Recently, there's been some discussion about the differences in periodization for hypertrophy/muscle gain vs. strength and I just wanted to clear the air and give my take on it.
Combat Sports
With the pride, fame, and money that comes with prize-fighting, it's extremely important for strength and conditioning coaches to ensure the fighters are in top physical condition come fight night - the fighters' health depend on it.Strength and conditioning work must be balanced with martial arts skills training and psychological performance and therefore presents a complex problem for performance coaches to solve. Luckily there are professionals in the field to do just that - create strong and healthy athletes to elevate the sport of MMA.
Programming
Much of periodization has been focused around physical training, and how micro, meso, and macrocycles can be set up to aid in the improvement of strength, power and endurance. The periodization of skill acquisition and practice however, has yet to be examined to the same degree. In this article, I review a research paper by Farrow & Robertson (2016) and breakdown the "SPORT" framework of skill periodiation.
Programming
Part 2 will cover the details of a proper taper/peaking protocol. The manipulation of training variables will be discussed as well as the performance improvements that are expected from a taper.
![Tapering & Peaking: How To Design A Taper and Peak For Sports Performance [Part 2 of Peaking Series]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55072bf0e4b055a8f66250e9/1501283047888-1OMY4OC27GHE81P94CPG/mountains-sport-nature-human-mountain-climbing-wallpaper-hd-black-1920x1080.jpg)
Programming
Before we dive into the specifics of a deloading or tapering protocol, we must better understand why they're needed in the first place. Part 1 will go over the concept of overreaching, overtraining, and what type of stressors and symptoms an athlete might experience as a result of hard training.
![Overreaching and Overtraining [Part 1 of Peaking Series]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55072bf0e4b055a8f66250e9/1501052506104-FOT7NYG35KYOVLK3J12R/crossfit.jpg)
programming for strength vs. hypertrophy