periodization

Science on Sunday: Effectiveness of Reverse vs. Traditional Linear Training Periodization in Triathlon

Traditionally periodisation (I use the English spelling of Periodisation in the article but when I’m quoting or referencing the original article I’m using the American spelling of the authors) for endurance athletes follows a linear type approach with the introduction of volume over time with intensity added later into the programme. I thought this would be an interesting article to look at the different approaches and the results.

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Auburn Sprint Set

Saturday Swim Session: Auburn Sprint Set

A session packed full of sprints can really build your VO2 max and tolerance of lactic acid later in the session. This session has been designed for swimmers and triathletes returning to the pool who are wanting to further develop their technique.

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Fartlek Workout

Friday Fartlek Run: Amanda’s Hills For Breakfast

Hill reps are a great way to build fitness. They are great for developing strength within ligaments and tendons but also muscular strength. The intensity run will also help to develop your VO2 max. As such this session is great for runners and triathletes of all distances, but especially for events which are 5 to 10km long.

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Windtrainer Session

Wednesday Windtrainer Workout: Triathlon Taren’s FTP Building Strength Ride

Tempo training is a great training tool and when done at a low cadence will help build strength. This type of training will benefit longer more sustained efforts road cyclists that will attempt to break away for a solo ride to victory, half Ironman and Ironman distance athletes, as well as Mountain Bikers doing longer events.

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Plyometric Training for Running

Science on Sunday: The Effect of Plyometric Training on Distance Running Performance

It is well known that VO2 max is a critical component in determining the ability of a runner, but Running Economy (RE) is equally as important and this has been shown many times before. The more economical you are the less energy you expend to run at any given pace. It has been hypothesised that plyometric training can improve your Running Economy (RE).

View More Science on Sunday: The Effect of Plyometric Training on Distance Running Performance
Swim Session

Saturday Swim Session: Swim Pyramid

The best part of this session is that it gets faster as you work your way through it. The end arrives very qwikly, as you work your way through the sets. This is a great session for triathletes and open water swimmers to do to build their sustained speed.

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Farltek Workout

Friday Fartlek Run: Gareth’s 30min Lockdown Speed Session

I needed to develop a short, intense session for an athlete due to the position they have found themselves in due to changes in COVID-19 restrictions where they live. This session targets VO2 max intensity with very limited Rest Intervals (RI). This session is great to build your top end intensity. This is a great session for all runners and triathletes with limited time to train especially those running events between 5km & half marathon.

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Cycling

Wednesday Windtrainer Workout: Gareth’s 30min Lockdown Power Workout

I needed to develop a short, intense session for an athlete due to the position they have found themselves in due to changes in COVID-19 restrictions where they live. This session targets VO2 max intensity with very limited Rest Intervals (RI). This session is great to build your top end intensity but also your ability to turn on the intensity with limited recovery and is great for both road cyclists and triathletes, as well as mountain biking.

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Monitoring Overtraining

Science on Sunday: Monitoring Overtraining in Athletes

Overtraining is a common issue with Endurance Athletes. In an attempt to get better, athletes train harder and/or longer, but not necessarily more beneficial. This is a summary of an article by Sue Hooper and Laurel Mackinnon in the journal Sports Medicine.

View More Science on Sunday: Monitoring Overtraining in Athletes