Came across this infographic, which I thought was elegant in its simplicity and also quite effective in communicating a somewhat complicated topic.
The middle one is the worst. And yet that is the one that I believe is typified by most common training plans, especially the trainingpeaks/TSS model. It "rewards" a lot of "kind of" hard work, and yet I don't think it's actually necessarily indicative of what provides the most effective stimulus. I realize that the TSS model has had a lot of success in cycling, but I think it's a lot less applicable for triathlon, especially because there's really no good way to measure TSS in the pool and because I think it undervalues the impact of easy running, which I think are much more valuable than easy cycling...
The takeaways, in my opinion, are two fold:
- the value of a lot of very consistent but easy training.
- the benefit of only a few very hard sessions.
The ideal mix is a combination of high and low intensity, with only moderate middle intensities. Basically, minimize how much so-called "sweet spot" training you do, because it is not at all the sweet spot...
Credit for the photo goes to Mike Young, PhD on Twitter - @MikeYoung
"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp
The middle one is the worst. And yet that is the one that I believe is typified by most common training plans, especially the trainingpeaks/TSS model. It "rewards" a lot of "kind of" hard work, and yet I don't think it's actually necessarily indicative of what provides the most effective stimulus. I realize that the TSS model has had a lot of success in cycling, but I think it's a lot less applicable for triathlon, especially because there's really no good way to measure TSS in the pool and because I think it undervalues the impact of easy running, which I think are much more valuable than easy cycling...
The takeaways, in my opinion, are two fold:
- the value of a lot of very consistent but easy training.
- the benefit of only a few very hard sessions.
The ideal mix is a combination of high and low intensity, with only moderate middle intensities. Basically, minimize how much so-called "sweet spot" training you do, because it is not at all the sweet spot...
Credit for the photo goes to Mike Young, PhD on Twitter - @MikeYoung
"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp