Training Phases

Training phases are blocks of a season plan, each with its own goal, volume and intensity distribution: from preparation through base and build to taper.

Definition

“Training phases” are clearly bounded blocks of long-term planning, each aimed at one specific training goal. Every phase has a typical duration, its own progression of volume and intensity, and a defined job within the overall build. Together they form the macrocycle of a season leading up to one or more key races.

The concept comes from classical periodization. There is no universal naming scheme, but one pattern has become standard: preparation, base, build, peak, taper, recovery and transition. obseed uses these seven terms consistently.

The seven phases at a glance

Intensity distribution is given as the share of training time in three zones: Z1 below the aerobic threshold (VT1), Z2 between the thresholds, Z3 above the anaerobic threshold (VT2).

Phase	Typical duration	Goal	Intensity distribution `Z1/Z2/Z3`
Preparation	2–4 weeks	Diagnostics, resilience, strength and mobility	`90/10/0`
Base	8–16 weeks	Aerobic endurance, gradual volume increase	`80/10/10`
Build	6–10 weeks	Race-specific performance	`70/10/20`
Peak and plateau weeks	1–2 weeks	Concentrated overload stimulus	as surrounding phase, load `+20–40%`
Tapering	1–3 weeks	Shed fatigue, reveal fitness	`70/10/20` at `−40–60%` volume
Recovery	3–14 days	Regeneration after the race	`100/0/0`
Transition / off-season	2–6 weeks	Break for body and mind, keep the base	`95/5/0`

The order is a default, not a rule. Athletes with two A-races per year go through build, taper and recovery twice and insert a short transition in between.

Why it matters

Without phases, training becomes random: you train at a similar effort all year, never get properly tired and never get properly fresh. Supercompensation needs both, a sufficiently large stimulus followed by a sufficiently long unloading period. Phases make this rhythm plannable across months.

Nor can every quality be developed to its maximum at the same time. Aerobic endurance needs volume, race readiness needs intensity, and doing both at once overwhelms most athletes who also have a job and a family. The phase logic defines what has priority right now and what is merely maintained.

How obseed measures it

obseed assigns every recorded session to the intensity zones derived from your metabolic performance diagnostics, not from estimation formulas such as 220 − age or generic percentages of a field test. This makes it visible week by week whether the actual distribution matches the planned phase. A base week at 60/25/15 instead of 80/10/10 stands out immediately.

On top of that, obseed tracks the four-week volume trend, the ratio of acute to chronic load ACWR = load last 7 days / avg load last 28 days, and resting heart rate and HRV from your wearable. These signals show whether a phase is working, whether it has gone on too long, or whether the next phase change is due.

Example

Season plan for a half-distance triathlon in early July, training starts in early January, 26 weeks:

Weeks	Phase	Volume	Distribution `Z1/Z2/Z3`
1–3	Preparation, diagnostics in week 1	6–8 h	`90/10/0`
4–15	Base in four 3:1 blocks	8 → 13 h	`80/10/10`
16–22	Build	11–12 h	`70/10/20`
23	Peak week	15 h	`70/10/20`
24–25	Tapering	9 → 6 h	`70/10/20`
26	Race	–	–
after	1 week recovery, 3 weeks transition	3 → 6 h	`100/0/0` → `95/5/0`

The volumes are reference values for ambitious age-group athletes. What matters is less the absolute number of hours than the consistent progression from phase to phase.

References

Bompa, T. O. & Buzzichelli, C. (2018). Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training, 6th ed. Human Kinetics.
Seiler, S. (2010). What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 5(3), 276–291.