Reverse Periodization

Triathlon Forum
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My season has ended, and I am currently on hiatus from structured training. However, I find myself thinking of how to begin planning for the next couple of seasons. I’m at a point in my life where time has really become a premium. The following factors are taking precedence in my life, and will continue to do so over the next several years:

  1. I want to continue racing primarily Ironman (next planned is 2007) and Half Ironman races
  2. My wife is not happy with training weeks that reach as high as 20 hours;
  3. We are trying to start a family;
  4. I need to devote more off time business development

All of this leads me to the conclusion that I need to try a “less is more” approach like that advocated by Michael McCormick’s M2 coaching system. That said, I have not been able to convince my wife that I should be able to spend the $ to hire Michael as a coach.

I’ve read his articles several times. I understand the basic philosophy. However, I have no idea how to go about structuring a year-long plan to implement that philosophy. How are the training phases laid out? How does one assess what intensities he/she should be focusing on in a given week? What’s the progression of the plan? Suggested lengths of phases?

The tradition periodization plan seems fairly simple. First, prepare for base and establish your baseline fitness metrics. Second, work on you base, keeping the intensities fairly low, and steadily move up your volume. Third, use the build period to increase intensity and build speed while moderating volume. Finally, peak with low volume and high intensity.

But, how does the reverse periodization schedule look? Any help would be appreciated, and I’ll be glad to furnish additional information as needed.

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Check out a book called “Maximum Performance for Cyclists” by Dr. Michael Ross. It doesn’t address running or swimming, but since cycling takes up the bulk of your training time, it should help. It seems like his training theories run pretty parallel to MM in terms of intensity over long slow distance. Ross goes into the exercise physiology and research that backs up his theories. He then goes into his workouts in more detail before laying out a full plan of 25 to 30 weeks or so. I haven’t actually gone through a whole season using this plan, so I can’t speak for how it works.

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Many thanks.

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What’s commonly known here on ST as “reverse periodization” doesn’t have to do with doing more intensity and less volume.

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i’ve had m2 as a coach. save yourself some money and hire the smartasscoach.

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Thanks, SAC. That’s why the post talks about the approach used by M2… which implements the “reverse periodization” theory.

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Did you search ST for that? There’s been a lot of talk about it, Francois wrote a lot about it.

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I did search Slowtwitch. Undoubtedly, Francois is quite knowledgeable about the whole subject, but these kinds of posts:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=455035;search_string=reverse%20periodization;#454819

aren’t particularly helpful. I’m looking for the “Idiot’s Guide to Planning Your IM Training Schedule on 10 hours/week.” I don’t expect to do a sub-10 IM with this kind of training. I just want to be able to keep doing this kind of racing, and to maximize my potential while training less so that I can fit other life obligations into a 24 hour day.

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If there was such things as those “Idiot guides”, then any idiot could be a good coach… that ain’t the case.

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You are REALLY aptly named, SAC. Thank you for your contributions. You’ve been most helpful.

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What I mean to tell you is that it’s NOT easy. You have to do the work, there are no recipes. Training is not about recipes.

I’ve re-read that thread, I thought Francois was very clear on the whole concept. If you go and do your homework, you can figure it out.

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Maybe this will help a little. It can at least help you justify smaller more intense workouts. :slight_smile:

A few 30 second sprints as beneficial as hour long jog
June 1, 2005

Hamilton, ON - Just six minutes of intense exercise a week could be as effective as an hour of daily moderate activity suggests new findings from researchers at McMaster University.

“Short bouts of very intense exercise improved muscle health and performance comparable to several weeks of traditional endurance training,” says Martin Gibala, an associate professor in the department of kinesiology of McMaster.

The research, which is published in the June edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, found that performing repeated bouts of high-intensity “sprint”-type exercise resulted in profound changes in skeletal muscle and endurance capacity, similar to training that requires hours of exercise each week.

The study was conducted on 16 subjects: eight who performed a two-week sprint interval training program and eight who did no exercise training. The training program consisted of between four and seven 30-second bursts of “all out” cycling followed by four minutes of recovery three times a week for two weeks. Researchers found that endurance capacity in the sprint group increased on average from 26 minutes to 51 minutes, whereas the control group showed no change. The muscles of the trained group also showed a significant increase in citrate synthase, an enzyme that is indicative of the tissue’s ability to utilize oxygen.

“Sprint training may offer an option for individuals who cite “lack of time” as a major impediment to fitness and conditioning,” said Gibala. “This type of training is very demanding and requires a high level of motivation, however less frequent, higher intensity exercise can indeed lead to improvements in health and fitness."

McMaster University, named Canada’s Research University of the Year by Research InfoSource, has world-renowned faculty and state-of-the-art research facilities. McMaster’s culture of innovation fosters a commitment to discovery and learning in teaching, research and scholarship. Based in Hamilton, the University has a student population of more than 23,000 and more than 112,000 alumni in 128 countries.

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Point taken. Thanks again.

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If you go and do your homework, you can figure it out.

dude, were you ever a math teacher? You sound like math teachers I had :slight_smile:

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LOL… no, only Fluid Mechanics… I coach math teachers, does that count? :-p

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I’m in the same boat as you though family is already started…wife is unhappy at less than 20 hours - a lot less…

I’d keep it simple - I’d also not worry so much about phases - I like to race most of the year -my hours and work vary from month to month - I just do what I can.

I think 10 hours is plenty for off-season- if you swim o.k. - I’d just bike about 6 hours and run about 4 hours per week. I’d do mostly “quality” work-outs - 1 “LT” type per week - 1 “Big gear” - 1 a bit longer (2 hours - at IM- half IM pace). A power meter would be nice - then you could do LT at oly+ watts (90-100% FT), Big gear at or a bit under half IM watts (80-85% FT), 2 hour ride at about 70-80% FT.

Run frequently - 5-6x - 1 longer at maybe 90 minutes - rest 30-45. Maybe run faster once a week. Strides once/week.

Swim - don’t swim until about 3 months out from a big race. If you are a weak swimmer - then swim 30-45 min 2x/week and work on form year round.

3-4 months from a key race - you’ll have to start doing more race specific training - i.e. longer bikes and for a full IM - longer runs. You’d have to bump your volume to the 12-15 hour range for a couple 4 week cycles - taper - race. Should work fine…

Some say its complicated - maybe it is…others say make a basic week structure and repeat…

Train, have fun, stay balanced, avoid injury - be consistent and racing will take care of itself…

Dave

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Dave:

Thanks for the guidance. See SAC? Was that so hard?

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Have a look at http://www.cruciblefitness.com/coaching/index.htm.

Rich has a good idea about training time limited athletes. If you want to be self coached then you can buy a plan for a fixed amount. His power based plans are very good (get a PM if you don’t have one).

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Yes, to me it is extremely hard to give one-size-fits-all training guidelines.