Stage-wise Intensification in Strength Training

Every athlete desires to maximize their results. In training, the phase reinforcement process serves this purpose. It consists of distinguishing the training process into the preparation phase, the competition phase, and the transition phase. Each of these phases is divided into even smaller sub-phases. The idea of this procedure is to make the previous activity phase easier to perform and achieve the goals of the next phase. In muscle strength training, the reinforcement process means that the general training phase (working on general strength) facilitates the development of the attendee in the special preparation stage (work on special strength). This, in turn, becomes the success indicator in the competition phase. Also, the transition phase, through reducing the load, focusing on the biological recovery of the body, and rest, becomes a procedure that "charges the batteries" for the next general training phase. In this way, the cycle of phase reinforcement closes. Each training phase is characterized by the use of different methods for developing a certain trait, including strength.

Powerlifting triathlon is a sport that aims to achieve the highest level of muscle strength in three disciplines: squats with a barbell on the shoulders, bench press, and deadlift. An athlete begins the training season with the initial method of muscle and peripheral adaptation, training with relatively low weights and high repetition numbers when lifting weights. In this way, he prepares his musculoskeletal system, tendons, ligaments, and muscles for work with heavier loads and performs many different exercises to build correct movement patterns and the technique of exercise. In a later training phase, the athlete moves on to the muscle building phase and uses the bodybuilding method. Thanks to the previous training phase, his musculoskeletal system is prepared for heavier loads. There is a progressive increase in loads with adequately long rest periods, allowing the athlete to achieve a greater adaptation of the nervous system towards proper muscle stimulation and an increase in the cross-sectional area of the muscles, which is a prerequisite for a greater maximum strength. The next phase is to work on muscle strength, in which the athlete enters the special preparation phase and works on maximum strength, which he directly uses in triathlon competitions. The applied load is maximal or submaximal, resulting in a greater synchronization of muscle work, coordination within and between muscles, and an increase in the number of fast-twitch muscle fibers involved in contraction, leading to an increase in maximum strength. If, after achieving a certain level of maximum strength, the progress of the results comes to a standstill, the athlete can introduce a multi-week phase of power training, in which he reduces the loads but performs the exercises at a faster pace, leading to an increased recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibers of the subgroup IIb and a further increase in maximum strength. The final phase of strength preparation before the competition may consist in applying the method of maximum load and the eccentric method or/and the method of weightlifting, which is a combination of the two, allowing the athlete to increase the area of muscle stimulation and stimulate areas that cannot be stimulated with a load of 100% CM in the method of maximum load.