What is Ronin Periodization?
"A thing called by the name of any other thing, is still just a thing" - something I saw written on a piece of paper in the background of the movie "Birdman"
Let's not get wrapped around the axle here. In fact, it's the functional fixedness a name can instill on a program that led to me thinking about programming like this in the first place.
Recall that in my first post I made a call to start asking more questions. More real questions. Go through some of the programs you use often and start asking things like "what do I like about this", "what do I not like", "could something be different". Then I want you start thinking about where the program came from. Did you find it online, in a book, or was it from a research article?
Who wrote it?
What is their background?
What was their intention when writing it?
What group of people seem to benefit most from it, and who doesn't?
What body of work did they pull from when writing this?
Do you feel that their pool of resources was comprehensive enough to make the program as effective as possible?
Find out when it was written, and research what has since come to light which might support or refute it.
Can you identify any limitations they may have placed on the program based on who they were writing it for that may not need to apply to you?
What is the author of the program critical of? Meaning, is he openly against a form of training or theories? Why?
You see now that there are many things you can consider when reviewing the information you obtain in this industry. This is no different than being what is called a good consumer in research. Within the realm of writing and publishing research articles you have producers and consumers. Obviously the producers are those that create what is being published, and the consumers are everyone else. A good consumer knows how to look through the article and spot any red flags which may have construed the reported findings, hurting the credibility of the claims and implications.
Now with most of the training programs out in existence though there is another element to consider that is not usually the focus of a scientific literature review class.
The psychology of the source.
These people who write these programs are passionate about their work, their athletes, their sport, and what they feel is the best way to become better at it. This permeates through all forms of scientific publishing too, not just in the exercise science field, but we should not be so naive to think we are above it.
Consider the person when considering the source. This will enable you to break the program down into even further components that the sets, reps, and tempo while increasing your mastery over program design.
I look forward to sharing with you how I have come to view several popular training methods and coaches after reviewing them in this light, what I have taken away from them, and how I use select pieces to fix together a form which suits my function.
