FSHP Academy
Strength & Conditioning — all lessons

Coaching and Assessment

Fundamentals of coaching in strength and conditioningAthlete assessment and evaluation

Planning and Periodisation

Periodisation and long-term athlete development (LTAD)Macro-, meso- and microcycle planningPlan, prepare and deliver S&C for sportDeloading and fatigue management

Programme Design

Progressive overload and programming variables (sets, reps, tempo)Program design for resistance trainingCompound lifts: squat, deadlift and bench variationsPlyometrics and explosive power trainingSpeed and agility program designAerobic endurance trainingAgility, speed and endurance protocolsDesigning individual S&C sessionsPosition-specific drills: team vs individual sports

Recovery

Nutrition, sleep and regeneration strategiesOvertraining: recognition and load monitoring

Macro-, meso- and microcycle planning

Practical planning across timescales — building the annual plan, structuring mesocycles, and designing weekly microcycles around competitions and recovery.

Advanced Evidence: Strong evidence 3 min read Reviewed 2026-10-31 Status: draft

Learning objectives

  • Build an annual (macrocycle) plan from the competition calendar
  • Structure mesocycles with loading and unloading weeks
  • Design microcycles balancing load and recovery
  • Adjust plans responsively to monitoring data

Before this lesson

Why this matters

Periodisation principles become useful when translated into a calendar. This lesson covers the practical process.

Macrocycle (annual plan)

  1. Mark key competitions and their priority.
  2. Define phases: general preparation, specific preparation, pre-competition, competition, transition [haff2016].
  3. Assign broad objectives per phase.

Mesocycles

Typical structure: 2–4 loading weeks + 1 unloading week. Block approaches sequence mesocycles with specific emphases (e.g., hypertrophy → strength → power) [issurin2010].

Microcycles

Day (Saturday match)Emphasis
MD+1 (Sun)Recovery
MD+2 (Mon)Off or light
MD-4 (Tue)Strength + high-intensity conditioning
MD-3 (Wed)Speed/power + tactical
MD-2 (Thu)Moderate, tactical
MD-1 (Fri)Activation, short sprints
MD (Sat)Match

Responsive planning

Use load and wellness monitoring to adjust: well-managed increases in load build robustness, while spikes increase risk [gabbett2016].

Common mistakes and misconceptions

Case study

A hockey team’s pre-season plan is disrupted by a tournament invitation. The coach shifts a strength block a week earlier, inserts an unloading week before the tournament and resumes the plan afterwards.

Further learning: video lessons

Video links are only marked “verified” after a human has watched them. Unverified entries open a YouTube search for that channel and topic rather than a guessed link.

Technical needs verification — opens a YouTube search

Annual training plan design

NSCA (search)

You will understand: building macro- and mesocycles

Why: Professional guidance.
Practical demo needs verification — opens a YouTube search

Weekly planning in team sports

football S&C coaches (search)

You will understand: match-day minus planning

Why: Applied practice.

Knowledge check

Knowledge check · 0/5

1. Annual planning usually begins with…

Answer B. Peaks are planned backwards from priority events.

2. A common mesocycle structure is…

Answer B. Manages fatigue.

3. In a team sport with a Saturday match, the heaviest session is usually placed…

Answer B. Allows recovery before the match.

4. Monitoring data should be used to…

Answer B. Responsive planning.

5. A microcycle usually lasts…

Answer B. Often a week, sometimes match-to-match.

Short-answer & application questions

  1. Build a 12-week plan for a footballer’s pre-season and early season.
  2. Design two microcycles: one-game week and two-game week.
  3. Explain how you would adjust a mesocycle after an illness.

Key takeaways

  • Start with the competition calendar and work backwards.
  • Mesocycles often use 2–4 loading weeks followed by an unloading week.
  • Microcycles distribute high, moderate and low loads across the week around games.
  • Plans are hypotheses — adjust with monitoring data.

Connected topics

strength conditioning

Deloading and fatigue management

strength conditioning

Plan, prepare and deliver strength and conditioning for sport

strength conditioning

Overtraining: recognition and load monitoring

References

  1. Haff GG, Triplett NT (eds) (2016). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (4th ed.). Human Kinetics / NSCA. Textbook check pending
  2. Issurin VB (2010). New horizons for the methodology and physiology of training periodization. Sports Medicine, 40(3):189–206. Narrative review check pending
  3. Gabbett TJ (2016). The training—injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder?. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 50(5):273–280. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2015-095788 Narrative review check pending

Educational content only — not medical advice. Consult a qualified clinician for diagnosis or treatment.