According to Alwyn Cosgrove, there are 7 areas of fitness that should be part of every training program.
- Mobility
- Prehabilitation
- Core training
- Elasticity and reactive training
- Strength training
- Energy system development
- Reactive training
I agree that all of these are important to have especially for athletes. Im trying to figure out what is needed to maintain these different areas, as well as maintain muscle mass. Of the 7, the ones that I feel need the most attention during “maintenance” are:
- Mobility
- strength
- Energy stystems
- And muscle mass
The reason I want to be able to maintain different qualities, is to be able to put more focus on other qualities or movements.
For example, after reaching a new pr on deadlift, I might want to deload, and then maintain my gains while I focus on squats, or something else.
I havent seen too much information on maintenance, but imagine that it takes less frequency, volume, and intensity to maintain than it does to develop these qualities. Also, during “maintanence” it is likely that these qualities might degrade, but at a slower rate than if they were not trained at all.
So what would be a good way to set up maintanence for the different qualities?
- Mobility - I dont think mobility needs special recomendations for maintanence. It takes up time, but doesn’t necessarily take away from training the other qualities.
2.)Strength - As far as strength goes, I think max stregth will be the most important for me, especially since im not an athlete. Although reactive strength, and speed strength are important, they aren’t as important for me. Since strength is developed in the 1-5 rep range, I would assume that its best maintained by training in the same range.
But what % of your personal max do you need to lift to maintain some of that max, and what volume should you use?
Would 3x3 with 85-90% be enough to maintain?
3.)Energy systems - I think this is very broad, but covers strength endurance, and other metabolic and cardiovascular qualities. Also, since I wont be doing much “cardio” in my normal programs, it doesn’t make sense to do much in my maintanence programs. A lot of my energy system training will come in the form of circuit training, with a bit of HIIT on cardio equipment.
Maintaining these qualities seems more complicated to me, because there are so many different methods of developing them. An example workout to develop these systems might be EDT with 2-3 15-minute pr zones. Would a similar workout with 2-3 7 minute pr zones be good? Or what else?
Also, for cardio, i might do HIIT with 30 second sprints and 60 second recoveries to develop these qualities. As time goes on i would lengthen the work period and shorten the rest period. So for maintanence, do I work backwards and lengthen the rest periods, or do I keep them the same and shorten the total workout session.
As you can see, I need some recomendations here. Im sure maintanence varies much from person to person, and i’ll have to figure it out for myself, but some recomendations would be greatly appreciated.