Polarized vs Pyramidal: The Better Training
We all want to get faster. And most endurance athletes are driven, motivated people. We strive to utilize our training to the fullest during each practice, assuming that we will have improved by the time of the next one and always have the aim of advancing.
However, this is not a wise approach. We become exhausted, stop making progress, and are no longer inspired. We understand that to counterbalance the tough days, we should incorporate some days dedicated to recovery. But how much intensity do we need? Endurance athletes do not wish to be doing insufficient exercise. But odds are, we end up doing too much. My mentor consistently advised me to utilize my capacity shrewdly, followed by putting in hard work.
The purpose of this article is to explain easy techniques for organizing your hard and easy workouts into a weekly regimen so that you are aware of when to give it your all and when to take a break and promote recovery. By keeping your body in balance, you will be providing it with both the conditioning required as well as the rest necessary for it to develop, which will aid you in exceeding your limits and fostering unprecedented advancement.
Are there any findings that suggest one type of periodization training is better than the other? A thoughtful analysis might determine that the outcome would be based on what the athlete and coach hope to achieve.
Utilizing an organized way of endurance exercise leads to steady outcomes. Is there a particular kind of periodization which is more successful than the rest?
In recent years, there has been a disagreement about whether polarized or pyramidal style training is the most beneficial for most athletes.
First, it’s essential to set the scene. It appears reasonable to accept that every one of your competitors has a restricted measure of opportunity to commit to running, cycling, swimming or cross-training, regardless of whether they’re a professional or competent recreational athlete.
The limited amount of time for those who are often busy with professional and parental commitments makes it vital for them to use it most beneficially. TID tries to measure the amount of time that a person spends doing exercises of a certain force or in particular intensity areas.
We can divide it into as many as five segments, but it’s easier to just go with a three sections model. Zone one is the usual focus of endurance athletes.
This type of exercise involves the least amount of effort and is sometimes jokingly referred to as “LSD” – not, of course, the illicit drug, but rather “long, slow distance”. Your maximum heart rate should not exceed 70 to 75%.
Zone two is characterized as a moderate intensity, usually completed at a medium distance, with the heart rate staying in the range of 75 to 85 per cent. Zone three activities involve fast-paced exertion over a short duration, including interval workouts and uphill jogs, performed at a level of intensity equal to or greater than 85%.
The intensity levels of the three zones can be ranked based on the individual feeling of the athlete. For instance, the rate of strain (RPE) the athlete gives to every single workout you propose or the speeds you counsel can be considered.
This ability can be analyzed scientifically with the assistance of a heart rate monitor or a device to be worn. Let us investigate how TID, zones, and further elements come into play as it relates to pyramidal and polarized workouts.
Building from the Bottom Up with Pyramidal Training
Pyramidal training can be seen as a triangular structure consisting of three separate levels. The base level of the foundation is usually referred to as the aerobic base. This is developed by doing long-distance work at a steady pace in the slowest zone. This is where the majority of your athletes’ time will be spent.
Progressing further up the hierarchy, a reasonable quantity of exercising is done in area two, with medium levels of intensity dispersed over average distances.
This a practice that is known as threshold conditioning, which entails keeping the athlete’s pulse rate beneath their aerobic threshold (normally between 60-70% of the greatest heart rate). Going to the apex of the pyramid-shaped triangle requires the least amount of time to do quick, difficult efforts that occur in the third area.
The beauty of pyramidal training is its straightforwardness and logical organization.
As a coach and your training group, it is easy to understand and put into action: allocate a considerable amount of time for slow, lengthy runs, a portion of time running at a mid-level intensity, and a brief amount of time going hard and fast. It is quite clear that the TID follows a fixed sequence as it travels through the three distinct areas.
Programming is simplified and compliance is encouraged due to most athletes agreeing with the standard process for endurance training as implemented by pyramidal training.
In contrast, some people argue that substantially more dedication is required to build an aerobic base and that pyramidal training overlooks the speed and strength required for shorter races, taking the lead and completing quickly in a contest.
It is proposed that excessively doing “junk miles” does not help to improve your aerobic or anaerobic abilities.
Getting Rid of the Middle with Polarized Training
The training approach known as polarized training, which was popularized by the research conducted by Dr Stephen Seiler, can be analyzed by looking at it through the three main training zones and assessing it with a TID perspective. This technique is similar to the pyramidal method.
The main common factor between the two methods is that they both stress the importance of athletes staying in zone one for the majority of their time. So far, so good. However, it is in the subsequent two areas where there is a reversal.
If your customers are utilizing polarized exercise, they will undergo very few mid-level efforts in zone two sessions and a considerable amount of hard work in zone three.
In his well-received book “80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster By Training Slower,” Matt Fitzgerald outlines an 80/20 TID division between the more elevated and lower regions that enables runners to “overstep the moderate-intensity rut.” It should be noted that his plan features five levels with adapted names and a more subtle method than the three-zone model.
Philip Mosley’s opinion is that dedicating most of one’s training time to relatively slower efforts creates a solid aerobic foundation. Additionally, he recommends investing 20% of one’s training in higher-intensity activities, enabling the activation of one’s lactate system and ATP-PC system, both beneficial for quick bursts of energy, such as at the finish line.
Proponents of polarized training claim that it provides the necessary elements for racing success without the need for running at a medium intensity, which does not sufficiently challenge the energy systems that are associated with long periods of activity or quick bursts of speed.
Polarized essentially means opposite ends of the spectrum. The objective of polarized training is to exercise at both the extreme high and low intensities of the spectrum; focusing on the low-intensity aerobic end as well as on the high-intensity anaerobic end. Little to no effort is put towards intermediate activities during polarized training, named moderate-intensity or tempo/threshold exercises. The exact breakdown of polarized training is:
It is widely seen as essential for athletes participating in endurance sports to concentrate on establishing an aerobic base. The longest amount of time spent under stress is the main factor causing aerobic adaptations. If we go too quickly, we won’t last long enough to get the reaction we desire. Focus on completing aerobic activities over a long period instead of pushing yourself to go hard during the workout. Secondly, if we keep our aerobic exercises at a steady, relaxed rate it cuts down on recuperation times, meaning we’re always able to start the next session with energy and alertness.
20% of the exercise regimen should involve intense activities that are vital to achieving optimal athletic performance. High-intensity training is beneficial for enhancing movement fluency, increasing oxygen uptake, powering up both strength and speed, activating anaerobic systems, and upgrading one’s capacity for high-intensity exercise (2,3). The cause of these progressions is the high amount of intensity, so by making sure that 80 per cent of your work is done at a reduced intensity, you will be well rested and refreshed when it’s the time to put in full energy and energy during the important days, leading to more significant changes in your power production, VO2max, the type of energy used during very strenuous activities and finally in how well you do in competition.
What Do the Studies Say
Pyramidal training has a large amount of evidence supporting it, as it has become an integral part of workout plans and is the target of many experiments over the years. Lately, scientists have been studying the efficiency of the polarized approach, comparing it with other forms of coding, like a pyramidal style.
It is important to bear in mind that those who are new to training or have a meagre training background will virtually always benefit from any type of program, while highly skilled athletes will often struggle to gain the same significant improvements, which is why some findings should be viewed critically.
Which is best for me?
Two training methods, both polarizing and pyramidal, prove to be very advantageous, and given the fact that a great part of the exercises in both methods consists of aerobic activity, the results of studies do not show much of a difference (2,3). The main differences between these training methods have to do with the age of the trainee, the precision of the program and its division into periods.
Training Age
Intensity is hard on the body. The more intense the exercise, the more strain is put on the muscles and the body as a whole. The rate and intensity at which we run are major contributing factors for potential injury. The speed at which we move requires our body to exert more strength and puts an increased strain on our bones, muscles, and tendons due to the ground reaction force. Novice athletes who are new to organized physical activity, strenuous effort, or running should avoid strenuous effort sessions. A new athlete may struggle to properly heal and adjust from exercises that have a high 20% intensity level, and that could thus present the risk of them being injured. It is sensible, to begin with, pyramidal training (3). The bulk of exercise being low and moderate intensity should help the body develop enough strength to handle more challenging exercises at 5% high intensity.
Specificity
The form of training you use will be based on the length of the competition and the type of event you are getting ready for, with one kind of exercise possibly being more tailored to your needs than the other. Events like the mile are raced at a much faster rate, thus making it have a more significant anaerobic component than a marathon. Thus, it would be better to employ polarized training since more work can be done during the week at intensities and tempos particular to the event as well as working through relevant energy systems. In contrast, somebody competing in a marathon or a triathlon may be better suited to pyramidal training as the speed and thresholds of the moderate-intensity workouts are more beneficial to the effort and energy systems used when racing for over an hour.
Periodization
At the end of an athlete’s preplanned season, there tends to be a move from pyramid-structured training to training that focuses on contrasting extremes. The reasoning is in both points explored above. It is beneficial for athletes to employ pyramidal training during their foundation or preparatory stage. It is generally a good idea to ease back into physical activity and not dive full-on into intense training. Much like one’s physical activity experience, it is best to start off with mostly moderate-intensity activities compared to those that require higher intensity. Second, this will allow the athlete to increase their performance level, which is a widespread objective in the first training period, while at the same time preventing (the risk of) any possible damage or exhaustion. As the season approaches its end and closer to the competition, the intensity of training increases, due to the athlete building the necessary physical strength and stamina to endure a higher level of training intensity (3). An athlete’s performance must be able to increase the amount of work done at the speeds, power, and energy levels specific to their sport.
Final Thoughts
We should bear in mind that these training strategies are specially meant for athletes whose speciality is long-distance running. The unifying idea is that the majority of the weekly training should focus on aerobic development, and thus it is best suited for activities where the aerobic energy system provides the most output. Research has revealed that athletes achieve better results when using either a polarized or pyramidal training method in comparison to adhering to a threshold training regime. Essentially, this means spending more time training easily! More than half of the total amount of work in pyramidal and polarized training is at an easy aerobic level. Making sure the practice intervals don’t strain you will help to ensure you stay energized and refreshed for times when you really push yourself.
We need to vary our level of effort throughout the week to make sure we’re training properly and allowing ourselves enough time to rest, resulting in steady progress. If you haven’t been planning out your weekly workouts, the simplest way to go about it is to make sure a majority of your total exercise time comes from simple aerobic activities, then augment that with some intensity.
