Fitness Programming Part One: It's almost Daylight Losing Time So Let's Ride the Metacycle!

Daylight Losing Time (DLT) is upon us and I thought I would take this time to talk about the basics of fitness programming. Now when you're studying for certifications there are - like in most subjects that are studied - a series of "foundational items".  You'll recall some of this from the slightly boring - but highly informational - tomes I have recently published on nutrition.  Fitness programming is no different, and one of the "foundational items" is "training cycles".  "Programming" is the fitness term for scheduling your workouts so you make longitudinal progress. Most people think of this as linear progress: "If I bench press 5 more pounds every week I'll  be bench pressing 260 more pounds by the end of the year".  Sorry, but it doesn't work that way.  What  really happens is that you build up your fitness level in stages over time, in a similar way to how you transform your body composition over time.  We fitness gurus are trained that there are three fitness "cycles" contained in a calendar year, and they roughly equate to how we keep time: a year, a month, and a day.  The "macrocycle" is traditionally the calendar year; the "mesocycle" is a month; and the "microcycle" is a week. But for me, the mesocycle is more like a quarter, so I have added a fourth term: the "metacycle".  So to summarize:

• Metacycle: Any twelve month period.  It doesn't have to be Jan-Dec. Think of it as your "fiscal" year.
• Macrocycle: This is like your "quarterly results". And we all know how much fun it is to do those Wall Street analyst calls, right?  But a quarter is a good time period to monitor progress.
• Mesocycle: A month. Why not just call it a month? If we did then we wouldn't have to pay all that money for certifications.
• Microcycle: A week.  Why "microcycle"? See "mesocycle", above.

So what's with the Daylight Losing Time, reference? Unbeknownst to you, your body adjusts to the seasons just like all mammals do. You put on extra weight in the winter to insulate your skeletal muscles and organs from the cold. This is likely when you will be the strongest each year. To me, that would coincide with the start of DLT, so think of your metacycle starting on the day DLT starts, which would be November 5th this year.  Similarly, your body wants to shed fat in the summer to keep your muscles and organs  cooler. So don't fight it!  Set up your program to accommodate what your body wants to do. Something like this:

• Metacycle: November - October. This is your "fiscal year". All of your results should be based on this calendar year.
• Macrocycles: November - January (Build Strength). February - April (Build Power). May - July (Build Endurance).  August-October (Build Muscle Density). These would be your quarterly results that you report to "the street"
• Mesocycles: Each of the twelve months of the year. The monthly "close" that the CFO drives you crazy about as is rolls up to the annual projections.
• Microcycles: Each of the 52 weeks of the year. Those weekly status reports are a pain, but you have to admit that they keep you on track.

How we treat each of these cycles will depend on your "training age", which is basically how much training you have done and what limitations you may have.  More to come in part two.

In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter @3Sigmawellness and Instagram at 3Sigmawellness. 
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Be well my friends.