How to Structure a Training Plan to Beat Your Personal Best

The art of periodization

For hybrid athletes, juggling strength and endurance requires more than just showing up and training hard—it demands strategic planning. That’s where periodization comes in. Periodization is the process of organizing your training into blocks that align with your goals and ensure you peak at the right time, whether for a HYROX event, marathon, triathlon, or something else entirely.

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How periodization works

Periodization breaks your training into phases to help you build different aspects of fitness without burning out. The most common model is linear periodization, which progresses from lower-intensity training to high-intensity efforts as your goal event approaches.

Periodization can be used for everything from training for an Ironman to implementing standard progressive overload in a general strength routine.

When using periodization on a longer training cycle, typical phases include:

1. Base Phase: The foundational stage of a periodized training plan. It’s focused on developing general fitness, endurance, and skill development while minimizing the risk of injury as training volume and intensity increase. This tends to look like building aerobic capacity and muscular endurance via lower intensity efforts while starting to introduce volume. This can include lots of cross-training and doesn’t need to be as sport specific.
2. Strength Phase: When the volume begins to increase and intensity is introduced. The goal of this phase is to prepare the body to sustain strength and power output for longer durations or higher intensities, depending on the given sport.
3. Competition Phase: Training is tailored to mimic the demands of the event you’re training for. For endurance training, this means overall volume peaks in this phase, whereas for more explosive events like a HYROX there will be a race simulation and more threshold and interval sessions. This is where you want to get the most sport specific. 
4. Taper and Recovery: Reduce volume and intensity to allow your body to recover from the higher training load and prepare yourself to peak on race day.

Example of Periodization applied

Let’s say you have 12 weeks until a HYROX competition. Your training block might be structured like this:

• Weeks 1-4: Base Phase: Long cardio sessions + moderate strength work.
• Weeks 5-8: Strength Phase: Heavy lifting + fewer but higher intensity cardio sessions.
• Weeks 9-11: Competition Phase: Intense cardio + functional strength circuits.
• Week 12: Taper: Short, low-intensity workouts to stay sharp while reducing fatigue.

The key is progression—each phase builds on the previous one, ensuring that you peak on race day with the right mix of strength, power, and endurance.

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As always, make sure to consult with a physician before making drastic changes to your training routine. 

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