building up for BIG competitions

[KatFish]

Hi, I thought this might be a good one to throw in during the world champs:

I was wondering how people go about their extended (say 3-6 months)training build up for big events.

I've never really considered more than about the month before a competition before (normally because that's about how much time we have after they're announced).

 

[QazzaQ]

Usually it is good to do some background training constantly even if you don't know when the next competition is going to be held. The background stuff is the slowest to develop, so better start it earlier than later. These exercises include technique, stretching and aerobic training.
A couple of months before competitions I usually start increasing the intensity of (an)aerobic training in order to build endurance and train my mind not to give up that easily. In addition I shift from training technique to exercising competition-type max attempts with gradually increasing results. About one month before the competition I completely stop working on technique and accept the status it is in at that point because from that point on it is only about preparing for the max attempt with no distractions about focusing on something else. Psychologically I try to build in some non-optimal factors before training max attempts in order to prepare for the little things that WILL go wrong during competitions. For example I go running the day before a long dynamic or psyche myself up to be very stressed before the dive. This way I'll know that if something like this goes wrong in the competition I can still do the distance I did on those trainings.
Over the last month before the competition I gradually decrease the aerobic training and avoid doing anything new that would cause my muscles to lock up

Looking forward for other comments on building up for competitions. Perhaps you over there in Egypt can send some responses during the unexpected day off... :t

-EeroS