As I begin to ramp up training for this year's triathlon season it requires a well thought and purposeful plan. Conventional thinking says just go out there and go as hard as you can for as long as you can and hopefully by the time you show up for race day you'll have enough in you to get through the day. For years in most sports this was the model. It was the survival of the fittest mentality that kept people motivated toward the goal... or did it?
Several decades ago people were wondering why Eastern Block countries were kicking the butts of the west. While some drug intervention did appear to play into the equation there was another "secret" weapon known as Periodization Training influencing their peak performance. Now studied and practiced here, especially among endurance athletes, it is a means of taking your workouts and breaking them down in periods of Fitness: Frequency (how often you train), Duration (how long you train for one session), Volume (how much you train in a given week or cycle) and Intensity (how hard you train at any given time). Among the four periods of Fitness there are four periods of Focus. These are better known as the Phases of Periodization; Prep (getting the body adjusted to training), Base (getting the body filled with aerobic capacity), Build (getting the body tuned for aerobic delivery) and Peak/Race (getting the body adjusted to compete at maximum effort). Finally, there are varying patterns or rhythms in each of the periods. Each phase is broken down into three to four week segments of F/D/I/V leading to a rest week or easy week. There are also blocks, of which can be several, marked by these rest weeks. The Base phase can be up to 24 weeks lending itself to 6 blocks. How these phases and blocks are built depend on working backwards from an event or race date selected in the year. We call these in triathlon; our "A" Races. Once you know these dates you then can determine the time to begin training, and build the plan for a successful event.
| Phase | How long? | Frequency | Duration | Intensity | Volume |
| Prep | 4-8 weeks | High | Short-Medium | Very little | Low |
| Base | 12-24 weeks | High | Medium-High | Moderate | Moderate/High |
| Build | 4-8 weeks | Moderate-High | High | Heavy | Moderate |
| Peak/Race | 3-5 weeks | Moderate | Short | Heavy | Low |
Now imagine for a moment how one could be successful at any other endeavor if this same approach we taken to business or education. A rhythm within a family... an opportunity to set goals and plan an intentional process to reach those goals! Just think how often we set goals and just work as hard as we can leading up toward them hoping we've done enough!
If you're a triathlete... you would do well to have a period every now and then. If you're not a triathlete or an athlete, ask yourself, "Would I benefit from a plan for success?" You'd have to agree: We all need one... period!
