Peaks and Troughs
N.B. The following is intended as guidance only and should be treated as such. Any actions you take are entirely at your own risk.
Introduction
This article is designed to discuss various training phases and the theory and practicalities of training and peaking for a specific event. Club riders are prone to overtraining and racing. They may be fit ALL season and go well but if they planned their season and training better, could they improve in the events that really matter to them? The answer is probably yes.
What does Peaking mean?
If you imagine your seasons fitness is to be plotted on a graph. A lot of riders will have an increase in form early on in the year, and then it will stay constant or even taper off for the rest of the season. Would you give up some of that core fitness which might allow a better performance at, say, a Championship race or that local RR you've always wanted to win? Of course you would. Peaking is a term that refers to a peak performance at targeted events. It is impossible to maintain peak performance throughout the season so if we use the graph analogy of your fitness, we'd see peaks and troughs in the graph. 4 peaks = 4 events, simple isn't it? But how do you attain peak performance?
N.B. The following is intended as guidance only and should be treated as such. Any actions you take are entirely at your own risk.
Introduction
This article is designed to discuss various training phases and the theory and practicalities of training and peaking for a specific event. Club riders are prone to overtraining and racing. They may be fit ALL season and go well but if they planned their season and training better, could they improve in the events that really matter to them? The answer is probably yes.
What does Peaking mean?
If you imagine your seasons fitness is to be plotted on a graph. A lot of riders will have an increase in form early on in the year, and then it will stay constant or even taper off for the rest of the season. Would you give up some of that core fitness which might allow a better performance at, say, a Championship race or that local RR you've always wanted to win? Of course you would. Peaking is a term that refers to a peak performance at targeted events. It is impossible to maintain peak performance throughout the season so if we use the graph analogy of your fitness, we'd see peaks and troughs in the graph. 4 peaks = 4 events, simple isn't it? But how do you attain peak performance?
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Fig 1 - Typical, No peak performance all season, just fit |
Fig 2 - Peaking, Fitter and Faster when it matters |
Training Phases
To understand peaking, its important to understand and identify the Training phases you will go through as you attain peak fitness.
Base Training - This is the cornerstone of your season. Everything is built on base fitness, it gives you a solid foundation on which to build power and speed. You will maintain base training as a major part of you training regime throughout the year. Most of your winter should have been tailored for base training. See the article Building the Base for more information on this.
Intensity - This is the period where you train and use races to allow the body to adapt to the intensity of the discipline you will be riding at your targeted event. Races at this level are used for training effect, wins come as a bonus but shouldn't be expected.
Peaking - A period of 4 - 6 weeks where your training becomes very specific to the event you are targetting. It should gradually overload and fatigue the body and if continued would be unsustainable.
Tapering - A period of 1 -3 weeks where you taper off the volume and/or frequency of training so you minimize fatigue without compromising fitness. It is during this period your body's adaptations to the training will bring about performance gains and peak fitness.
Post-Event - Post event its important the body rests, so depending on when the next target is, you will resume training frequency but intensity is much lower until you begin the cycle again.
How do I Peak?
Thats the $64000 question isn't it? The problem here is there are so many variables. Different riders of different fitness levels riding different events at different levels. What we can do is give you some guidelines to follow which would probably suit most and you take and tailor them for yourself.
- Goal Setting. Which event(s) do you want to target? Be realistic here, you can't win them all but you can definitely shine in some. Do some simple maths. March - October is an 8 month season x 4 wks per month = 32 weeks. Say 5-6 weeks to peak + post-event rest (2-3 weeks), you've probably got a max of 4 events in a season you can truly peak for.
- Base, Base, Base. Never stop doing it. Don't know what to do one free afternoon?...do some base.
- Train to race, race to train. An old saying in cycling but true. You will only peak if you use racing as part of your training. This is the Intensity training phase. But dont fall into the trap of expecting to win. Sitting in the bunch for the sprint in a RR is no good. You should be racing yourself into the ground. Attacking, chasing down breaks, if you get dropped so what?..its good training!
- Intervals. Use a progressive program of mid-week intervals over a period of 4-5 weeks prior to your taper down. These should be excessively demanding, designed to produce a benefit in the discipline you are targeting. During this period you will overload BUT NOT fatigue yourself. Critical you rest and pay attention to your legs.
- Taper Down. Taper down your training volume by 30% in wk1 and then 50% in wk2 but maintain training intensity. This should minimize fatigue without compromising fitness.
- Post-Event. Spend a week or 2, mentally recovering aswell as physically. Back to base training.
Thats a general look at how to peak, its important if you undertake this type of training you talk to a coach. They can tailor a program specifically for your needs.
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