Utilising Triphasic Training with Different Populations

Utilising Triphasic Training with Different Populations

Triphasic Training: either you’re looking at me like I’ve got two heads, or you’re fully versed in this method of training. The truth is, most people (if not all) would have had exposure to this type of training in a training session (or emphasised the certain phases or muscle contractions involved).

Depending on how you structure your training programme or cycle will dictate how successful a tool this training method can be in terms of strength or power adaptations. There are certainly specific questions about the practicality of Triphasic Training (TT) and how it can be best applied. Here is a list of some of the questions that I, and some others, have posed regarding TT:

What populations would benefit most from TT?

What considerations are there when applying TT?

What are the real-world adaptations that you would gain from using TT?

But first, lets give a brief overview of what TT is. I will detail my experiences using TT for my clients, athletes and my own training. This should hopefully lead to the above questions having some coverage (I say hopefully as I’m sure there will be more questions than answers at the end of this!).

What is Triphasic Training

Is there a short answer? Let’s give this a stab…

As you know, to every dynamic action there is an eccentric contraction (muscle lengthens, increase in tension), an isometric contraction (muscle stays at the same length, small oscillations sometimes present or completely static movement) and a concentric contraction (muscle shortens, movement occurs in opposite direction, decrease in muscular tension).

Triphasic training is a concept of training that has been put together and applied, extensively, by Cal Dietz. Cal is a college level strength coach who has worked with countless college and professional level athletes in a wide range of sports in the USA.

Triphasic training, uses a training block to concentrate on overloading (or loading for a strength adaptation) each muscular contraction separately. Although each element would still be present, you would be increasing the amount of time you would spend under that specific muscular tension in key lifts during that phase.

For example, if we looking to overload the eccentric portion of the Front Squat; The eccentric phase (downward movement) would be 5-6 seconds down. The same timeframe in terms of tension would then be applied in overloading the isometric action in the lift (At the bottom of the squat).

For the emphasis on the concentric movement, this wouldn’t involve a slow, controlled movement; in fact, we would be looking to use a powerful concentric movement against variable resistance (such as a band which would essentially be heavier as you move through the upward movement).

For each overload, the athlete (client) would perform an explosive (as quick as you can possibly push) concentric movement from the bottom of the squat, in reference to this example.

Eccentrically, we are up to 150% as ‘strong’ as we would be in a concentric lift. What you must NOT do though, is load to this capacity (especially if you have limited experience overloading the eccentric portion of the lift). You would be expected to perform the upward movement out regardless of the load. Vis-à-vis, you’re not loading to 100% of a 1 Rep Max.

The loads that would use through each week of each phase of the programme would be progressive. The loads are roughly in the 70-85% ballpark when looking at 1 Rep Max for your lift. As you may be aware, when looking at peak force application we wouldn’t see the highest numbers in newtons (N) at 1 rep max. Counterintuitively, peak force occurs at around 60% of 1RM. Which would be roughly where you are hanging out for the concentric phase.

Some Success…

This is very much related to my own experience with using the method with my clients and in a team setting (basketball). The person you are working with needs to have a relative amount of strength training experience. What’s the point in using an advanced method like this if they struggle with loading for that amount of time under tension. This is especially evident in the Eccentric and Isometric phases.

However, I can count several individual clients (2-3 years + of strength training experience) who have had a relative amount of success using this programme to the letter. Generally, these clients were male and between the ages of 25-40. Their goals were strength related in the realm of sports performance or to increase their numbers in the gym.

I had one lad who increased their back squat by 20kgs (3+ years of experience), some who increased their bench by 15kgs, and even some big increases in clean and jerk.

An example of the ‘ISO’ phase of the Triphasic Training Programme (Modified, not an exact template from the original programme of Cal Dietz)

These results occurred organically either during or after the programme had taken place, rather than a strict 1RM test post-programme. Of course, there are many factors involved in an increase in ‘strength’ or relative weight on the bar. The programme doesn’t just involve the ‘compound’ lifts, but also auxiliary exercises and some specific exercises related to the idiosyncrasies of the individual.

From a sports performance point of view, its counterintuitive to load the eccentric phase with this method. During most sporting actions we would be looking for instantaneous (or close to) contraction to relaxation, therefore the eccentric phase occurring very quickly.

Furthermore, you must be very careful when loading with sports performance goals in mind. In-season, the fatigue and physiological processes involve in fatigue increases substantially when emphasising and loading the muscles eccentrically in this way.

During 2020 and 2021, I was fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to have plenty of preparation time with an academy basketball team before the season started. The start date of the season kept getting pushed back due to the uncertainty and levels of infection during the pandemic. We used triphasic training as we had an unusually long pre-season. The results were mixed in terms of its success. Indirectly, we did see vertical jump heights increase, horizontal jump distances increase and 10m, 20m and Pro-Agility times decrease on the whole.

In the gym, largely the athletes were lifting similar numbers due to a number of factors in its adherence. This is an article for another time (Applying training methods in a team setting; and its challenges).

The question would be, how can we directly measure the success of the TT method on sports performance parameters? Did this just occur organically through the amount of plyometric, jumps, hops and speed training that the athletes are subjected to through their training and direct practice in their sport. It’s difficult to measure its direct success, unless the goal is so specific to the lift in itself. Although I haven’t utilised this method with a competitive powerlifter, TT may be a useful method as its direct result of the training can be measured more accurately against performance in the big 3 lifts.

With other populations, such as the everyday client between the ages of 30-55; I have used elements of TT to help with technique, decreasing training monotony and breaking through plateaus. The exact structure of TT is not particularly necessary for the everyday strength training client as there are many ways, we can gain strength or hypertrophic muscle development through various methods that are less taxing.

TT is certainly a more advanced method which doesn’t necessarily need to be applied in its entirety to every client or athlete you come across. Use this method if you are looking for a very specific outcome in terms of strength development and only with someone that has a decent amount of exposure to strength training. In terms of its application, percentages of 1RM in reference to the lift must be calculated if you are looking to apply this method for maximum accuracy. Of course, with some populations or those who have limited experience in strength training, this will not be as accurate.

In summary, application of TT must be relevant to the person training. Qualify the relevance of using TT. My own view is that TT for sports performance can have some success, but its direct impact is difficult to quantify accurately. As it is an advanced method, success in terms of loading may be seen for some in very specific lifts. Its application must be applied as accurately as possible for very specific results. Elements or principles of TT can be applied to the everyday strength training client but perhaps TT in its entirety may not be necessary.