TRADOC Pam 525-3-7-01 - TRADOC - U.S. Army

TRADOC Pam 525-3-7-01Figure 4-1. Stage-sequence Adapted for Army Physical Education and TrainingStructured Physical DevelopmentThe Army must design a physical development plan to provide a general strategy and goalsfor a year-to-year sequence of training and education. The plan should include timing ofevaluations, scheduled competitions, and potential deployment.The annual plan should consist of a series of intervals and phases arranged in units or cycles.The plan must describe in detail the specific skill development, exercise selection and trainingvolume, intensity, and duration of the training. Each phase and cycle has a specific objective;arranged to facilitate, enhance, and optimize the learning process and physical development toachieve the desired outcome. This arrangement of phases and cycle is the concept ofperiodization, introduced by the Russian’s in the 1960s and developed in this country in the1970s.Programmed Physical DevelopmentLeaders can use training principles to develop a physical training program that specificallyaddresses the nature and duration of the stresses to apply to stimulate learning and adaptation—what will actually be done and how. The two main aspects for developing a fitness training planare training specificity and training volume. The principle of specificity relates learning to thelesson taught, a matching between the teaching or training and the intended outcome. Theexercises and skills practiced have a direct impact on the taught or trained variable. Quitesimply, specificity means that to jump higher, training must include jumping; to run faster,training must include fast running; to improve at golf, play golf. Teaching and training mustspecifically match desired outcomes.91