Facilitate Recovery By Modulating Frequency

By Coach Rishabh · January 16, 2017 · 2 min read

Recovery is the numero uno priority for advance lifters. Beginners and intermediates can survive quite a while without any special recovery interventions due to lack of overall intensity, but advanced lifters will burn out without employing proper recovery methods. The amount of intensity high-level lifters are able to generate during workouts is incomparable to lower lifters. And with great power comes great responsibility. The recovery needs are paramount at advanced levels.

Athletes employ many recuperation protocols to boost their recovery. Some are really effective, others are not much useful. Here’s one particular strategy to facilitate recovery by managing the intensity exposure over a mesocycle. Most of the time coaches use volume and intensity in inverse relationship to manage training stress. But there is one more variable that can be manipulated to achieve good effects, and that is

Frequency

Training frequency is one of the most important factors that determines your rate of progress, but it can also be a deciding factor in recovery management. Most of the lifters either tend to abuse training frequency by excessive volume, or just not pay any heed to it. The outcome is mediocre results and compromised recovery.

Here we are presenting a method to utilize frequency for managing training stress efficaciously. This method utilizes undulating periodization alongside linear increase in total intensity over the course of a 4 week meso-cycle.

Let’s assume your current training program requires you to train 6 days a week. But your body is not coping well with the imposed stress and requires more recovery to perform sufficiently. Now instead of abandoning the plan completely, here’s what you should do.

Week 1

Divide your work load over 4 days a week in the following split

Training Day 1

Training Day 2

Off Day

Training Day 3

Off Day

Training Day 4

Off Day

Week 2

Train 6 days a week as with the original plan.

Week 3

Divide the work load over 5 days a week with the below split

Training Day 1

Training Day 2

Training Day 3

Off Day

Training Day 4

Training Day 5

Off Day

Week 4

Train 6 days a week as with the original plan.

This method of modulating frequency will lead to better recovery from the workout stress and will make it pretty manageable for you. You will get the same or even greater results from the program due to facilitated recovery. Not only will it improve your training mileage but also your motivation to train harder.