Periodization is the process of dividing an annual training plan into specific blocks of time, where each block has a particular goal and provides your body with different types of stress. Some training periods are harder and others easier to allow for recovery. Periodization also develops different energy systems during various phases of training (eg, aerobic, anaerobic, creatine phosphate). Most importantly, periodization is the best way to promote the effect of training, which consists of changes in the cardiopulmonary and musculoskeletal systems that result in increased speed and endurance on the bike. There are 3 basic principles of periodization:
1. The main goal of periodization is to prepare your body for peak performance at a designated time of year.. Want to ride a quick century? Finish in the top 10 in a local race? Perhaps your goal is to set a personal best in your state’s time trial championships. A periodized training program is the most effective way to achieve your goals because it allows you to gradually improve your cycling performance to peak at the biggest events. For example, if your milestone event is in late June, you can develop a training plan that allows you to peak in early summer. If you have multiple milestones during the season, you can design a plan that allows for multiple peaks over a period of several months.
two. Training should progress from the general to the specific through a series of stages. Each stage has a specific purpose. For example, training programs for competitive cyclists are generally divided into four stages: endurance, intensity, competition Y Recovery. The resistance period is the most general of these stages. It usually lasts 12-16 weeks and improves your muscular and aerobic endurance. The endurance phase often includes activities off the bike, such as weight training and long, low-to-moderate intensity rides. The intensity phase, which also lasts 12 to 16 weeks, incorporates training that simulates race conditions. The main goal of this phase is to develop your lactate threshold and aerobic capacity (ie, VO2 max), so that you spend more time doing high-intensity exercises, such as intervals. The competition phase involves racing, the most specific element of training. High-intensity training continues, often in the form of racing. Effective management of the spike process is critical to ensuring you enter key races in top form. Once the competitive season is over, you enter the recovery phase where training activities become more general again (eg, cross-training like running or swimming that aids recovery).
3. The key to successful periodization is to develop specific aspects of fitness during a given phase, while maintaining others developed in earlier phases.. For example, the main goal during the endurance phase is to increase aerobic endurance. So do a lot of long, steady rides at low to moderate intensity. The intensity phase consists of higher intensity wrinkles, but there is no use doing short and hard workouts if your aerobic endurance suffers. Therefore, a well-designed training plan will build on and enhance your development from earlier stages. While much of the intensity stage focuses on developing speed and the ability to pedal at a relatively high intensity, it also includes some long, steady rides at lower intensities to maintain the aerobic fitness developed in the endurance stage . Rather, training done in later stages is possible because of the foundation created in earlier stages. Without the aerobic training of the endurance stage, the high-intensity training of the intensity and competition stages would be ineffective. This pyramid approach is what allows you to gradually peak at the most desirable time of year.