For years riders have blindly followed traditional training structures without questioning whether or not this was the optimal or most effective way of doing things. In recent years, this has begun to change, with more and more riders and coaches utilising alternative approaches, such as reverse, or block periodisation. We have covered reverse periodisation in depth before, and have utilised it to great effect in our Winter Blueprint coaching system. In this blog we are going to discuss block or “front loaded” periodisation, and how it can be applied to your training.
Front loaded periodisation differs from traditional training methodologies as the majority of the intense training sessions planned for a training block are “front loaded” into the first week of training, as opposed to the traditional method of spreading them evenly throughout the block. What this looks like in practical terms is five high intensity sessions performed in the first week of a block, and one high intensity session a week for the next three weeks, with the remainder of training performed in Z1//Z2.
This approach has been shown to be hugely effective, and studies have shown it to be significantly more effective than traditional training methods. This can be a hard realisation for many athletes to make, as it seems like a radical departure from the norm. However the research doesn’t lie, front loaded training is simply more effective than traditional methods. There are a number of caveats however. Care must be taken during the hard training week to ensure that an athlete does everything they can to optimise their recovery, as there is a higher risk of injury and overtraining during this week.
Fatigue will be high as the athlete approaches the latter high intensity sessions, and this fatigue will lead to sessions feeling much harder, and reduced power output for high intensity efforts. You may think that this would lead to reduced adaptations, however the research has shown otherwise. Most riders have experienced fatigue and reduced power output towards the end of a stage race or training camp, and have also experienced the big bump in fitness they receive following a period of recovery afterwards. This is further evidence of the benefits of “front loaded” training, and shows that even when sessions appear to be “lower quality” based off of power numbers, it does not necessarily reduce the adaptations from said sessions, and may in fact increase them.
One aspect of front loaded training that is often overlooked in the scientific literature is the application it has for riders during the race season. Many riders race every weekend, and have trouble balancing their structured sessions midweek with being fresh enough to have an impact on races at the weekend. Front loaded training is the perfect solution for these riders, as after the first week, there is no high intensity training required from them midweek, and a race can serve as the weekly “hard” session. This leads to riders hitting weekend races super fresh and motivated, without compromising training adaptations.
Front loaded training can be a game changer for riders if it implemented effectively. However doing this properly is as much an art as it is a science, and we would advise any riders interested in implementing this in their training, to work with a coach to minimise the risk of injury and ensure that they get the best returns possible from their hard work!
You are upvoted and resteemed by Thank You Bicycle - SteemIt Cycling Community!
It is our mission to spread good vibes of cycling across Steemit. We support you!
Keep those wheels rolling and enjoy the ride!!
If you want to know more about our mission click here.
If you want to join us, click here.
If you do not like our activity, reply with STOP to this and we will leave you alone