How Do You Progress On Concurrent Periodization?
Table of Contents
Introduction
This article will explore concurrent periodization and how you can make progress on a concurrent program.
How Do You Progress On Concurrent Periodization?
As such you can specifically pick out certain exercises that closely resemble a big lift to work on your weak points. On the bench press for instance, if you are weak off the chest you can introduce paused benches into your concurrent program.
The idea is to train in waves and increase the weight on every wave. By getting stronger on complimentary exercises through the program you will also get stronger on the big powerlifting movement.
This is assuming that you pay attention to your volume and intensity and consume adequate and quality nutrition.
What Is Concurrent Periodization?
Simply put, concurrent periodization is where you train in waves and train multiple different qualities at the same time – this could be max strength and higher rep performance.
The conjugate program from Westside Barbell is a good example of this style of training. They have two days dedicated to the squat and deadlift and two days for the upper body for the bench press and bench press accessories.
Within this framework they layer on max effort days and dynamic effort days. The idea of this training program is to get stronger first and foremost. But you will also improve your explosiveness and rate of force development on the dynamic effort days.
How Lifting Variety Can Fuel Progress
For the squat, bench and deadlift there are various accessory exercises that are closely related to them that can help you to improve those core lifts. For instance, doing leg presses with your deadlift stance will have a great carryover to the deadlift.
The deadlift is in essence just a leg press where the bar is in your hands. Your arms are just hooks and the primary work is done by the legs to get the weight off the floor.
So if you are constantly getting stronger at lots of different movements that are closely correlated, you become stronger on the core movements and just more “bullet proof” in general.
Expanding from this, concurrent training allows you to dial in on specific weak points by introducing those exercises into your routine. In this way, you can make progress by strengthening your weak points and as a result becoming stronger overall.
Prevents Over Adaptation
One of the downsides of linear periodization and more minimalistic programs is that they can encourage over adaption. By constantly performing the same exercise week in and week out, you body will find it harder to make further adaptations to the stimulus.
In addition, you are more likely to experience over use injuries from training in this way. With concurrent programs where you have more variety and are keeping things fresher, you will likely experience less injuries.
In addition, you will find that you will have fewer plateaus and will gain faster strength. With linear periodization programs, you are likely to experience faster plateaus and an increased risk of overuse injuries.
This is how concurrent programs can allow you to make faster progress over the long term. At the same time they can prevent your body from getting too banged up from over use injuries and constant wear and tear.
Tracking Progress
One of the downsides with concurrent training programs that some people bring up, is that the increased variety of exercises makes it harder to track your progress.
This is true to some degree, however keeping a training log of your exercises and numbers is imperative. Without a properly engineered plan you will be simply “flying blind” as it were.
Nowadays, there are many apps where you can track your workout numbers in each session and keep an eye on your progress. You should be aware that as long as you have your volume and intensity in check, you will be seeing gains in your core lifts as your accessory numbers increase.
There is a very good video from Alphadestiny on tracking progress with concurrent periodization, where he touches on some of these points. I would recommend you check out the video below.
Final Thoughts
How do you progress on concurrent periodization? The simple answer is that you track your exercises and numbers diligently and prepare a solid training plan in advance.
Be sure to apply progressive overload to each wave – either through increasing weight or increasing total volume. I would recommend to focus on increasing weight through each wave.
The primary aim of concurrent training is to get you stronger as a whole. It can also be used to improve your rate of force production through dynamic training, as evidenced in conjugate training by Westside Barbell.
The increased variety of exercises utilised in concurrent training programs allows you to have more fun and stay motivated throughout your training waves. In addition you are less likely to suffer over use injuries and plateaus. All this will serve to fuel your progress and help you to train more optimally to achieve your goals.
If you have any comments on concurrent training please leave them below. As always, stay safe and enjoy your training!
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