Block Periodization:Rocket-Boost for Your Training

Yeah, it has been a while since I last posted, but, you know,  who cares? It's quality over quantity anyway...right? Never mind. In any case, I'm back to talk about a couple things. First off, on the training science side, I've been experimenting with a scary sounding training method called Block Periodization...drum roll please. This is a training method that has been around for a while in the strength sports community, you know, fat guys throwing around obscene amounts of weight while the crowd goes wild...(yaaaaaawwwwnnn). No matter its somewhat dubious origins, this technique has been gaining ground rapidly in the endurance community, first with cross-country skiers and now with cyclists. In fact, it is Team Sky, surprise surprise, that have taken the most to this revolutionary concept. Though, really, it's not all that revolutionary. All it entails is performing 3-4 "blocks" of focused training of a particular zones of fitness, and working one of them on consecutive days until exhaustion instead of going through strictly defined periods of Base, Build, Peak, Race, and Recovery. You then reduce training load, (volume and/or intensity), until ready for the next block. Ideally you would do 3-4 blocks of training on the same zone before repeating the cycle on the next higher zone. So for instance, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, you do 2-3 hours of zone 2 endurance rides. Then on Thursday, you start your ride, but the legs just aren't there, and you struggle to hold that power/heart rate, so, wisely, you decide to complete all of the volume since you have the time, but reduce the intensity to zone 1 to speed along recovery. Friday you take completely off, maybe doing some light crosstraining to stay loose, and Saturday, you head out to see how you feel. You don't feel quite that sharp, even after 20 minutes of endurance riding, so you do the same thing as on Thurday, a longish recovery ride. The key thing to note in this description is that the basis of Block Periodization is the rider/runner's ability to recognize his/her state of recovery. It is crucial that one, the athlete actually pushes themselves to exhaustion not only on every workout, but in every training block; and two, that they enter each block completely recovered, but close enough to the last block that they didn't lose any fitness. This isn't so hard with zones 2 and 3, as recovery is usually pretty quick, but in the higher zones, being able to differentiate tightness and fatigue is crucial. There are two ways to do this. The first is only of use to those who use a power meter. If you get started and see that you can't sustain a minimum power output for an endurance zone (2,3) for the same amount of time that you had for the past few days of training, or, for the higher zones, that you can't sustain a certain minimum power output for the goal time on the third interval, you know you're done. (I'll include a link to the website that gives detailed instructions on the minimums for the intervals, it's a little involved). The second second way is a bit more subjective, but should be combined with the first if possible. If you get out on the road and the legs feel heavy and/or achy, ride/run at a high endurance pace for 20-30 minutes for the bike, 10-15 minutes for runners, including a few hard bursts. If this doesn't clear the legs, or at least allow you to hit and sustain your goal pace/heart rate, you know you're done.
I like Block Periodization for a few reasons. First of all, I have seen massive gains in a short period of time using it, compared to the old methods. I mean, 30 watts higher FTP in 3 weeks of training, compared to twelve weeks for similar gains previously? Secondly, it forces the athlete to be more aware of the messages that his/her body is sending, which is a crucial skill to master, especially in this day and age of data and number-crunching; which, by the way, I am one of the number-crunchers by nature. Thirdly, it allows much more flexibility in an athlete's schedule, making it easier to adapt to illness/injury or an unexpected period of free time. Finally, it just makes sense. To get any form of adaption, the athlete must overload the system that they want to train. It follows that the best way to do that, is to completely overload it, instead of slowly applying the pressure and then backing off when there might not have been enough pressure applied, and then only wait long enough for the body to "catch up" before overloading the fitter system again, boosting it to another level. This is why I have made Block Periodization the foundation of my coaching philosophy. If you would like to try it out, feel free to contact me .


Here are the links to external sources and guides:
Vladimir Issurin's Summary of Block Periodization
Guide on Power Based Training
Guidelines on Intervals to exhaustion:

The "Off-Season"

Well, that's where we crazy summer sports people are right now, right? This is the time of year that we gain all that weight that we fought so hard to lose the whole summer, right? Time to recover and unwind, maybe finally let that broken collarbone heal, let the crazy weirdo tan lines slowly fade into the winter's paleness. Well, that's the commonly held conception of this time of year. In reality it's anything but.
That doesn't keep the hardest of us off the bike though. I mean, we real cyclists are like, "what's this off-season thing everyone's talking about? I've certainly never heard of it before," and put our heads down and ride on through the snow and endless hours of archived race footage on the trainer. After all, you start winning that national championship at 4 am in your garage on New Year's.
And speaking of the Holidays, don't you dare touch that poison that everyone else calls pie, or gravy, or, the poison of all poisons, egg-nog! After all, the only reason all of your sane family and friends are trying to have you trade your turkey with no toppings and tub of fat free, sugar free yogurt for the contents of the piled platters is to fatten you up. Let us dwell for a minute on the ramifications of accepting the offers of "good cheer." Imagine, your body fat percentage might, I can hardly say it, spike from 7.22% to 7.23%! This would add a whopping .01 kilograms to your already almost overweight body. What would this do to your performance? The results are horrific to say the least. Your functional threshold power to weight ratio would drop from 3.11543 W/Kg to 3.11540 W/Kg, almost .2 seconds loss over 40 km!!!Horrible to say the least.
I sincerely hope, fellow psycho cyclists, that you see the sarcasm in the preceding paragraph. If you missed it, you have a dark, lonely, and very short future on two wheels; don't expect Santa Claus arrive on your doorstep with that sweet pair of Zipp Firecrest 80mm wheels on Christmas. If you did indeed miss it, take a small piece of advice. Realize that there is in fact no such thing as a completely off season, but there is a period of rest and recuperation during the Fall and maybe early Winter. Does this mean you have to swear off the bike and take to the couch, absolutely not. What it does mean, though, is that you need to step back from that addictive speed machine, and relearn what it means to enjoy the simple things of life, like good egg-nog. Just don't forget to start winning the national championships afterwards. Trust me, your power to weight ratio will be brushing 4 W/Kg by time the actual race rolls around if you heed my words of wisdom. And while you're at it, check out this list of the best indoor cycles to help you achieve those massive numbers. http://www.reviews.com/exercise-bikes/spinning/