What is Periodization Training?

So it's January and you are starting to look at the upcoming races and even start putting a few on your calendar as targets to do for the year. You know you want to do well in them so you start thinking about the things you did in the past to get ready, what others have told you they did to get ready, and heck you have even Googled it! But if you are like most weekend warriors you just begin running, biking, and swimming whenever you can for as long as you can and hope for the best on race day.

There is a better way...

That way is Periodization Training. What is this you ask? Well, just like the title states, it is a process of structuring you training into sets of defined periods. All of us train but some us train smarter, not just harder and in Periodization Training the year is divided into periods with each period having a specific focus of what and how to improve certain aspects of fitness while maintaining the gains made in previous periods. It has become the standard among the serious athletes- from the hardcore weekend warrior, the age-grouper, and  all the way to the elite.

In the weeks and months to come I will begin discussing the separate periods within this form of training which include the following-

• Prep Phase- Endurance training that gets the body used to a daily workload
• Base 1- The first phase of increasing an athletes workload volume
• Base 2- The second phase of increasing an athletes workload volume
• Base 3- Last phase of workload volume 
• Build 1- Race specific intensity training and focusing on personal limiters.
• Build 2- Races added in this area to prepare for target races
• Peak Phase- The workload volume drops in order to achieve maximum recovery 
• Race- It is now time to put all of your hard work into action!

So right now almost all of my athletes are in the Prep Phase of their training. In this time they are working on getting used to "training." They are to concentrate solely on improving the endurance aspects of their cardiovascular system (heart, blood, lungs) and build up tolerance for training (time in the saddle, time on feet, and non-drowning). There is still Cross-training taking place in this phase including core exercise workouts and even weight training to develop muscle recruitment. Here, everyone is very excited and my main task at this point is to keep everyone calm and patient because the workload is coming and then the intensity. If your not sure how to eat an elephant, just ask a Roanoke Valley Coaching athlete and they can tell you ;)