Periodisation

Periodisation is the planned variation of training variables — volume, intensity and focus — across weeks and months, organised into phases so that fatigue is managed and progress is directed toward a goal.

It matters because it turns training from random hard sessions into a coherent plan: building work capacity, then intensity, then recovering and peaking, rather than grinding at one setting until you stall.

In practice, even simple periodisation — alternating harder and easier blocks and including deloads — outperforms doing the same thing every week indefinitely.