Periodisation
Periodisation is splitting your training into phases, each with its own purpose, so your fitness builds up on purpose and your form coincides with your most important race. It is the framework that makes separate sessions work towards something together.
What is periodisation?
You can’t be at your best all year: form is temporary. Periodisation solves that by cutting the run-up to a goal into blocks that build on each other. Roughly they follow four macro phases: a base phase (lots of easy volume, building your aerobic base and support), a build phase (adding intensity, quality sessions around and above your threshold), a peak phase (sharp, race-specific stimuli) and a taper (winding down so fatigue fades just before the race).
Within that broad line sits a smaller rhythm: blocks of a few weeks of build-up, each followed by a lighter recovery week. That way your body gets the chance to process the stimulus and come out stronger, instead of endlessly stacking up until it breaks you down.
The taper: peaking without giving anything up
The taper is the phase where most is won or lost. By clearly cutting volume in the last one to three weeks before your race — while keeping short, sharp stimuli — you let built-up fatigue fade while your fitness stays largely intact. The result: you arrive fresh and fit at the start. Cutting back too much leaves you flat; too little and you start still tired.
The ideal taper differs from person to person and goal to goal: a marathon calls for a different run-up than a short time trial. That is why a taper that adapts to your earlier responses works better than a fixed recipe from a book.
How Trimetra personalises this
Trimetra places the build, peak and taper blocks automatically towards the target date you set in the Event calendar, and guards your recovery weeks against your own response rather than a fixed 3-to-1 rhythm. It tunes the taper where possible to how you actually responded in earlier tapers — a suggestion you keep in your own hands, not a quiet intervention.
Frequently asked questions
What is a taper?
The wind-down phase in the last one to three weeks before your race: you clearly reduce volume but keep short, sharp stimuli. That lets accumulated fatigue drain away while your fitness stays largely intact — fresh and fit on the start line.
How long should a taper last?
Usually somewhere between one and three weeks, but the ideal recipe differs per person and per goal: a marathon needs a different run-in than a short time trial. Taper too much and you go flat; too little and you start still fatigued.
What are the phases of periodisation?
Roughly four: a base phase (lots of easy volume), a build phase (adding intensity), a peak phase (sharp, race-specific stimuli) and the taper. Within that line, blocks of a few weeks of building alternate with lighter recovery weeks.
Every term at a glance in the full glossary.