K.I.S.S. Periodization

Periodization really doesn’t need to be as complicated as we make it out to be. Those who are new to endurance sport simply need to increase the amount of time they spend training being careful not to make rapid changes which could lead to breakdowns from injury or illness. It’s only slightly more complex for experienced and competitive endurance athletes. Let me explain.

 

In my Training Bible books I devote three or four pages to the theory of periodization. There are entire books written on the subject, so my few pages was quite a shortened version. In later sections I discussed application of the periods of training – Prep, Base, Build, Peak, Race and Transition. I use these terms not because I want to, but because I have to. If everyone did their A-priority race on the same day every year then I could refer to time using the months of the year. If for example, everyone’s race is the last weekend in May. I could then talk about how everyone would train in November, December, January, and so on. It would be quite simple and easy to understand. But everyone’s A race is not on the same weekend, so I have to use different terms to refer to time. The names of the months won’t do. Hence, the period names above. The following table explains what they mean in terms of training.

 

The purpose and length or training periods

Period	Purpose	Typical Length
Prep	Prepare to train	2-4 weeks
Base	Establish basic abilities	12 weeks
Build	Build race-specific fitness	8-9 weeks
Peak	Increase rest and race specificity	1-2 weeks
Race	Rest and prepare to race	1 week
Transition	Recover both physically and mentally	1-8 weeks

 

Another way of explaining periodization is that physical stress is gradually increased over the course of many weeks. Some describe it as a methodical system for gradual physical adaptation that avoids exhaustion. Others think of it as the alternation and progression of high and low work loads. It’s also been referred to as a cyclical system for the practical application of the principles of training. This could go and on and become increasingly vague and complicated. But I believe periodization can really be boiled down to one simple sentence:

 

Periodization means that the closer in time you get to the race, the more like the race your workouts must become.

 

If this is all you know about periodization and you adhere to it you’ll do fine. Because when it’s all said and done, the most important question is: Are you prepared to race? If you can answer that question affirmatively – which you can if your workouts have been like the race – then you will have a great race. If you’re not sure then you haven’t made your workouts enough like the race. It’s that simple.

 

So what does it mean to make your workouts like the race? It has to do with three things – how frequently you do racelike workouts, how intense your racelike workouts are and how long your racelike workouts are. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

 

Racelike Workout Frequency

In keeping with my simple definition above, early in the year – the Prep and first few weeks of the Base period – your training is quite different from your A race. For example, the training outlines in my Training Bible books call for you to do some weight lifting. At no time in an endurance race do you stop to lift weights. This is not racelike at all. So what do you think should happen to weight lifting as the season progresses into the late Base, Build, Peak and Race periods? You do less and less of it. It becomes infrequent.

 

Becoming more frequent during this same period of time are workouts that are like your race. So by the time you get to the late Build and Peak periods many of your workouts will be like mini-races. Now, obviously, you can’t do that every day. You would very quickly become overtrained if you tried to do so. So you have to have easy days and basic-fitness maintenance days between the racelike workouts. If your A race is a sprint distance triathlon or a bike criterium you can do a racelike workout about once a week in the last few weeks. In fact, you can do a lot of such races during this time. But if you are training for an Ironman or a six-hour, mountainous road race there’s no way you can do that every week. But you can do portions of the race every week, such as long bike rides and long runs. For example, I have Ironman triathletes do abbreviated Ironman races twice in the Build period with several weeks separating them. That’s frequent enough to prepare for the specific demands of the race, but not so frequent as to cause breakdown.

 

So the frequency of racelike workouts depends on the race you are training for.

 

Racelike Workout Intensity

For the experienced and competitive athlete the key to success is intensity. This does not mean going as fast as you can. It means training at intensities that are appropriate for your A-race goals. For example, if your goal run pace in a triathlon is seven minutes per mile then the closer you get to the race the more time you must spend running at seven-minute pace, especially after a bike ride. By the time of the race, running at that pace should be second nature for you. But in the Base period you won’t do much seven-minute-paced running. You’ll do runs that are much slower and some that are even faster. They are not specific to your goal pace, but they have a purpose which is explained in my books.

 

Racelike Workout Duration

Notice in the last paragraph that I did not say the key to success for the experienced and competitive athlete is how long the workouts are. Endurance athletes tend to believe the length of their workouts is what their training should be all about. That’s the case if you are new to the sport. You’ve got to build the endurance to finish the race. But once you have a good level of endurance, which you should have after about three years of serious training, duration is no longer the key to your success.

 

This is not to say that workout length is unimportant. It’s just less important than intensity. Early in the season, especially in the Base period, your workouts will be quite long. Your longest workouts should be in the last few weeks of Base, what I call Base 3. Then in the Build period there will actually be a slight shortening of your longest sessions as the intensity increases. That will prepare you for the race much better than if you simply did more miles slowly as most self-coached athletes do.

 

Summing Up Periodization

For the competitive athlete that’s all there is to it. Make the workouts increasingly like your race by appropriately increasing the frequency of your racelike workouts, making the intensity of these workouts more like the race, and training at durations which are also racelike. All of this will eventually lead to a best race ever. It’s really quite simple.

Comments

[Chris]

Great article. Thanks for explaining in such simple terms. Really brings clarity to the concept of periodization.

[Steve Kent]

Thanks Joe. Great stuff - as usual! I may not be in your typical demographic regarding competitive athlete - but I suck up all this stuff I can. I am a 53 yr old OFG (old fat guy!) who loves this stuff. BTW, I do have all your books...(-;

I don't have a race schedule, but have tried to apply your principles to a recreation type of schedule for summer riding with "the boys". A typical mountain bike ride is a couple of hours long with some pretty hard efforts required. So the question - how does one apply the concept of "race" specificity when there really isn't a race - just a desire to be more fit and ride better?

I get the idea that optimal fitness cannot be maintained all summer so I am planning some quick transitions. Does one take a week or so in this pahse and then jump right back, or is some buld time required after a transition? How about some endurance work - I was planning on continuing with some zone 2 road rides to maintain/further base fitness?

A quick plan; Beginning of a week devoted to zone 4/5 work with some recovery/zone 2 on the day after. Friday a all zone agressive ride with the boys, followed by Saturday long zone 2 ride. Every 3rd week back off the friday ride a bit and maybe eliminate the Saturday ride - recover.

So, waste of time to try and periodize such a schedule? The "boys" say "just ride" - but last year they were tired of the rides by fall. I think I'm on the right track?

Sorry for being long winded....(-;

Steve

[Joe Friel]

Steve--Thanks for your comment. Not sure what else I an say that I haven't already said in my books about this. But the bottom line is that _everyone_ regardless of ability or performance goal needs periodic rest. This should happen daily, weekly, monthly and annually. How you fit it in is the tricky part. That's where self-coaching art and science come in handy.

[Jan Wallin]

Hi Joe, I have periodized my training according to your books and my A-priority race this year is Ironman France, june 27. That will be my second IM-distance race, I did my first i 2008. I have a question regarding Big Day of training, 8 and 4 weeks prior to the race. 8 weeks before I have a MTB-race (60 km) and 4 weeks before a road race (110 km). Would you recommend me to do a Big Day instead of the races? I am a strong cyclist but since the cycle course in France is really challenging with a lot of climbing I wonder if I would benefit more from a couple of bike races. I live in a really flat area of Sweden with little opportunity for practice climbing.
All the best.
/Jan

[Joe Friel]

Jan--You need to decide if you are a road cyclist or an IM triathlete. Doing a road race, no matter how hard it is, will not prepare you even slightly for an IM.

[Darren]

Hey Joe,

Love reading your stuff. I have a few of your books and use I the ATP manager in training peaks to help with my planning, however I do have a couple of questions regarding periodization.

How does the periodization change for ultra endurance events? For example I have gone from Olympic distance XC races to 24 hour mtb races. What happens with racelike workouts? And does the weight training remain the same (AA, MS etc)

Thanks very much for you time

Darren

[Jay]

Joe, my A races this season consist of five- to seven-hour XC MTB races. Given that periodization means "the closer in time you get to the race, the more like the race your workouts must become", then should my training volume still peak at late Base? I trained an average of 8 hours per week during my 3 wks of Late Base (not incl recovery week). I'm now headed into my first Build week, where volume typically starts to decrease (while intensity increases). My worry is that if I start to decrease my volume now, then I may not be working towards specificity for my five- to seven-hour A races. What do you think?

[Joe Friel]

Darren--No change in concept--the closer to the race, the more like race workouts become. Strength training for MTB remains the same - periodized.

[Joe Friel]

Jay--Your volume is pretty much minimal for an event of that duration so don't cut it back any more.

[Will Murphy]

Joe, My question is similar to Darren's. My A race will take over 48 hours nonstop. I have completed races of similar duration a few times before, so I have some sense of what to expect. I am thinking a non-stop workout of anything close to that duration would do little to make me physically stronger and the recovery needed would put a big hole in my training. My thought was a much-abbreviated version, touching on all the disciplines at aerobic pace, and including transitions and other race-like elements. Does that make sense?

Thank you.

Will

PS Although I am an adventure racer, I find your Triathlete's Training Bible a great resource, and mine is highlighted, tabbed and much thumbed-through.

[JoeFriel]

Will M--What you're doing in training sounds good to me. Good luck!

[David]

Hey, i have been using your book and its really worked for my training. I compelte a 23 week block. This ended in a race. Not i am wondering how to schedule for my next race. I have 7 weeks before the race begins. i am proposing. Does this seem correct

Base1 11:00:00
Base 1 13:00:00
Base 2 8:00:00
Base 3 12:30:00
Build 1 14:00:00
Build 2 13:00:00
Peak 11:30:00
Peak 09:30:00

[Joe Friel]

David--Numbers seem a bit strange, but then I don't know what you are training for either. Usually build is less volume than base with more emphasis on intensity. You've done it the other way around. But that may be because you are training for a very long, relatively slow event. Good luck!