Periodisation

Microcycle, mesocycle and macrocycle, preparation and competition periods, and tapering.

The outline, topic by topic

Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.

Microcycle: what is it?
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A short cycle, most often a week.
It organises day-to-day load and recovery.
A swimmer does three weeks of rising load then one lighter week. What is this block?
- A mesocycle
- A microcycle
- A macrocycle
- A taper
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A mesocycle
The 3 + 1 pattern is classic.
Mesocycle: what is it?
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A block of a few weeks (3 to 6) focused on one goal.
Often 3 loading weeks and 1 recovery week.
Why reduce volume but not intensity before a competition?
- To trigger a last supercompensation through overload
- To clear fatigue without losing adaptations
- Because intensity creates no fatigue
- To develop new capacities before the event
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To clear fatigue without losing adaptations
Cutting volume (often by 40 to 60% over about two weeks) clears fatigue; keeping intensity maintains the adaptations.