Macrocycles

A macrocycle is the longest planning block in a periodised training plan, usually a season or a full training year, built around one main goal.

Definition

A “macrocycle” is the largest unit of a training plan. It typically spans a full training year, a season, or a clearly delimited half-season, and is built around one or a few main goals.

Within the macrocycle, training phases are ordered so that fitness peaks at the main event. The macrocycle is divided into several mesocycles, which in turn are divided into microcycles. Together these three levels form the structure of a periodised plan.

Level	Typical duration	Controls
Macrocycle	3–12 months	Season goal, order of phases
Mesocycle	3–6 weeks	Training emphasis
Microcycle	5–10 days	Load and recovery in detail

Why it matters

Without a macrocycle, training becomes a string of good individual sessions with no direction. Only the long horizon makes it possible to build a base before adding specific intensity.

In multi-year planning, the rough shape of a macrocycle repeats year after year while the level shifts upward. With several key races in one year, the season is split into two or three shorter macrocycles, each with its own build and taper.

How obseed measures it

obseed models the macrocycle as the frame in which planned and completed load are compared. The inputs are weekly training volume in hours and the Training Stress Score (TSS) per session, aggregated into Chronic Training Load (CTL) and Acute Training Load (ATL).

The CTL curve across the macrocycle shows whether the base actually grew. A CTL peak that arrives too early means fitness will fade before the main race. The phases inside the macrocycle are defined from the thresholds measured in metabolic testing, not from estimated field-test values, so that intensity distribution over the months rests on real data.

Example

An athlete plans an Ironman on 5 July. Her macrocycle starts on 1 November and lasts 35 weeks.

Phase	Weeks	Volume per week	Emphasis
Preparation	1–4	6–8 h	Technique, strength, easy base
Base 1	5–14	9–12 h	Fat metabolism, volume
Base 2	15–22	12–15 h	Near-threshold work, long sessions
Specific	23–31	14–17 h	Race pace, brick sessions
Taper	32–35	15 → 7 h	Reduction, freshness

Over this progression the CTL rises from about 40 to a peak of 110 in week 31 and drops to around 90 during the taper. The timing of that CTL peak, four weeks before the race, is the central control variable of the whole macrocycle.

References

Bompa, T. O. & Haff, G. G.: “Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training”.