Form peak maintenance

There is a huge number of various opinions among coaches and athletes related to these aspect of training due to very small number of precise research data. Wrong sayings like “sportsmen can achieve form peak only once per year” and “sportsmen can acquire the form peak for only one day” are still the main thoughts in some people’s heads. Due to sports form phase and form peak depend on many physiological, psychological and sociological influences, it is very hard to give precise thoughts related to their lasting. So the most secured thoughts would be that form peak lasting is strictly individual. On form peak lasting the top influence have individual program for each athlete, training type and lasting that he did during the preparation phase. Longer and better preparation phase, bigger probability to sports form and its peak continuation.

When it is discussed about this thema, it is very hard to separate the form peak from sports form. As it is already told, sports form is the high plateau during which an athletehas a high level of work and psychological capacity. The peak of that plateau is the first zone where athletes’ performances inside 2% of the best performance. With the assume that coach lead and organized training specific training program, first zone lasting can be between 1 and 2,5 months. During that period sportsmen may achieve two or three peaks when he develops high or even record performances. Researchers suggest that form peak lasting can be 7-10 days due to neural station, because optimal work capacity cannot be held longer(Ozolin,1971). After each form peak acquiring for the main competition, it is necessary that short regeneration phase occurs, after what a training goes. That is a reminder that need for exchange between stress and regeneration exists, which is interrelationship that is extremely important in training process.

Peak form lasting, like the first zone lasting, can be influented by the number of competitions at which the athlete takes part. If the phase is longer, probability of high results repeating will be longer. Huge number of competitions will not lead every time to good and progressively better performance. Many times the effect is opposite and result weakens as the end of competitive phase is nearing, when usually main event is planned. The key phase usually starts with competitions after eighth microcycle. That doesn’t necessary mean that performance is endangered in the end of competitive phase. Opposite, it can lead to coaches attention paying to better changes of hard exercises with regenerative activities. Furthermore, it should lead the coach to pay attention on methods and planning resources and competition planning during fore competitive and competitive phase.

Important method for securing of achieving from peak is first zone continuance, so as the top possibilities. You can use the peak index(generally means that athletes shouldn’t prepare in same regime for each competition or try to acquire a form peak for each game, but for important games) to decrease sportsmens stress. Changing of important competitions with less important increases wavy shape of peak curve which changes the stress with recovery. Similar, rational access to the competition planning is at the end of competitive macrocycle with important competition, which ensures progression in the type of competitions. At competition planning group access enables changing of training phases with competition phases and extends sports form.

The time needed for reaching first zone is an important factor needed for peak achievement. Though it can be separated, depending on every athlete needs, average time that sportsmen would need to raise capacity from fore competitive quantity to entering the first zone is 4-6 weeks. Necessary improvement needn’t be seen during first 3-4 microcycles, because hard work that emphasizes intensity results with high rate of fatique, that limits good performance acquirance. After the last two or one microcycle, when sportsmen is adjusted on training load and when easy stress decrease enabled supercompensation, better performance is visible, too. Though lasting of this transitory phase from low performance rate to the first zone varies dependind on many factors, it also varies related to specificion of each sport and coaches training access.

"Periodization, theory and methodology of training", Tudor Bompa