Beyond Linear Periodization: A Complex Adaptive Systems Framework for Training Design in Sprint Athletics

Linear periodization has dominated training

Design: in sprint athletics for more than half a century, yet its core assumptions (predictable dose-response, additive adaptation, and sequential isolation of physical qualities) sit uneasily with evidence that sprint performance emerges from nonlinear interactions among neuromuscular, tendinous, metabolic, technical, and psychological subsystems. This paper proposes a complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework for training

design in sprint athletics as a theoretically grounded alternative.Drawing on complexity science, dynamical systems theory, and the constraints-led approach, the paper reviews the limits of linear periodization, develops the theoretical foundations of a CAS view of the sprinter, and presents the CAS Sprint Training

design in sprint athletics as a theoretically grounded alternative.Drawing on complexity science, dynamical systems theory, and the constraints-led approach, the paper reviews the limits of linear periodization, develops the theoretical foundations of a CAS view of the sprinter, and presents the CAS Sprint Training Design Model, which treats the athlete as a self-organizing system whose adaptation emerges from the interaction of training stimuli, constraints, and feedback loops.: Six testable propositions are derived from the model, covering nonlinearity of dose-response, individual response heterogeneity, the functional role of variability, the value of constraint manipulation, the timescale-dependence of adaptation, and the superiority of feedback-driven adjustment over fixed-plan progression. Implications for coaches and a research agenda are outlined.