topic of this article, before delving into the heart of programming, is to know the phases of a standard program in order to understand the reason and logic of certain stimuli and their temporal placement.
We will therefore talk about how to organize a smart program, which exercises to choose and why, how to improve in the long term in a safe, sustainable and progressive way, we will talk about technique, management of volumes and intensities! In short, a channel entirely dedicated to 360° specific programming for Arm Wrestling!
One of the first topics that we will dissect will be the one relating to the phases that a successful program must have!
A central point to keep in mind when we draw up a training program, whether for ourselves or for our athletes, is to always ask ourselves “what is the target of this program?”.
If we have a clear answer, the program will practically write itself!
Reasoning along very general lines and taking a non-competitive athlete as an example, an effective program must include 3/4 phases.
The first phase is what we call the BUILDING phase.
This phase, as the name itself suggests, has as its main focus building muscle mass, work capacity and technical refinement.
Managing this phase in the best possible way will prepare the athlete for the next phase.
In this phase we will have to understand what our technical defects are in the execution of the GENERAL STRENGTH, DIRECT STRENGTH and SPECIFIC STRENGTH exercises and adapt the program with specific sessions aimed at improving these problems.
Here the volume of work will be high to allow the obsessive repetition of the gesture without the psychological stress given by the weight.
The second phase that we will perform will be the PERFORMANCE phase.
This phase, as the name itself suggests, will have as its main focus starting to increase the intensity and therefore the weight in the selected exercises (with a technical base perfected in the previous phase) to the detriment of the volume, which will start to decrease as the weeks go by.
This phase will be the one in which we will start to get into the heart of the preparation, our body will start to drain the metabolic fatigue accumulated in the previous phase in favor of the more neural stimulus given by a higher intensity.
This phase is the one generally preferred as the loads will finally be increasing and the perception of improvement, real!
The third phase will be the decisive one, called PEAK PHASE.
Often the success of the program is decided in this phase, the one immediately preceding the competition or the test!
In this phase, often mistakenly called deload, all the various stressors must be drained in the best possible way but without losing feeling with the high weight that have now become sub or even better ultra maximal and the volume reduced to the minimum level since the beginning of the preparation.
In this phase the athlete has the exact perception of his state of form and his organism is set in competition mode.
Up to this point the phases are actually 3, so one would be missing!
The fourth, extremely important for the competitors, is the one that precedes the BUILDING phase.
The so-called REGENERATION phase is extremely important as it has as its main focus that of re-establishing the athlete from a physical and psychological point of view derived from the competition just passed.
In this phase the loads will be around 50% to allow an active recovery of the entire organism, both from a muscular and tendon point of view in order to be able to face the CONSTRUCTION phase without any discomfort or pain of any kind!
Last advice!
As soon as you learn basic techniques and fundamental rules, start competing, regardless of your level!
Competition, in addition to making you grow from an athletic and competitive point of view, allows you to give a fundamental circularity to your programming that will be focused on a very specific event and consequently to properly program all the phases for a length suitable for making you get the most!
One of the main errors of those who do not compete is that of lingering excessively on a phase (the building phase for those who love certain sensations derived from a high volume or the performance phase for those who prefer to always handle medium-high weight) extending the duration of the entire programming itself too much, thus bringing the physiological response of the stimuli “out of time” that will decrease over time, making the peak of form practically unpredictable.
Competition is a special moment for the athlete, and a sincere piece of advice that we feel we can give is to start as soon as possible! You will see that very soon you will love the feeling to step on the platform!
A necessary clarification (deliberately kept at the end) concerns the use of this type of programming, obviously aimed at GENERAL STRENGTH and DIRECT STRENGTH exercises.
A separate discussion obviously for the SPECIFIC STRENGTH sessions (table time) that will have to be managed and organized in a synchronized way with respect to everything else, once again to allow all our possibilities to be played in the best way in order to obtain our maximum in terms of performance!
