FROM PAIN TO PERFORMANCE by Julia Evergreen Keefer, Ph.D.


(Copyright 2005)<julia.keefer@nyu.edu> Dr. Keefer is a kinesiologist, massage therapist, fitness instructor, and creator of four trademarked classes.

PART FOUR: Periodization for Performance
Formal periodization is the systematic process of planned variations in the training program, changing volume, duration, intensity, mode, and kinds of recovery in order to have enough variability to pop a plateau, prevent overtraining and injury, and maximize performance. If you do the same thing the same way all the time, you get stuck in a rut.

When working as an athletic trainer, you divide your program into a macrocycle, which ranges from many months to four years (in the Olympics), which is composed of two or more mesocycles, (several weeks to a few months), which are further divided into microcycles of one to four weeks, including daily and weekly variations. Five mesocycles of a resistance are hypertrophy, to develop a base with high volume, low intensity exercise, strength phase of moderate sport-specific exercises, a strength/power phase of low volume and high intensity, competition to attain peak performance with high intensity low volume, and then an active rest phase to allow full recovery. These cycles can follow a linear model, building to the climax of performance, or a nonlinear model where intensity and volume vary and undulate throughout the week. In real life, our energy does vary according to a plethora of variables; it is ideal for people to tune into this kinesthetically in order to make the best use of their energy. Even athletes who spend most of their time conforming to rules and obeying their coaches, should occasionally tune into their own proprioceptors to gauge the ebb and flow of their energy. We are humans, not robots, so it's hard to predict exactly how performance will peak and then peter out.

The following chapters apply this general theory to different populations, expanding it to have people really stretch outside the box physically and mentally, using various levels of Evergreen's Knockout Workouts.

Ch15: Osteoarthritis

After a certain age, we all have some arthritis but people have varying levels of pain and stiffness, depending on their joints, their level of conditioning, and their pain threshold.

KSS: Knockout Step/Slide/Strike

BB: Knockout Ballet 'n Box

AGB: Aerobic-Gut-and-Butt

EE: EvergreenEnergy

1) Postural retraining

2) Weak link Keefer Clinic

3) Simple water exercises

4) Gait analysis

5) Biking, swimming, fast walking

6) Weight training three times a week

7) Postural retraining

8) Level I KSSS

9) Balance strength, stretch and cardio

10) Constructive Rest

11) BB in the pool

12) Do something you love.

Ch16: Triathletes
Ways to increase your speed and stamina without exhausting yourselves.

The Event

1) Rest, sleep, eat

2) Repair weak links with Keefer's Clinic

3) EvergreenEnergy and Aerobic Gut and Butt for core training

(c) Triathletes

Slim, trim, but sometimes too lean to be mean

4) Slow weight lifting and protein diet for a week or two to build back

5) Cross-training with KSSS

6) Filmic analysis and Ideokinesis to improve performance

7) Begin short distances with improved technique

8) Explosive training for sprints and power lifting

9) Regular triathlon training

10) Analysis and ideokinesis

11) Practice a race

12) Rest and reload before the real race

Ch17: Hikers and Skiers
How to keep your strength and flexibility as you tackle the mountain.

The Event

1) Rest, sleep, eat

2) Repair weak links with Keefer's Clinic

3) EvergreenEnergy and Aerobic Gut and Butt for core training

(c) Hikers

Nature-lovers with rounded shoulders, forward heads, burnt-out knees, strong butts, big hearts and good lungs.

4) Swim or do water exercises.

5) Cross-train with kayaking, canoeing or even arm workouts that rest the legs.

6) Improve posture with ideokinesis.

7) Circuit or Weight training two to three times a week

8) Do BB without the boxing for lower leg strength, and SS without the impact for lateral training.

9) Plan trips where you hike no more than 3 days and then switch to paddling, health club conditioning. Take a day off every week at least.

10) Do arduous day-long climbs as prep.

11) Go over EE program and increase weight training, adding a few 30 minute faster cardio like jogging or biking.

12) Stretch and stretch while you are traveling. Do the 200 or 400 program to keep core in shape--sit-ups or crunches, back extensors, push-ups, and dips.

(c) Skiers

You ski in the cold which means your muscles can get sore and cramped. Once the basic mechanics of pushing, pulling, sliding, and possibly falling are mastered, cross-country skiing is one of the safest, most effective endurance sports that cleanses the lungs and gives you beautiful views as well as a strong body. Downhill skiing, with its rhythm of freezing on the chairlift and blasting down the mountain is more problematic. Traffic control is even more important than cutting into the mountain to control your speed. In some ways it is a muscular endurance sport which is why you can sit for minutes at a time in that wall chair position to get the static quad strength necessary to hold your crouch.

4) Hot tub, massage and stretch again

5) Weight training

6) Ideokinesis to improve technique

7) Short practice runs

8) KSSS

9) Downhill skiers do indoor drills with trampoline, cones, cords; x-country indoor endurance like triathlon training.

10) Analyze, imagine, and practice.

11) A practice race or a moderate excursion.

12) Renew with EvergreenEnergy, massage and hot tub.

Ch18: Ball Sports and Body Building
How to improve alignment for better performance.

(c) Body Builders

Sometimes body builders will endanger their health through excessive protein, dehydration, steroids, or workouts that focus only on the big muscles, leaving out the most important--the heart, and the invisible weak links that hold the skeleton together.

5) Drink more water and eat huge salads, stretch and walk.

6) Triathlon light endurance flush for cardiovascular system.

7) Light-weight cardio sculpt focusing on small muscles--could be KSS or BB.

8) Heavier weight training for small muscles.

9) Increase cardio program as you gradually increase weights.

10) Begin serious weight lifting as before, followed by flush.

11) Final postural check and muscle balance.

12) Use light aerobics to cut up instead of dehydrating.

(c) Ball Sports

When you play a ball sport, you focus on the trajectory of the ball and team dynamics rather than yourself and how you feel. This can distract you from the "boredom" of exercise, making your workouts sociable and fun, but it can also make you oblivious to real and potential injury and unbalance your body.

5) Do even more AGB and EE focusing on hypnomeditation to tune into yourself.

6) Body building to balance sides and strengthen non-dominant arm.

7) KSSS for cross-training.

9) Analyze and repair your body with more intense cardio and weight training.

10) Analyze your role in the team and review tapes.

11) Practice with renewed energy.

12) Do last tune-up on yourself before the game.

Ch19: Dancers
How to improve technique and beauty while avoiding injuries.

Martial artists fight physically and spiritually, making an art out of combat, knowing they are handling a dangerous weapon they must use wisely. Dancers fight gravity to create beautiful patterns in space and time for people to watch. Both attain high levels of grace, coordination, beauty, flexibility and strength.

5) Analyze technique for flaws.

6) Do BB in the water to correct problems there first.

7) Strength training again for weak links.

8) Cross-train with KSSS, or more intense water version.

9) Go back to daily schedule with one day off and no more than two or three intense impact workouts a week.

10) Continue EE and AGB every day and keep analyzing technique to improve.

11) Rehearse for performance or fight.

12) Rest, stretch, massage and meditate. The mind and spirit are most important.

Ch20: Martial Artists
How to increase your power and skill without hurting yourself.

Martial artists fight physically and spiritually, making an art out of combat, knowing they are handling a dangerous weapon they must use wisely. Dancers fight gravity to create beautiful patterns in space and time for people to watch. Both attain high levels of grace, coordination, beauty, flexibility and strength.

5) Analyze technique for flaws.

6) Do BB in the water to correct problems there first.

7) Strength training again for weak links.

8) Cross-train with KSSS, or more intense water version.

9) Go back to daily schedule with one day off and no more than two or three intense impact workouts a week.

10) Continue EE and AGB every day and keep analyzing technique to improve.

11) Rehearse for performance or fight.

12) Rest, stretch, massage and meditate. The mind and spirit are most important.

Cognitive Performance

KNOCKOUT STEP/SLIDE/STRIKE

KNOCKOUT BALLET 'N BOX

KNOCKOUT CARDIO-CORE with AEROBIC GUT AND BUTT

EVERGREENENERGY

Dr. Keefer's Corrective Clinic