Honoring and Supporting Our Nevada Athletes and Programs

Yearly Periodization for Metabolic Conditioning

Yearly Periodization for Metabolic Conditioning By Chris Gorden
Winter is coming and our High School Folkstyle season is almost here. With Freakshow and Super 32 now behind us, and with most regular season programs kicking off mid November, now is an opportune time to ensure our wrestlers metabolic endurance is elevated, prior to heavy in-season conditioning. In this article I’ve added not only different concepts to build a wrestler’s endurance, but also periodized the programming over the course of the year using aerobic and anaerobic pathways to help achieve physiological change.

An average fitness enthusiast will typically have a resting heart rate of about 70 beats per minute, while a well-conditioned wrestler can be as low as 40 beats per minute at rest; this low resting heart rate allows a wrestler to conserve energy while the heart supplies oxygen-rich blood to the entire body with half the effort. Aerobic training in particular stimulates the heart, a muscle, to adapt to stressors by becoming larger and stronger through exercise to assist in the body’s higher oxygen need during exercise.

When lactic acid is produced faster than it can be removed, it’s introduced into the blood and the athlete begins to show signs of fatigue. One of the major goals of a metabolic training program is to minimize lactic acid production while enhancing lactic acid removal. More efficient removal can be accomplished through a combination of high intensity interval training (HIIT) and prolonged submaximal (Steady State) training.

Interval Training • Repeated Sprints • HIIT- Maximal effort followed by long periods of rest to assist in ATP (energy) turnover Steady State Training • Long, Slow Distance- maintaining a slower speed to cover longer distances • Race Pace- time or heart rate that will mimic competition intensity • Percent of Heart Rate Max- using percentages of heart rate to determine session intensity

No sport is dependent on one single energy system, wrestling included. Wrestling requires athletes to be part distance runner, part gymnast, part sprinter, part powerlifter, etc. With this in mind, a wrestler’s metabolic training program should systematically attack each pathway through controlled progressive improvements in endurance throughout the year while minimizing the risk of overuse injuries. The table below shows duration, the energy system used and the main energy source.

Time	Energy System	Energy Source Used
1-4 seconds	Anaerobic	ATP (energy) in muscles
4-20 seconds	Anaerobic	ATP+PC (creatine phosphate)
20-45 seconds	Anaerobic	ATP+PC+Muscle Glycogen
45-120 seconds	Anaerobic and lactic	Muscle Glycogen
120-240 seconds	Aerobic and Anaerobic	Muscle Glycogen Lactic Acid
Over 240 seconds	Aerobic	Muscle Glycogen+Fatty Acids

Example of Yearly Periodization

Below are examples of techniques that can be used throughout the year, broken down into four progressive stages.


Off Season- Steady State Training Pre-Season- Interval training at increasing intensity In-Season- Light to moderate sport specific training to maintain gains Postseason- Light steady state training for active recovery Aerobic Endurance- Designed to to develop a foundation of aerobic endurance, utilizing long, slow, steady state training with moderately intense interval training 4-6 days per week with bouts of exercise lasting 20-30 min while gradually building to 40-60 minutes per session. Best applied postseason, March through May Anaerobic Endurance-This energy system training combines race pacing, percentage of race pace, and high intensity intervals 4-6 days per week with a mixture of steady state and interval workouts. Steady state workouts lasting 15-30 min and high intensity interval sessions for 10-20 minutes. Percentage of race pace workouts can include 75-95% intensity with intervals lasting 30-90 seconds with rest periods at 2-3 times the amount of exertion time in order to properly recover. Best applied off season, June through August Anaerobic Power- Uses race pace and continued used of high intensity intervals, continuous heart rate training sessions at peak interval heart rate and progressively begin to add repeated sprint training, both repeated sprint workout and race pace percentages of 95-110% will quickly improve anaerobic power along with improvements in aerobic endurance 3-4 sessions per week will allow for proper recovery between sessions. Best applied pre season, August through October.• Sport Specific Training- Uses linear, multidirectional and sport specific activities for conditioning, typically this approach is best used in season 90-120 min bouts of exercise. Your program’s in season drills and practice room conditioning combined with distance runs throughout the season will help maintain off season progression, and your wrestlers will see continued improvements in endurance progressively throughout the regular season and peak in the postseason.

By taking a calculated approach with wrestler’s metabolic conditioning we can provide a purposeful way of ensuring these pathways are maximized throughout the year. I have always been taught to train purposefully in-season and during the off season. Don’t just have your wrestlers train hard, have them train with purpose through a well-designed plan of attack to ensure they peak at the intended time.

Chris Gorden (775)342-9564 cgorden0117@gmail.com