Nuts & Bolts of Goal Setting: Mastering the Five Bio-Motor Skills (Part 2)

In Part 2 of Marty Gallagher’s goal-setting series, the focus turns to the five bio-motor skills and the practical use of a linear periodization training template. The goal is not theory for theory’s sake. The goal is to identify, define, improve, and periodize the human abilities that drive athletic performance: strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, and coordination.

Featured equipment: Olympic weightlifting bar, flat bench, and commercial slat belt sled treadmill.

The Five Bio-Motor Classifications: Identify, Define, and Improve

In order to improve human performance, regardless of the assigned athletic task, we need to identify and then radically improve each of our five bio-motor abilities. Do so and athletic performance automatically improves. We have improvement strategies for every bio-motor skill. We seek to identify and improve upon these five physical abilities. Once we are able to identify a specific ability, we can then define that ability. Once we have identified and defined the ability, we can set about improving that ability.

What are the five identifiable human abilities?

Bio-Motor Bar Graphs and Nuanced Attributes

There are five bio-motor attributes and within each attribute there exists a range of definable degrees, shades of effort that flow from one extreme to the other extreme. Imagine in each instance a long bar graph: on the extreme left of the graph we have pure white and as your eyes follow the bar graph, left to right, the pure white on the extreme left becomes increasingly grey and totally grey in the exact middle; the grey becomes increasingly darker until grey morphs into black and finally the blackest of black. These activities are then overlaid on the bio-motor bar graph.

Strength Bar Graph

Speed Bar Graph

Endurance Bar Graph

Agility Bar Graph

Flexibility Bar Graph

The 6th Bio-Motor Skill: Psychological Recalibration

Practical Programming: Determining the Individual Needs of the Athlete

The competent programmer creates training regimens designed to increase power and strength and stamina while helping the athlete train productively and intelligently. The first duty of the able and facile programmer is to determine the athlete’s exact needs. After absorbing the facts, data and idiosyncratic differentiations, the programmer constructs a training template, one that will enable the athlete to morph from what they are into what they seek to become.

We do so incrementally and methodically; “creeping incremental-ism” deposits the athlete at the predetermined goal at the end of the allotted periodized timeframe — essentially transformed.

No one trains, diets, performs cardio or goes to the trouble to plan and periodize in order to stay the same: we train because we want to improve our physique and we want to improve our performance. One sure-fire way to improve performance is to improve the body. When we become stronger with increased stamina, when we are leaner and more muscular, performance in any and all athletic benchmarks automatically improves.

When we look at the individual athlete, there are questions that need to be posed.

• What is it we seek?
• What is the goal?
• Is that goal realistic?
• How much time do we have?
• What needs to be improved or corrected?
• What is being done right that needs to be maintained?
• What can we change that will bring marked improvement?

Linear Periodization: Reverse Engineer the Goal

All elite athletes periodize: periodization sets goals into a timeframe then works backwards to a starting point. The periodized athlete “reverse engineers” a plan based on the intended result and the amount of time allotted. To understand periodization we start by quantifying time.

The most basic form of periodization is linear periodization. The classical linear periodization model is a 12-week macrocycle that contains three, four-week mesocycles and twelve one-week microcycles. Categories are created and placed in vertical columns. Each week has preplanned performance goals for exercises. Periodization tactics need not be confined to weight training.

Linear Periodization Training Template

In our first hypothetical example, the individual commences the cycle with a 200-pound squat, a 150-pound bench press, a 300-pound deadlift and a 100-pound overhead press. How would we lay out a 12-week periodized game plan for such an individual? When studying the chart, keep in mind that the set listed in the box is only performed after taking as many warm-up sets, usually 2-3, as needed.

This linear periodization training template can be modified and utilized regardless of current strength level.

Generalizations

• All lifts start off at approximately 50% to 65% of current max.
• All lifts end up roughly 15% to 25% above current max.
• All lifts utilize pristine technique.
• Optional: in early phases, multiple top sets can be used.
• Never start off too high or too low.

A 12-week linear periodization program is not magic. It is a controlled way to organize stress. The repetitions generally decrease as the intensity increases. The lifter starts with manageable poundage, builds momentum, and moves toward the target at the end of the cycle.

Advanced Athlete Periodized Cycle

Let’s assume the athlete is heading into training camp in three months. Currently he has a 350-pound squat, a 300-pound bench press, a 400-pound deadlift and a 180-pound overhead press. A stronger athlete needs smaller, more exact increases. The stronger the athlete, the smaller the percentage increases at cycle’s end.

• Small weekly poundage jumps work best.
• These periodization charts are basic; many sophisticated variations exist.
• Other factors can be periodized: bodyweight, calories, cardio modes, recovery methods and assistance work.

For a serious strength athlete, powerlifter, Olympic lifter, tactical athlete or coach, linear periodization for powerlifting and strength training programs should still be individualized. A plan that looks elegant on paper still needs to respect technical proficiency, recovery, age, injury history, work capacity and the realities of the athlete’s life.

Create Your Own Linear Periodized Training Template

In a nutshell, the way to periodize or “cycle” any lift is as follows.

• Create a realistic goal.
• Establish a realistic timeframe.
• Reverse engineer: work backwards with a calendar.
• Place realistic goals within a specified timeframe.
• Work backwards to establish weekly benchmarks.
• Every 3-4 weeks alter the variables in anticipation of stagnation.
• When instituting changes, make change dramatic, not minor.

This is how to reverse engineer a training plan. You begin with the end point, identify the timeframe, establish the weekly stepping stones, and then train toward the end point in a disciplined fashion.

Cycle Anything: Bodyweight, Cardio, and Conditioning

Let us assume a 195-pound male is athletic, but slightly out-of-shape coming off the winter holidays; he wants to take ten weeks to lean out and shape up. His previous deadlift best is 385 x 1 weighing 200 pounds. He will commence the cycle with a 15% body fat percentile and at the end of ten weeks he will have whittled that down to a 10% body fat percentile weighing 180 pounds.

In ten weeks time our hypothetical individual has morphed from a soft 195 into a rock hard 180 pounds. His deadlift, a great overall strength indicator, has leapt upward by a full 10%, from 385 to 415 for 1. A new personal best: despite being 25-pounds lighter than when he pulled his 385 previous best.

He regains his cardio condition by tweaking his run durations and upping weekly frequency and intensity. The percentage in the duration column is the blended-session heart rate average obtained by wearing a heart rate monitor. Each week our athlete gets a little leaner, a little lighter, in a little bit better shape and becomes fitter. Coordinate the training with a diet that compliments and supports the physical demands of result-producing lifting and running.

Linear Periodization: Strategies, Principles, and Examples

Generally speaking, linear periodized cycles last between 6-12 weeks. The idea is to lower the repetitions as the intensity, or poundage, is increased over the life of the cycle. The combination of decreasing reps combined with successively heavier training poundage forces the body to adapt and grow: grow more muscle and grow stronger.

Initially, higher reps are done with lesser poundage. At the beginning of the cycle we seek to create maximum muscle hypertrophy. In the final phases, leading up to a competition, absolute strength is peaked.

For many athletes, this is the useful beauty of linear periodization. It is simple enough to understand, measurable enough to track, and flexible enough to apply to strength, cardio, bodyweight, conditioning, calories, or selected bio-motor skills.

Practical Equipment Notes for Periodized Training

Periodization does not require exotic equipment. It requires a clear goal, a calendar, weekly benchmarks, and tools that allow the athlete to train consistently. For barbell-based strength training, a dependable Iron Grip OB-7 industrial chrome Olympic weightlifting bar supports the squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, and Olympic-lift variations used in many periodized plans.

For pressing work, upper-body assistance, and basic strength training programs, a stable Body-Solid flat bench can support bench press practice, dumbbell work, and accessory training. For conditioning cycles and endurance work, a Spirit Fitness commercial slat belt sled treadmill may support walking, running, and sled-style conditioning when programmed appropriately.

The tool does not create the transformation. The plan does. The tool simply gives the athlete a dependable place to execute the plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the five bio-motor abilities?

The five bio-motor abilities are strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, and coordination. Marty Gallagher’s point is that once these abilities are identified and defined, the athlete or coach can build a plan to improve them.

What is linear periodization?

Linear periodization is a basic training structure in which repetitions generally decrease as poundage increases over a set timeframe. A classic version uses a 12-week macrocycle divided into three four-week mesocycles and twelve weekly microcycles.

What is a linear periodization training template?

A linear periodization training template is a planned training structure that starts with manageable loading, builds week by week, and aims toward a specific end goal. It can be used for strength training, powerlifting, conditioning, bodyweight goals, and other measurable objectives.

How do you reverse engineer a training plan?

Start with the desired end goal, choose a realistic timeframe, then work backward to create weekly benchmarks. Each week should move the athlete closer to the final goal while respecting technique, recovery and current ability.

Can linear periodization be used for powerlifting?

Yes. Linear periodization for powerlifting can be used to organize the squat, bench press, deadlift, and assistance work. The plan should start conservatively, progress in realistic weekly jumps, and peak strength near the end of the cycle.

Can cardio and bodyweight be periodized too?

Yes. Gallagher makes the point that periodization tactics need not be confined to weight training. Bodyweight, calories, cardio modes, running duration, weekly frequency, and conditioning intensity can all be periodized when the goal is clearly defined.

About the Author: Marty Gallagher

As an athlete Marty Gallagher is a national and world champion in Olympic lifting and powerlifting. He was a world champion team coach in 1991 and coached Black's Gym to five national team titles. He's also coached some of the strongest men on the planet including Kirk Karwoski when he completed his world record 1,003 lb. squat. Today he teaches the US Secret Service and Tier 1 Spec Ops on how to maximize their strength in minimal time. As a writer since 1978 he’s written for Powerlifting USA, Milo, Flex Magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Prime Fitness, Washington Post, Dragon Door and now IRON COMPANY. He’s also the author of numerous books including Purposeful Primitive, Strong Medicine, Ed Coan’s book “Coan, The Man, the Myth, the Method" and numerous others. Read the Marty Gallagher biography here.