Training Plans

Question 1

You should consider the following six factors when developing a training plan.

Answer 1

The athlete’s most important race (distance and location)
Athlete availability/schedule
Athlete experience level
Physiological makeup of the athlete (baseline)
Athlete limiters (physiological capabilities, injury, time, social support, etc.)
Race performance goals and reasons for participating in the race

Question 2

Swimming Evaluation Form

Answer 2

Coaches can use the swimming evaluation form to gather the following information.

Swimming equipment and access to swimming (limited access could lead to adjustment in goals and/or objectives)
Level of comfort
Training history
Medical history
Stroke form analysis (results and limiters to address)
Fitness test results

Question 3

Biking Evaluation Form

Answer 3

Coaches can use the biking evaluation form to gather the following information.

Training and triathlon history
Medical history
Equipment (current and desired)
Handling skills assessment
Bike fit analysis
Pedal stroke analysis
Fitness analysis

Question 4

Running Evaluation Form

Answer 4

Coaches can use the running evaluation form to gather this information.

Equipment
Level of skill (self-assessment)
Training history
Medical history
Fitness analysis
Gait analysis

Question 5

Strength and Conditioning Evaluation Form

Answer 5

Coaches can use the strength and conditioning evaluation form to conduct the following screenings.

Static postural screening

Dynamic movement screening
Overhead squat screening
Single-leg screening

Core muscle endurance screening

Question 6

Physiological Factors

Answer 6

Coaches should consider the following physiological factors.

Athlete age
Discipline specific capabilities (swim, bike, run)
Biomotor abilities (endurance, strength, speed)
Fitness level
Endurance race history (triathlons, marathons, bike races)
Medical history (heart condition, history of stress fractures, injuries)

Question 7

Sociological Factors

Answer 7

Sociological factors might also be referred to as lifestyle factors and can include the following aspects.

Number of hours (on average) available for training
Occupation
Professional and personal obligations
Family, social support and relationships
Athlete’s daily routine, including the hours available during each day of the week for exercising
Finances
Travel

Question 8

Psychological Factors

Answer 8

Psychological factors include, but are not limited to, the following aspects.

Confidence
Self-awareness
Motivation
Ability to focus
Performance under pressure
Approach to challenges
Locus of control (belief in extent to which they have control)

Question 9

Addressing Limiters

Answer 9

Whatever an athlete’s limiters are, the training plan should reflect those areas needing additional work. If the limiter is one of the disciplines (e.g. swimming) coaches should indicate these sessions as a priority.

If something is of higher priority, athletes should dedicate their best (i.e., freshest) time to that priority. For example, if running is a limiter, and the athlete is scheduled for both a swim and a run on the same day, schedule the run when the athlete is at their best.

Coaches may also opt to add an additional training session for discipline-specific limiters, depending on the athlete’s available time to train. Drills can be incorporated into any training session to improve sport-specific technique, strength, power, agility, coordination and suppleness.

Question 10

Macrocycle Phases

Answer 10

The Phases
In order to help an athlete peak at the right time and achieve his or her racing goals, the training objectives within the macrocycle shift throughout the course of the training plan.

Preparation Phase
This is when the coach should focus on the athlete’s physiological limiters.
For endurance triathletes, training sessions should emphasize aerobic endurance, muscular strength and technique.

Competition Phase
Training sessions become more about race-pace fitness and perfecting all of the strategies that will lead to a successful race.
To achieve this, the overall training intensity of the sessions increases.

Transition Phase
For many triathletes, this phase is at the end of the race season.
The goal in this phase is to allow time for athletes to physically and mentally rejuvenate. Therefore, this phase is characterized with very low intensity, low volume workload.

Question 11

Adjusting Macrocycle Phase Duration

Answer 11

The total length of the macrocycle, and the length of each of its phases, should be customized based on the following factors.

An athlete’s level of fitness and experience.
The amount of time available to prepare for the A race.
Whether the A race is an IRONMAN or an IRONMAN 70.3.
The number of A races.

Question 12

Beginner (Limited Endurance Experience)

Answer 12

A beginner is an athlete with limited endurance experience. Coaches should encourage beginners to increase the length of their training plans one to two months more than the minimum.

The Preparation phase is typically longer for the beginner athlete than the athlete who already has an endurance foundation. Early weeks focus mostly on endurance and technique. Athletes who are not currently exercising, or exercising very little, will need additional weeks of building endurance prior to starting this phase of training.

Building a good base for endurance and strength will enable athletes to endure more intense training with less risk of injury. However, coaches need to be careful to avoid burning out the beginner athlete by starting off with too high a training volume. Beginners may need to start with extremely short sessions.

Question 13

Intermediate

Answer 13

An intermediate athlete has some experience with endurance events and a solid fitness foundation. Because they have a base fitness level, the intermediate athletes will typically spend less time in the Preparation phase than the beginner athlete.

These athletes may also be able to spend less time tapering before races than beginners.

Question 14

Advanced

Answer 14

An advanced athlete has already developed a strong foundation of fitness and has participated in several endurance triathlons. Advanced athletes have a shorter Preparation phase than beginner and intermediate athletes.

A longer Competition phase is possible for advanced athletes and can allow for dedicating more time to increasing sustainable speed. Overall intensity and load will still need to be managed in order to avoid overtraining.

Question 15

Preparation subphases

Answer 15

General Preparation

The General Preparation subphase may be referred to as the “conditioning” or “base” phase.
The focus of this subphase is on aerobic endurance and building strength.
The training plan should focus on workouts that target the aerobic energy system to improve cardiovascular and muscular training effects and the utilization of carbohydrates and fats.
Athletes will also work to improve technique, form and skills, especially on their physiological limiters.
Resistance training during this phase will help increase muscle recruitment and strength, and prepare the athlete for higher volume and intensity work.

Specific Preparation
Specific preparation is where athletes start to integrate race-specific training.
The focus shifts to more threshold training to build sustainable speed and power.
For endurance athletes, volume increases progressively as intensity increases.
Emphasis shifts to the development of specific endurance with the use of sport-specific interval-based training methods. This allows for a transfer of training effects into the Competition phase.
Athletes can start to use races to provide feedback about their preparedness for competition.
Coaches should evaluate race results and testing data, and modify training plans based on the quantitative and qualitative feedback.

Question 16

Competition Phase

Answer 16

Muscular Endurance and Power
For endurance athletes, being able to compete at race pace doesn’t just mean getting faster; it means building sustainable speed (anaerobic endurance) and power.

Pre-Competition subphase
The Pre-competition subphase can include races or race simulations.
To allow for B races, the coach should manipulate training volume (frequency and duration) and intensity before and after the race.

Competition subphase
During the Main Competition subphase, the coach should develop training plans that maintain or continue to improve on the athlete’s performance by using sport-specific training activities (such as bricks), technical and tactical exercises, and through the use of simulated training sessions and B priority races.

Question 17

Define Competition Schedule

Answer 17

B and C Events
The coach and athlete should evaluate any other races or training events that will occur during the overall training schedule.
As previously mentioned, these secondary races are referred to as B and C races.

How Many? How Often?
Too much high-intensity training can lead to injury or burnout, regardless of the experience level of the athlete.
To determine how often an athlete should compete, the coach and athlete should compare the athlete’s list of desired races and events to the training plan to see where they fit in.

Adding and Limiting Races
If an athlete is struggling after a few events, coaches may suggest eliminating some of the B or C races and focusing only on those that support the primary goal.

Question 18

Transition Phase

Answer 18

The Transition phase of the macrocycle is typically used for vacations, active recovery, participating in other sports, resistance training to recover muscular strength and weight gain to recover pounds lost during endurance training.
As previously mentioned, this period may be scheduled between macrocycles within a race season, or at the end of the race season.
If athletes initiate a new Preparation phase without properly and fully recovering, it’s likely that performance will be impaired and the risk of injury will increase.

Question 19

Purpose of Mesocycles

Answer 19

Mesocycles help manage training load by balancing periods of “loading” with periods of “unloading.”
They allow the coach to plan training for a moderate length of time without investing time and energy into planning too far ahead.

Question 20

Mesocycle Structure

Answer 20

Mesocycles can be as short as two microcycles, but are usually three to six microcycles in length.
Three week mesocycles are typical, and are comprised of two microcycles of loading and one microcycle of unloading.

Question 21

Establishing Volume

Answer 21

1. Volume = frequency x duration.
   If Janet runs twice a week, for 60 minutes each session, her run volume is 120 minutes.
   For ease of planning, in this course, total volume of training will be expressed in hours.
2. Determine the maximum number of hours an athlete will need to train on the highest volume weeks of training to achieve his or her goals.
3. Once the coach and athlete have established the maximum training volume, the next step is to determine the initial training volume.
   More advanced athletes who are coming out of a transition period where they have been active should be able to start at a higher volume than a novice.
4. A common question is “How much can a coach increase in volume per microcycle?”
   The more time an athlete has from the start date of her training to the competition date, the more gradual the progression can be to reach the maximum volume of training.
   Athletes with advanced fitness levels can progress to the maximum volume in less time.
5. Once the maximum training volume and initial training volume are documented on the training plan, the coach should document the training volume (in hours) for each microcycle.

Question 22

Training Session Frequency and Duration

Answer 22

1. Key Training Sessions
   At a minimum, for each discipline, athletes should have one key higher intensity training session and a key endurance session per microcycle. In this example, the three Zone 3 sessions on Tuesday-Thursday are the higher intensity sessions and the longer duration sessions on Friday-Sunday are the key endurance sessions.

Optional training sessions will be scheduled based the athlete’s needs and constraints, such as disciplines needing improvement, time availability and level of experience. In addition, strength and conditioning sessions will be included.

The frequency of training sessions can vary between microcycles depending on the needs of the athlete. Since Janet is starting out at 10 hours per week, she has enough time to complete one key higher intensity session and a key endurance session for each sport, as well as some supporting sessions. Two sessions for strength training will also be included.
2. Frequency
The frequency (or number) of sessions is again dependent on the:

Athlete’s experience and fitness level.
Amount of time available to train.
Sport-specific limiters that may need to be addressed.
Phase in the training plan.
3. Duration
The overall duration of each discipline will be determined when scheduling the microcycle training sessions. Typically, more time is dedicated to cycling because it is the discipline that will take the most time to complete in the IRONMAN or IRONMAN 70.3.

Duration can also be determined based on key sessions and the athlete’s needs and limiters. What’s important is that athletes train at a volume that develops resiliency in tendons and ligaments, improves range of motion, and increases muscular elasticity & strength, so that they are prepared for higher intensity training sessions.

Question 23

Establishing Training Intensity

Answer 23

Exercise intensity is directly related to oxygen consumption and can be measured using a variety of variables including heart rate, perceived exertion, power, pace etc.

Question 24

Scheduling Intensity: Preparation Phase

Answer 24

1. Building Endurance Base
   The goal in the General Preparation subphase is to build an endurance base and to train the body to utilize fats as the primary source of fuel via the aerobic pathway. Volume is the primary source of training load. Therefore, in this subphase, overall intensity is low to medium (Zone 2-3), but this does NOT mean that these training sessions will only emphasize endurance.
2. Variations of Stress
   Higher intensity work can be introduced fairly early in the Preparation phase. Some variance in stress can be achieved through a variety of cadence and hill work for the bike, strength-related sessions in swim (paddles and buoys), and hill work for run.
3. Training Zones
   Athletes with a lower initial fitness level will spend a majority of the General Prep sub-phase in Zone 2 and move into Zone 3 for the Specific Preparation sub-phase.

Athletes with higher fitness levels may have a shorter General Preparation sub-phase, if any, and can maintain an average intensity in Zones 3 for this entire phase.

Question 25

Scheduling Intensity: Competition Phase

Answer 25

Under most training philosophies, intensity typically peaks during the Competition phase.
The longer the duration of the goal event, and the lower the fitness level, the more time the athlete should train in Zone 3 during the Competition phase.
As the intermediate athlete advances to the Competition phase, the intensity, on average, will move toward Zones 3-4.
In this phase, intensity of training sessions will increase by shortening the recovery between intervals, and sustaining a higher steady state intensity.

Question 26

Documenting Intensity

Answer 26

Percent intensity bases intensity upon a physiological maximum – it can be either VO2 or percent heart rate reserve, heart rate, perceived exertion, power or some other variable.
Training zones then break that continuum (typically 50-100%) into zones. For this course, we use Zones 1 to 5.
When setting the intensity of the microcycle, it is important to note that these are average intensities based on the key training sessions in the microcycle.

Question 27

Training Load

Answer 27

Training load, or total load, is the numerical expression of stress placed on the body by training.
The goal of training is to elicit stress that brings about physiological change in the body.
This is accomplished by manipulating the training variables of frequency, duration and intensity.
Total load is calculated for the microcycle, and is used to create the complexion of the training sessions that comprise the microcycle.

Question 28

Training Stress: During the Phases

Answer 28

During the Transition phase training stress is low.
During the Preparation phase, training stress increases as volume and intensity rises.
During the Competition phase, stress remains high as the volume and intensity of training peak and undulate relative to competition.

Question 29

Microcycles: Sample Schedules

Answer 29

There are many different ways to structure a microcycle schedule.
A good way to start the process is to use the sample exercise schedule from the athlete questionnaire.
The coach and athlete can work together, fill in the schedule and create a microcycle that works with the athlete’s availability.

Question 30

Microcycles: Scheduling Based On Intensity

Answer 30

Coaches should schedule training sessions by mixing up high and low impact sessions in order to allow the body to recover and adapt.
General guidelines are to allow 24 to 72 hours between high intensity sessions within the same activity, depending the degree of intensity.
Back-to-back high intensity days can be scheduled if they are not in the same discipline, the stress on the athlete is acceptable and the goals of the session are not compromised.

Question 31

General Rules of Thumb for Microcycles

Answer 31

Here are some general rules of thumb to remember as you finish constructing some of Janet’s microcycles.

Follow a heavy-volume day with a lighter volume day.
Follow an overload session with recovery session.
Avoid training that stresses the same energy system(s) on successive days.
Approximately 50% of training time should be recovery activity.
Put at least one rest or active recovery day in every microcycle.

Question 32

Training Objectives - Aerobic Endurance

Answer 32

Athletes will work on this objective throughout their training, beginning with the General Preparation sub-phase. Low- to medium-intensity sessions help the body become more efficient at using fat as an energy source for exercise, which allows muscle and liver glycogen to be used at a slower rate.

Working on this objective prepares the heart, lungs, blood and the muscles’ aerobic enzymes for increased training load.

Question 33

Training Objectives - Technique

Answer 33

Most athletes will work on technique starting in the General Prep phase all the way through Specific Prep. Beginner athletes may need more sessions that feature a technical focus to strengthen form-specific limiters. Technique can be included within a training session using drills or with targeted work during the main set.

Question 34

Strength

Answer 34

Sometimes also referred to as muscular endurance, this training objective is typically introduced toward the end of the General Prep sub-phase and continues through Pre-Competition. Strength sessions often include resistance work, which can include running hills or swimming with paddles. This moderate intensity work can require higher oxygen consumption rates, which can help improve VO2max, vVO2max and lactate-threshold speed.

Question 35

Speed Skills

Answer 35

This training objective is typically introduced toward the end of the Specific Prep phase and continued up until the athlete tapers for his or her A race. It focuses on the optimization of vVO2max as well as the improvement of other performance variables. These sessions will include high intensity interval training that can increase steadily in difficulty, with more and/or longer intervals, over time.

Question 36

Tactics

Answer 36

Tactical training sessions focus on race-specific challenges unique to IRONMAN events. They can include open water swimming where athletes practice sighting or brick sessions where athletes practice changing their movements, body position and muscle groups while transitioning between two of the race disciplines.

Question 37

Power

Answer 37

This objective combines speed and strength. It is usually introduced during Specific Prep and continues up until the taper. Higher intensity tempo/pace work or interval sessions, performed on steeper hills, can be scheduled to help the promotion of fatigue resistance and improve lactate threshold.

Question 38

Creating Individual Sessions

Answer 38

Training sessions typically have three sections: the warm up, the main set and the cool-down.
During the general warm-up, the athlete should participate in activities that elevate muscle and core temperature.
Depending on the coach’s philosophy, some warm-ups may include drills focused on developing technique and sport-specific skills.
The activities that comprise the main section of the training session are determined by the goal of the training session, the discipline and the current training phase.
Coaches also need to consider the athlete’s physical capacity, strengths, limiters and feedback from previous training sessions.

Within each workout, activities will be sequenced based on energy needs and muscle fatigue.
A popular approach is to have athletes build their effort in the second half of the training session to allow the body to adapt and create muscle memory for conditions it will experience during a race.
Increasing the length of rest intervals can decrease the occurrence of latent fatigue.
Incorporate technical skills and technique early in the training session when the athlete is less fatigued.