Block periodization 4/6 weekly quality workout training

Triathlon Forum
1

Found and interesting study about training that follow training progress for an elite cyclist during 1 year with block periodization.
It seems that the athlete do lot of progress with this kind of training.

Quick resume :

  • Each training block contains 4-6 weekly training per intensity zone.
  • Each training block lasted 1-2 weeks
  • In total there were 11 HIT blocks (4-6 weekly HIT sessions), 11 MIT blocks (4-6 weekly MIT sessions), 8 LIT blocks (7-10 weekly LIT sessions) and 19 recovery weeks where the weekly training hours usually ranged between 7 and 10 hours.
  • LIT (intensity zone 1: 60-82% of peak heart rate; HRpeak) and MIT (intensity zone 2: 83- 87% of HRpeak) with approximately 1 weekly HIT (intensity zone 3: 88-100% of HRpeak).

Link is here : https://www.researchgate.net/…_of_an_Elite_Cyclist

Seems pretty interesting, did anyone tested it ? Any feedback about it ?

2

Ronnestad has a few papers on this topic as well as his student Timo Bakken.
Issurin wrote about this in the early 2000’s: https://www.researchgate.net/...ning_theory_A_review
I do think that Issurin’s implementation is a bit different from Ronnestad’s (which I prefer).
This Fast Episode (that I didn’t host) is more geared toward Issurin: https://www.fasttalklabs.com/fast-talk/to-use-or-not-to-use-block-periodization-plans-with-joe-friel/

In my opinion, it can be beneficial - but just like “fasted training” - it’s like playing with fire; people often get burned. Because of this, it’s something that I use sparingly but is almost hard to recommend to others.

I use it in 3 situations

  1. Early Season development of general fitness and physiology
  2. Multi-day athletes (Stage Racers, Ultra-distance riders, etc)(It can really mimic the demands of these events).
  3. Athletes with lives / schedules who cannot consistently maintain volume. (e.g. they can pull off one 14 hr training week a month, but are otherwise limited to 8 to 10 hours).

Keys to success, in my experience

  1. Athletes need to be monitored closely for fatigue
  2. Adequate carbohydrate (on and off bike) and protein needs to be ensured.
  3. For the first round, I do 1 Intense week, 1 volume week, then a recovery week.
  4. Each individual workout in the intensity week is often less stressful than in traditional periodization. We’re focused on the cumulative fatigue of the combination of workouts and going too hard in the first either leads to excess fatigue or a decrease in the quality of subsequent workouts.
  5. I limited total volume during the intensity weeks but push volume during the volume weeks.