Linear, undulating or block: which periodisation fits climbers?

Once you accept that training should be organised over time, the next question is how. Three families of models come up again and again: linear (traditional), undulating and block. Each has fans, and each can work for climbers. Here is a fair comparison.

Linear (traditional) periodisation

This is the model associated with Matveyev and later developed by Bompa. Training starts with high volume and lower intensity, then gradually shifts towards lower volume and higher intensity as the main event approaches.

Climbing example: eight weeks of lots of moderate routes and general strength, then six weeks of limit bouldering and finger strength, then four weeks of power and route-specific efforts before a trip.