Are you getting the most out of your training plan?

Hello!

Today we’re looking at your training plan and if you’re getting the most out of it.

Most of us, myself included, thrive off a 7-day plan. It fits in with our work schedule and it gives us routine in the week. We’re often trying to fit the following key components of a successful training week into 7 days, every week:

• Sessions of substance (eg. Vo2 max workouts, tempo workouts etc)

• Endurance sessions

• Recovery sessions

• Strength training

• Rehab/prehab exercises

• Drills/form work

Where we can come a little unstuck is trying to fit all of the above into just 7 days when life happens… kids get poorly, unexpected work changes, extra traffic on the roads… to name a few! Consequently, we often skip some of those key components above and focus on getting our runs and rides in. However, this approach leaves us exposed to a higher risk of injuries from skipping strength training, we leave our 5% performance boosters on the table from things like drill work and we also have to deal with the mental fatigue of always knowing that our long run or ride is always planned on the weekend… quite up to it…

Let’s take the example of the following 7-day training plan:

That’s a pretty jam-packed week and if you’re routine changes and you can’t make that session of substance on Tuesday because you’re now away for work, you’re left wondering how the rest of your week should look and how all the pieces of the jigsaw fit together. Or maybe, you have a normal week but come Thursday, you’re still feeling Tuesday’s threshold run/ride in your legs and so you cut out 1/3 of your tempo session or you push through the session but are way off your pace/power targets. You definitely then don’t want to do that strength session on Friday and so your 7-day plan is all over the place with key components gone. Consequently, your motivation is going to drop, your performance in those sessions worsen, your mindset and relationship with training dampen and your risk of injury higher if you’re training overly fatigued.

You can get around this by being more flexible and accountable with yourself and your training. Check in to see how you’re feeling or seek that accountability from a coach, your friends/family or the running, cycling and triathlon community. A lot of us are hesitant to admit how we’re feeling and back out of workouts or sessions and what then happens is that we keep pushing and pushing until we blow up and then all of our training ends up going out the window.

Your training plan needs to be flexible yet still purposeful! Flexibility with your training plan is not a green light to stop training or keep skipping workouts but it’s having that accountability and hone to shift things around whilst still keeping your legs ticking over. One way to achieve this can be to better space out your sessions of substance throughout the week to ensure you’re not overly fatigued and still manage to get in the other important components of your training plan.

Here is an example of a more flexible 14-day training plan:

Week 1:

Week 2:

*This is not as demanding as a threshold session but still gets key substance in.

Your week isn’t too dissimilar in terms of training days but you are allowing your body (and mind) the time it needs to recover so you are able to hit those key sessions of substance and ultimately get the most out of your training plan.

It can be quite the cognitive load managing your own training, so if you would like any help with your plan please get in touch at [email protected]

Final note! You are not a robot with a rigid and fixed lifestyle, so do not follow a training plan that is not flexible. Your motivation, consistency and performance will thank you for it.

Thank you!

Emma x

*If you know a runner, cyclist or multisport athlete who would like more information on strength training, please forward this post on to them.