Athletic training has taught me a lot over the years.
Two of the most valuable things I’ve learned in training are the importance of periodization and polarization.
👉🏼Periodization means don’t try to do or improve everything all at once. Let there be a season for everything. Some seasons are for getting stronger, some are for getting faster, some are for going longer, some are for peaking for a competition or race, some are for recovering, and some are for maintaining fitness while you focus on other things in life. When you decide on the focus for a particular season, everything else takes a back seat to that purpose. Focus on one thing, improve there, then layer in the next thing to build your capacity over time. It takes time to do it right — a periodized plan is how you get there and it’s how you improve bit by bit without burning out or losing sight of the final goal.
👉🏼Polarization means don’t try to go hard every day. Plan for easy effort days and hard effort days and honor the purpose of that day so you’re training with intention and not just watering down your efforts by going medium-ish every day. It’s about learning to drive in different gears — if you don’t slow down on easy days and then you’ll be too exhausted and burnt out from trying to go hard all the time to hit those performance targets. This polarized training approach reminds me that the goal is to never out-train my ability to recover.
If you’ve got big goals for the future, try a plan that involves both periodization and polarization — learn what to push for and when.
Set big goals and give yourself time to grow into them. This is how we bring out the best in ourselves. This is how we do awesome shit.
I’ve got 2 online coaching spots (for strength, running, and/or durability) opening up in March/April. If you’re ready to up-level your approach to your training and your life, contact me to set up a virtual chat so we talk goals and options.
No time like the present to start that journey.
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