The progressive overload as part of a periodization plan

As a cyclist, I used to train hard every day. I was just tagging along with the men's team and hoping for the best. I used to peak randomly, somewhere in the middle of the season but at the end of the season, when the National Championships were taking place, I was dead tired, dragging my feet on the pedals trying to push through my heavy legs. Agh!

A simplified view of the overload training period as part of a periodization plan

As a triathlete now, I had the chance to experience a periodization plan with specific training periods, tailored exactly for my level and ability: base, transition, overload, (taper), race, and rest for the following season. It is hard - and probably boring - to give you all the details behind each period, and I am actually not qualified to do so, but here is a summary and a simplified scheme to help you get into the idea behind my training plan.

Base: long, comfy, steady pace miles and weight-lifting.Transition

Overload period:
racing with tired legs and
a screamingly achy body!

: cross-fit type of exercises that prepare your neuro-muscular system for fast paced challenges. Overload: progressive training overload in volume and intensity. This is a step-wise process of putting stress on the body. The week-to-week or month-to-month progress is not linear, there are some intermediate peaks, which eventually lead to a max peak at the end during the goal-race of the year.

The real progress though - the one that you actually feel yourself as an athlete - does not happen at the top race of the season as much as at the beginning of the following season. After adequate Rest between the two seasons, and right at the beginning of the new season, you feel like you have stepped up 10 staircases in fitness and strength compared to the beginning of the previous season. You are stronger, you have more endurance, you are just a different athlete! So, you start off the new season with a new plan, an up-scaled plan.

Warming up for weight lifting after the rest of the year.
Bigger, stronger muscles. A completely different athlete

This kind of training is not easy from the coach's perspective as it is highly tailored to the athlete. The coach not only has to go by the numbers (tests that assess power, endurance, VO2 max, economy, etc.) but also has to have a "feel for the athlete" in order to adjust and change the plan effectively on the fly.

This is not easy for the athlete either.

I found lots of things very hard to implement during my first season. First, the base period (i.e. go slow now, get fast later). Then, I had to swallow the fact that my plan was set to peak only for one race: I am a competitor and I wanted to win every time I raced! Instead, I had to learn that physiologically, nobody can race at their personal best at each and every one of the 20 or so races of the year). The hardest thing to digest though was the overload period. During that period - somewhere in the second half of the season - I was really really tired, my body was aching, my legs were screaming, and I had to race and push through it. Not fun but really truly beneficial!


If you are interested in learning more about the periodization plan, Scott Powers (PhD in Physiology and distinguished professor at the University of Florida)
has pioneered the concept of periodization with one of the most commonly used books in exercise physiology/kinesiology university departments across the country:
"Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance"