Coach Pedro Linares specializes in helping athletes, no matter their discipline, experience, or location reach their full potential. SHM Endurance Coaching exists to provide athletes with the tools, knowledge, and relationships necessary to pursue their goals. With our collective expertise, we prioritize relationships and communication over all else. Through a blend of art and science, we offer a truly remarkable experience to every athlete we work with. 

It involves systematically breaking a longer time period, usually a season or year (called a macrocycle), down into shorter periods that focus on a certain training element (volume, intensity, etc) in order to build fitness, and eventually maximize performance. Macrocycles are broken down into several week training blocks termed mesocycles, which are further broken down into microcycles, typically representing a week. Periodization plans aim to balance training overload with recovery over a several week period (usually in a 3:1 ratio) in order to produce and absorb gains in fitness, a process termed “supercompensation.”

Base: The focus of base phase is using lower intensity, higher volume training to build a foundation of aerobic endurance and durability. This prepares the body for subsequent higher-intensity work. 

Build: After base phase, build phase begins. During build phase, the focus shifts from aerobic volume building to increasing intensity and working on athlete-specific limiters. Volume is usually either maintained or decreased. 

Taper: After base and build phases comes a taper phase. Sometimes broken down into “peak” and “race” weeks, taper involves decreasing workout duration and volume (typically by 20-50% per week) heading into a key event. Frequency is maintained, and race-specific intensity should be included in workouts every several days to keep feel and sharpness.

However you opt to break down these phases, periodization can help build fitness, decrease the odds of burnout, and maintain motivation, so use these guidelines as you plan away for the season ahead.

Improve Your Performance

We all know that plans improve performance.

If they didn’t builders wouldn’t use architectural drawings, pilots wouldn’t use flight plans and businesses wouldn’t use the scores of plans they use to optimise their operations and bottom line.

Lower Your Risk Of Injury

A training plan helps to lower your risk of injury in the same way that it improves your performance.

It places structure, progression and balance into your training so that you are always training at a level that is suitable for you at your current level of fitness.

Improve Your Body Composition And Energy Levels

If you want to perform at your best (and be healthy), being lean and having high levels of energy are definitely going to help you with that.

Unfortunately, many athletes don’t achieve this because they don’t have a plan that optimises for it.

Take Control Of Your Schedule

A person who knows what they are doing in advance is far more likely to execute it than the person who makes things up as they go along.

When you have a training plan, you know exactly how long your session is and what you need to do.

Track Your Progress

When you have a structured training plan, you have something to track your training sessions against.

Over time, you’ll begin to see patterns that allow you to determine what is working and what is not. Once you know that, it’s easy to refine your approach and make tweaks to your training plan that will help to keep you improving.

"I was training hard and making some progress on my own but after optimising my training with a Coached training plan, I have improved my Ironman 70.3 from 5:45 to 4:55 and I am heading to  IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship for the first time."

Theodore Murray.

That’s what one of our runner’s, Theodore, had to say about following our training plan.

If you’re keen to improve, suffer from recurrent injuries or are struggling with how to optimise your training around life, we’d love to help you.