It has been said, If you fail to plan, you may as well plan to fail. If you want to get the most out of your training program, you need a plan. Jumping on your bike and riding at random will help for a short time, but without a plan, youll eventually plateau out and fail to make gains. By Tim CusickIn endurance sports, periodized planning is the most frequently followed format. Periodization is a system of training used to improve peak results, prevent overtraining, and reduce the risk of injury by progressing slowly from one phase to the next. There are three different forms of periodization training: linear, reverse linear, and undulating. Each system has its benefits, but we will focus on linear periodized training throughout this article series. To get the most out of your plan, you need to develop and follow a solid process. I break mine down into two phases and six steps. Phase 1 is plan prep:1.Set a goal.2.Complete your diagnosis.3.Develop your needs analysis.Phase 2 is creating the plan:4.Create the periodized plan.5.Implement workouts.6.Track and tweak results.So lets get started!Sure the Euro season just ended with Paris-Tours, but the planning for 2016 is already underway for the pros.Step 1: Set a goalAll goal setting begins with a specific objective (what?) and a deadline (when?). This makes the goal specific, measurable, and time bound, typically focused on success in an event or series of events. This is usually the easy part, but just setting a general goal...
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