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Oct. 14, 2009

How Do I Design a Training Program?

Dear Bill: I would like to design a training program, combining endurance and speed work, to prepare me to skate various distances on both hills and flats. I also want to learn how to structure my workouts into a year-long training program. Are there any books out there that could help me? Thanks. - Yonatan

Hi, Yonatan: Training for varied racing schedules is challenging, but it's not unusual in today's inline world. In recent years, most of the world's top inline skaters have raced week in, week out to meet the demands of their sponsors. As a result, they don't have the luxury of carefully structured training programs. Instead, they do a lot of "tapers." In other words, they ease off their training two or three days before big events, like World Inline Cup marathons, or take a day and a half off completely, and they do even longer tapers before heading off to the World Championships.

This wasn't the case in the prior era when I was coaching the Australian team. In those days (long before the WIC), we could train all year for World Championships. We structured a 10-month program that paid off in spades. In 1989, my skaters placed fourth or higher in 11 of the 12 events at Worlds (track only) and Australia finished No. 1.

So obviously, periodized programs work.

There aren't any skate-specific books to teach you periodization. But a great place to start is Tudor Bompa's classic "Periodization of Training."

Cheers, Bill

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