Periodisation

Periodisation is the long-term division of training into phases with different emphases so that fitness peaks at the main goal instead of by chance.

Definition

“Periodisation” is the systematic division of training over a longer period into phases, each with its own emphasis. The aim is for fitness to peak at the main event rather than by accident.

Periodisation works with three nested levels: macrocycles (season), mesocycles (training blocks), and microcycles (weeks). It defines which training stimuli are set in which cycle.

Why it matters

The body cannot develop every capacity to its maximum at the same time. Aerobic base, threshold power, and peak power need different stimuli, and some of them compete. Periodisation puts them in a sensible order.

Model	Sequence	Typical use
Classic (linear)	Volume first, intensity later	Long distance, season build from winter
Reverse	Intensity first, volume later	Short preparation window, track cycling
Block	Concentrated blocks of one capacity	Experienced athletes with high training density
Individual	Order set by diagnostics	Athletes with a clearly identified weakness

The individual model is usually the most useful in practice: someone whose spiroergometry shows a high threshold but weak fat metabolism needs a different order than someone with the opposite profile.

How obseed measures it

obseed lays out periodisation as a sequence of phases and links each phase to a target intensity distribution. The zones come from metabolic testing rather than an FTP estimate, because a 20-minute field test can miss the position of the ventilatory thresholds by several percent.

Through Chronic Training Load (CTL), Acute Training Load (ATL), and Training Stress Balance (TSB), obseed checks whether the fitness build follows the plan. Control tests at the end of each phase show whether the thresholds have shifted and the zones for the next phase need adjusting.

Example

A cyclist prepares for a hill-climb race on 20 June. Testing in November shows a first ventilatory threshold at 190 W and a second at 270 W, with maximal fat oxidation at 0.45 g/min.

Phase	Period	Goal	Control value
Base	Dec–Feb	Fat metabolism, volume	Fat oxidation to 0.55 g/min
Build	Mar–Apr	Raise threshold	VT2 to 280 W
Specific	May	Hill intervals at 290–310 W	20-minute best effort
Taper	1–20 Jun	Freshness	TSB at +10 to +20

CTL should rise from 45 in December to 95 at the end of May. The March test gives a VT2 of 278 W; the build-phase zones are corrected upward by 3 %. Without that measurement the athlete would have spent the last weeks of the block training below his actual threshold.

References

Bompa, T. O. & Haff, G. G.: “Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training”.
Issurin, V.: work on block periodisation.