The Periodization Blueprint: How to Structure Your Year Like a Professional Coach

Why Your Progress Plateaus (And How to Break Through)

Every summer, something happens to recreational athletes: they stop improving.

You've been training for months. The initial months had rapid progress—faster paces, stronger rides, better times. But by July? You're hitting a wall. The same workout feels just as hard as it did six weeks ago. Your legs don't feel any stronger. You're wondering if you've hit your genetic ceiling.

The problem isn't your genes. It's the structure of your training.

Most recreational athletes do one thing all year: they train hard. Every week looks roughly the same. Every month is similar. There's no ebb and flow, no strategic buildup, no structured progression toward a specific goal.

Professionals do the opposite. They organize their entire year into distinct training phases, each with a specific purpose. This is called periodization, and it's the secret to continuous improvement.

The Four Training Phases

Imagine you have a big race 16 weeks away. Here's how a professional coach structures your training:

Phase 1: BASE (8-10 weeks)

Goal: Build aerobic foundation

During the base phase, your coach isn't worried about speed. They're building the engine.

You'll do:

• Lots of easy, long-distance work (Sunday long runs, easy rides)
• Increasing volume week-by-week
• Minimal hard efforts (maybe one threshold session per week, emphasis on easy)
• Heavy focus on running economy and aerobic capacity
• Intensity distribution: 80%+ easy, <20% hard

Example week:

• Monday: 5 miles easy
• Tuesday: Recovery day (rest or 2-mile shakeout)
• Wednesday: 5 miles with 4 × 1-minute strides (not intervals, just neuromuscular practice)
• Thursday: Recovery day
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 7 miles easy
• Sunday: 12-mile long run

This looks boring compared to a hard interval session. It feels less productive. But here's what's happening biochemically:

• ✓ Capillary density increasing (better oxygen delivery)
• ✓ Mitochondrial function improving (more aerobic power)
• ✓ Running economy enhancing (efficiency at submaximal speeds)
• ✓ Fatigue resistance building (you can run longer without breaking down)

These adaptations are the foundation for everything that comes later.

Phase 2: BUILD (6-8 weeks)

Goal: Introduce intensity, develop race-specific fitness

Now you've got your aerobic engine. Time to add power.

The BUILD phase introduces:

• Threshold workouts (sustained efforts at lactate threshold)
• VO2Max intervals (short, very hard repeats)
• Tempo runs (sustained moderately-hard efforts)
• Increased volume (but not as aggressively as BASE)
• Intensity distribution: 70% easy, 30% hard

Example week:

• Monday: 5 miles easy
• Tuesday: Recovery day
• Wednesday: 8 miles with 3 × 5-minute threshold efforts (hard intervals separated by 2-minute easy jogs)
• Thursday: 6 miles easy
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 5 miles with 6 × 2-minute VO2Max intervals (shorter, even harder intervals)
• Sunday: 10-mile long run (easy)

Notice the difference? Hard efforts appear twice per week now. But they're still surrounded by easy work. Your body is handling both adaptation stimulus (hard workouts) and recovery (easy runs).

What's happening now:

• ✓ Lactate threshold rising (you can sustain harder efforts longer)
• ✓ VO2Max increasing (peak aerobic capacity climbing)
• ✓ Running economy maintaining (even as you add intensity)
• ✓ Confidence building (you're approaching race-pace speeds)

Phase 3: PEAK (3-4 weeks)

Goal: Race-specific fitness, confidence building

You're close to race day now. The PEAK phase is short and focused.

• Race-simulation workouts (practicing race-day conditions)
• Majority of training at or slightly above race pace
• Lower volume than BUILD (you're fresher, but training is intense)
• Intensity distribution: 60% easy, 40% hard

Example week:

• Monday: 5 miles easy
• Tuesday: Recovery day
• Wednesday: Tempo run: 15-minute warm-up + 20 minutes at race pace + cool-down (this IS your race pace now)
• Thursday: 5 miles easy
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 5 miles easy
• Sunday: 10-mile race simulation run (goal is 90 minutes at race marathon pace—practicing pacing and confidence)

This is where it all comes together. Your body is trained to handle race pace. Your mind is confident you can execute. You're arriving at the start line ready.

Phase 4: TAPER (2-3 weeks)

Goal: Recover completely while maintaining sharpness

The hardest phase mentally, but scientifically proven to work.

• Volume drops by 40-50% (much shorter runs)
• Intensity stays high (you still do short hard intervals, just fewer of them)
• Emphasis on sleep, nutrition, recovery
• Intensity distribution: 80% easy, 20% hard (but those hard sessions are very short)

Example week:

• Monday: 5 miles easy
• Tuesday: Recovery day
• Wednesday: 4 miles with 4 × 1-minute race-pace repeats (just enough to stay sharp)
• Thursday: 3 miles easy
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 3 miles easy
• Sunday: Rest or 2-mile shakeout

What's happening:

• ✓ Glycogen stores replenishing (muscles are fully fueled)
• ✓ Nervous system recovering (CNS is fresh)
• ✓ Muscle microtrauma repairing (from all that BUILD and PEAK work)
• ✓ Confidence building (you're fresh, fast, ready)

Research shows athletes are fastest in the first 5-7 days after taper begins. Your job is to arrive at race day exactly at that peak.

The Periodization Principle

The reason periodization works is progressive overload with strategic recovery.

You don't jump directly to hard training. You build a foundation first. You don't maintain hard training all year. You strategically recover. You don't maintain the same workout intensity forever. You adjust based on training phase.

This creates a pattern of:

• Stimulus → Adaptation → Recovery → Bigger Stimulus

Compare this to training the same way all year. There's no new stimulus. Your body adapts once, then plateaus. You're stuck.

How CADENCE Automates Periodization

Periodization is complex. Most coaches (and definitely most recreational athletes) get it wrong. CADENCE automates it entirely.

You tell CADENCE your race goal and date. The app generates:

1. A master periodization plan breaking your timeline into BASE → BUILD → PEAK → TAPER phases
2. Phase-specific workouts generated for your fitness level
3. Weekly TSS targets that evolve with each phase
4. Intensity distribution that shifts from 80% easy to 40% hard as you approach race day
5. Automatic regeneration that adjusts the plan if you're ahead or behind

You don't have to think about periodization. You get the benefits without the complexity.

Ready to Train Like a Pro?

Most amateur athletes are training hard without training smart. Periodization is the difference between a year of work with mediocre results and a year of work with breakthrough performance.

CADENCE builds your personalized periodization plan automatically. Every week has a purpose. Every phase builds toward your goal. You'll understand, for the first time, why your training is structured the way it is.

Start your free trial and experience coaching intelligence.