Summer of Strength

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In sports science, one of the most important training principles is periodization, or the practice of dividing your training year into phases that focus on different goals. You’ve probably heard the terms: base-building, hypertrophy, strength, power, taper, etc. These aren’t just buzzwords! They’re the building blocks of long-term athletic development.

Periodization is about managing stress and recovery across weeks and months so you can:

• Avoid plateauing and continue to see progress

• Push hard when it matters with less fear of overtraining or repetitive strain injury

• Build different physical qualities in the right order

• Peak at the right time for your sport or activity

There are several ways to create periodization in your training, but the most common are:

• Linear: You gradually increase intensity leading up to an event while decreasing volume (classic method)

• Undulating / Nonlinear: Intensity and volume shift weekly or even daily (advanced method)

• Block periodization: You focus on one quality at a time, i.e. speed → strength → power in concentrated blocks. This works well for sports with dedicated competition seasons and longer off-season opportunities to train but can be more difficult to do successfully for year-around sports.

HEMA Hot Take:

Late summer is off-season for many fencers. Fewer tournaments and maybe even weeks off regular club HEMA practices (and/or school) means an opportunity to get to the gym with fewer interruptions and more recovery time. That makes it ideal for:

• Hypertrophy (muscle growth): Requires more volume and rest in between, which is hard to do mid-season

• Raw strength: Heavy lifts increase neural drive and muscle recruitment, but leave you sore—again, not great right before a tournament

• Building movement capacity: Fixing asymmetries, improving joint stability, and developing general athleticism that makes you more resilient

So don’t despair if your summer schedule here on out looks devoid of big HEMA events. You can use this time to focus on foundational adaptations that last, whether you’re traveling to see family and friends or just camping out at home.

Coach’s Corner

Want to build your own simple strength program? A 8–12 week strength cycle for the ‘average fencer’ who has some prior strength training experience but hasn’t gotten serious could look something like this:

🧱 Block 1: Base Building (3–4 weeks):

• Focus: Volume and technique

• 2-3 sets of 8–12 reps

• Exercises: Full-body moves like Goblet squats, RDLs, Kettlebell swings, pull-ups, and core work

💥 Block 2 – Strength Phase (4–6 weeks):

• Focus: Lower reps, higher weight

• 3 sets of 6-10 reps

• Exercises: Front squats, trap bar deadlifts, split squats, weighted carries

🧠 Block 3 – Power Phase (2–3 weeks):

• Focus: Speed and explosiveness

• 3–4 sets of 6-10 reps, high intensity

• Exercises: Plyometric lunges, med ball slams, kettlebell swings, box jumps and agility ladder work

👟 2-3x/week is enough. Stack it with light technical work and fencing footwork and you’ve got a summer performance plan.

Need guidance and help tailoring to your gear, limitations, or abilities? That’s what I’m here for.

Health & Fitness Tips

Strength before Specificity
It’s tempting to rush into cool looking fencing-specific exercises (like resisted footwork and lunges with a band, or doing hundreds of cuts with a weighted sword). But strength needs to be general before it can get specific.

Want better lunges? Stronger base for wrestling? More explosive speed? Start with big compound lifts or full-body movements that build strength and a stable foundation, then layer in specificity later. The same can be said for endurance - heading out the door and making sure you have the aerobic capacity to handle a few mile run (at any pace!) is a wise move before hitting the agility ladder or complex plyometric sprints and jumps thinking it will fix your speed and stamina.

Conditioning Move of the Week

Single Leg Strength & Power

A single leg ladder hop into a box jump is an advanced move that helps build fast direction changes for explosive feints and voides. But don’t skip the foundations. Here's how beginners can build up:

1️⃣ Bodyweight single leg step-downs & step-ups
2️⃣ Weighted step-downs and step-ups
3️⃣ Box jumps (with two legs)
4️⃣ Single leg jumps

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