One thing I've thought a lot about, as an amateur Bondarchuk nerd, is the application of maintenance cycles/periods/blocks in cases like this (mainly because y'all haven't talked about it yet 😂). Maintenence periods within Bondarchuk's system are, of course, where the athlete's exercise set completely changes right when they're at peak in order to hold them at peak for short periods. Drastically changing the exercise set is normally something you avoid because it freezes the development of sport form wherever it is and the athlete just plateaus for a few weeks - except with maintenence, that's exactly what the goal is. But it seems to me that you might also use a maintenance period just as a way to slip in a useful new set of exercises right before competition without the athlete losing form. So, e.g., for an athlete who gets beat up with heavy weights and responds better to lower intensities, it might be possible to peak them a week early and put them directly into a new exercise set with max strength loading for just a session or two (not long enough to get crushed, but enough for them to feel out the weights). Or, as a Bondarchuky "taper," you might change to a lighter exercise set if you've got an athlete who really benefits from bleeding off stress. I wonder what Peter and the rest of y'all think about this - depending on just how much flipping and tapering and travel and other changes that happen here, maybe I'm describing exactly what's happening already?
I/we have always found MX blocks to be tricky, so I try to avoid them. In Powerlifting, since we compete once with long breaks between, I don't find the need for MX except in situations where things went in an unexpected direction. Then again, I always used the "terracing" approach that Derek Evely talks about.
One thing I've thought a lot about, as an amateur Bondarchuk nerd, is the application of maintenance cycles/periods/blocks in cases like this (mainly because y'all haven't talked about it yet 😂). Maintenence periods within Bondarchuk's system are, of course, where the athlete's exercise set completely changes right when they're at peak in order to hold them at peak for short periods. Drastically changing the exercise set is normally something you avoid because it freezes the development of sport form wherever it is and the athlete just plateaus for a few weeks - except with maintenence, that's exactly what the goal is.
But it seems to me that you might also use a maintenance period just as a way to slip in a useful new set of exercises right before competition without the athlete losing form. So, e.g., for an athlete who gets beat up with heavy weights and responds better to lower intensities, it might be possible to peak them a week early and put them directly into a new exercise set with max strength loading for just a session or two (not long enough to get crushed, but enough for them to feel out the weights). Or, as a Bondarchuky "taper," you might change to a lighter exercise set if you've got an athlete who really benefits from bleeding off stress. I wonder what Peter and the rest of y'all think about this - depending on just how much flipping and tapering and travel and other changes that happen here, maybe I'm describing exactly what's happening already?
I/we have always found MX blocks to be tricky, so I try to avoid them. In Powerlifting, since we compete once with long breaks between, I don't find the need for MX except in situations where things went in an unexpected direction. Then again, I always used the "terracing" approach that Derek Evely talks about.
So good to see it