Professional T3 Team triathlete and coach, Harry Palmer, shares his insights on periodisation and gives five winter training tips in his recent video.
An overall age-group winner at two Ironman 70.3 events, Harry turned pro for the 2019 season. The T3 Triathlon Team athlete and coach has been passing on his knowledge and experience through his Harry and Chris YouTube Channel, which chronicles his journey as a new pro athlete.
The video below from December 2019 focuses on a discussion of periodisation as well as some great practical winter training tips as we join Harry on his run and bike training session.
Periodisation
Periodisation is a structured way of planning your annual training into blocks called periods, with each one of these having a specific focus. To define your different training periods, Harry advises starting with your key events and working back towards your current status, with the following suggested training blocks and timescales.
- Prep phase 2-4 weeks
- Build and strength phase 12-16 weeks
- Race build phase 6-8weeks
- Race peak phase 2-4 weeks
5 winter training tips
Harry shares five great winter tips which actually are great rules to follow all year round to keep your training on track and fitness in tip-top shape.
Consistency is king
As Harry explains, little and often is far better than a lot and not very often. Not only does it encourage the body to adapt and become fitter, it reduces the chance of injury.
Get up early
Harry suggests an early start so you get your session done, leaving you ready to tackle the rest of your day. Exercising also helps elevate your mood and increases focus so starting with a morning workout will give you a positive start to the day.
Plan training
Harry advises planning your training – not only in terms of periodisation for the season as mentioned above but also more specifically for each session. This will help motivate and encourage you to complete your sessions and ensure you are achieving your goals.
Quality over quantity
While training volume is important, especially for long-course triathletes, Harry explains that quality is even more crucial to success. Review your sessions and ensure they’re focused on achieving your goals and that you’re not wasting your time on garbage miles.
Train with others
This will not only motivate you to train but also push you in your sessions. Harry particularly recommends training with others while working on your weakest discipline as this will help drive you to get to the next level.
