Self-Testing

PERIODIZATION

Today's high performance athletes train using a system called "periodization". This means dividing the training year into periods, each with a specific physiological purpose. By doing this, the competitive athlete builds fitness in stages, much as a house is built. When a period is completed, the fitness benefits gained are maintained in the following period while new aspects of conditioning are introduced.

This manual uses five periods within a season: Base, Build, Peak, Race, and Recovery. Two to twelve weeks are generally assigned to each period, but this will vary with the individual.

The Base period will improve general fitness. You are "training to train" by emphasizing endurance, strength training, form work, and flexibility. This period lasts eight to twelve weeks depending on your experience level. Athletes who have been competing for three or more years need only stay in Base for eight weeks. Less experienced cyclists will train at this level for twelve weeks to ensure an adequate fitness level is established. This is the most important period for the novice cyclist and may even be extended beyong twelve weeks to achieve greater fitness depth. Fitness riders use this period exclusively.

During Base, the focus is on quantity with limited intensity, but there is a gradual shifting toward quality in preparation for the Build period. The increased intensity comes mostly from economy refinement. "Economy" is just another way of describing "form" - the ability to turn the cranks without wasting energy. For example, if you continue to apply force to the pedal when it is at the bottom of the stroke, all of the energy expended is wasted. At very high cadences, you'll feel this as you bounce up and down on the saddle. Learning to make effortless circles will eventually pay off as you expend less energy at higher intensities.

To allow your body to recover from the accumlated stress during this and every subsequent period, reduce the volume of training during the fourth week of every four-week block. During this week, don't do any long or intense workouts. Ride easily, work on form, and take some well-deserved time off to recover and allow your body to adapt.

The Build period is four to twelve weeks long and develops more race-specific fitness. Intensity increases steadily and carefully with emphasis on power enhancement and intervals of increasing intensities and duration. Endurance trainin g is maintained at the levels attained during Base. It is the most demanding of the five periods due to the high endurance level and the increased intensity. The initial Build period is usually on the training calendar when the weather is worst in the northern latitudes, making the CompuTrainer invaluable.

Cyclists with fewer than three years of experience who extend the Base period to twelve weeks shorten the Build period by four weeks.

The development of power is critical for the competitive cyclist. Grinding slowly up hills in a big gear builds strength, not power. Power improvement comes from improving the ability to turn progressively harder gears at a high cadence for increasingly longer periods. The first Build training block emphasizes this fitness skill.

Interval training during the Build period begins with long repetitions at an intensity just below anaerobic and progresses to higher intensity as the legs adapt to the power training. The volume of intensity attained in individual workouts is th e key to success in this period.

Just as you did in the Base period, you should reduce the volume of your training in every fourth week of Build. You'll look forward to the extra rest and grow stronger because of it.

The two- to six-week Peak period emphasizes intensity and commences once intensity has reached a high volume in the Build period. Now total weekly training volume is reduced as intensity peaks. The emphasis on speed and speed-endurance (the ability to maintain race speed). Workouts are event-specific to prepare for major competitions of the season. There may be some "tune-up" events during this period to test progress.

During Peak, training is either in a "speed-spectrum" of 90-110% of race speed, or very easy for recovery and preparation for the next high quality workout. Training efforts between these two extremes reduce the energy available for improving quality and do not bring greater fitness.

The Race period lasts up to eight weeks. It is very difficult to maintain peak fitness for any longer than eight weeks. During this time, you may be racing frequently, perhaps twice a week if you're a road racer, or simulating a race every other week if you're a triathlete. Great care must be taken to ensure recovery. If you do any training other than low-intensity recovery workouts during this period, it should be to refine strengths or prepare for a specific event such as a time trial or stage race. Working on strengths after so many months of striving to improve general fitness and addressing weaknesses is good for confidence - something we can all use more of in races.

A trend of the last few years among elite endurance athletes is to peak twice during the calendar year. The twin-peak year seems to bring the athlete's fitness along at a crisper pace, maintains great enthusiasm, and creates a higher level of fitness for the second peak. It also fits nicely into a season which has more important events early in the year and again in the fall. The training programs suggested in this manual are written to accomodate the twin-peak concept.

The Recovery period brings the season to a close and allows the athlete to rest and recover, both mentally and physically, from the stresses of training and racing for several weeks. The emphasis is on the unstructured activity in a variety of pursuits. This period generally lasts two to four weeks, but may be longer following an event such as the Ironman or a particularly grueling season.

The training programs in this Workout Manual are designed around these five periods. Each section is devoted to a different type of cyclist and incorporates all of the principles and periods discussed here. By following the recommended progression, you will be training to race as most elite athletes train.