The term ‘reverse periodisation’ became popular several years ago. The theory is very simple, rather than the traditional ‘winter base / aerobic miles’ followed by higher intensity work in spring and building to a race peak (the classic pyramid), the reverse is applied. So reverse periodisation starts with the really short hard stuff in winter and then gets longer (or more specific), so it is in fact a ‘reverse pyramid’ or ‘upside down pyramid’… you choose. 

Well it’s not really is it?

Let’s start with the traditional periodisation / pyramid method and outline the basic rules. This has been adapted many times by many people, but Lydiard was the creator and his model from the 1950’s is still the basis for many coaches today. It’s based on simple rules:

1. Start by doing lots of aerobic volume, easy/steady swimming, riding and running. This should be done for 4-6 months or potentially more.  

2. Include in conjunction with the aerobic mileage, small amount of strength work and speed work note that speed is no more than 100m of running and Lydiard simply added acceleration strides to maintain speed and technique.

3. Do harder interval type work in the final 6-12 weeks before the main race, based on the fact that people’s gains  / development to harder interval type work tend to plateau within that time scale. Lydiard noticed not only that the gains from harder interval work would peak and plateau within 6-12 weeks, but also that it knackered people out if they did too much for to long, so a 6-12 week block was probably about right.

CRITICALLY, he further noted that the real gains from hard interval type work didn’t happen unless the aerobic base period had been done beforehand. 

It is worth noting that harder interval work and ‘speed work’ are 2 separate things and the term speed work is commonly misused. If your aim is to run fast and develop speed, then anything more than 100m is probably losing the effect. Therefore running 5 minutes hard, is not speed work. It’s certainly ‘hard work’ …. but it isn’t speed work. This is one of the most misunderstood aspects or endurance sports and as a result, the majority of athletes rarely, if ever, do speed work.

Let’s look at ‘reverse periodisation’

Okay, so let’s look at what coaches term ‘reverse periodisation’ (what they’re actually referring to is reverse pyramid). The plan is simple, we’ll just flip the pyramid on its head and do everything in reverse. We’ll start with the hard stuff to increase our VO2 max and improve our lactate threshold… lots of scientific words thrown in for effect. Then we’ll add longer or more specific stuff later.

Reverse periodisation is a very appealing model. You learn how to run fast or produce high power for short periods of time, then gradually increase the length of the training until you can sustain that speed or power for longer, up to race distance. People also like the short hard stuff as it gives us an endorphin release. We really ‘feel’ like we’re doing good.

So what’s the issue?

Where to start…

Well, I’m not one to complain but I feel that it’s important to point out that ‘reverse periodisation’ is NOT a reverse model of the classic pyramid and it would be wrong to pretend that it is. 

1. Athletes do very little aerobic based work. They simply hammer themselves all winter and spring then add some ‘race specific’ training sessions. There is no sustained period of easy aerobic base work, certainly nowhere near enough time and volume to have any positive effect.

2. As noted above, without the aerobic base work, the benefit of doing intervals are very limited. The idea that you can develop VO2 max and lactate threshold etc by simply starting with high intensity work if flawed. The biggest gains in aerobic fitness come from a large block of low intensity volume before any hard interval type work.

3. The benefits of high intensity work is limited as we’ve noted above to 6-12 weeks for most people. Athletes see big gains within that period, then plateau and get worse. Every runner who has trained to a moderate degree will have experienced this. You may have started doing interval training with a group and after 8 weeks, you’re flying!! Then 4 weeks later, you’ve gone off the boil.

It makes absolutely no sense, you were flying 4 weeks ago and you are doing exactly the same training sessions now as you were then… so what’s happened? Why have you not continued to improve?

The reason is because the gains are limited to a 6-12 week time period, then you go off the boil. People normally get frustrated, change their training or have a break, then repeat the cycle. Never actually getting any better, but yo-yoing up and down not knowing why, or how to ensure the ‘up’ occurs at the right time.

4. Based on all the above, there’s a significantly higher incidence of people losing motivation, burning out and simply ‘giving up’ when they try to start their training with a high intensity focus. It’s likely their injury risk is also increased. Athletes can absorb much greater volumes of low intensity work without becoming physically or mentally drained. High intensity work is to be done in smaller amounts at the right time, to avoid people becoming exhausted early in the plan.

Final thought

Consider this… most people who enter an ultra running event, marathon or long distance triathlon are generally already quick enough to achieve their goal time. Look at the time you want to achieve, then go outside and run at that pace for a few miles… it’ll probably feel incredibly easy. For most people the size of the engine isn’t the issue, they’re already powerful enough to easily run at race goal speed.

The real issue is that their ‘aerobic economy’ combined with both physical and mental resilience isn’t good enough to sustain their target pace for the required length of time. Smoke and mirrors aside, no amount of high intensity interval work will resolve that problem.

If you have any questions, please comment on the Facebook page. 

We offer coaching from £40 per month for Lakeland 50 & 100 runners, triathletes, marathon and ultra runners. We also offer lactate threshold and VO2 Max testing with consultation for £60, to help you better structure your training. Find details on the menus above.

Regards
The Endurance Coach