Specificity (Page 2)

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2013-02-09 10:57 AM
in reply to: #4615639

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Subject: RE: Specificity
TriMyBest - 2013-02-09 10:40 AM

Here's the issue - The answer to almost all of these questions is "it depends".  It depends on the race distance as you've mentioned, but it also depends on other factors, including the athlete's experience level, their age, current fitness level, injury status, race goals, other life stressors, etc.

This is why you're getting a discussion about the principles and general guidelines rather than specific prescriptions.

Think of it this way:  Periodization isn't a model.  It's a concept.  This means that you need to learn the concepts, gain some experience, then apply a little artistry in developing the final training plan, which will then usually need adjustment week-to-week based on the actual training completed and recovery levels.

I hope this helps.

 

Yup, you're right.  Plus I think I am  looking for an answer to a question few are really asking, because their plans take care of it for them. 

2013-02-09 11:42 AM
in reply to: #4615493

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Subject: RE: Specificity
FranzZemen - 2013-02-09 9:21 AM

As to the tone, I'm sorry but I don't have all day to stroke egos, even if those egos have some very useful things to say.


I wasn't suggesting that you stroke egos; however, when your posts read as though you are being a jerk, then it is less likely you'll get the feedback you desire. While I don't really care what some random person online thinks about me, when I read a thread and think to myself, "what a jerk," I am significantly less likely to bother responding to that person's questions.

How many weeks ahead of your event (please state event distance or more than one with more than one answer) does your training become focused on the event itself, when your training becomes more specific to the power outputs required over the prescribed distances.


Typically, 6-12 weeks depending on the event and the general training you have ben doing.

For example, I am training for an HIM, and am about 9 weeks out.   Total training time was compressed due to injury, but say about 16 weeks.  I am planning to get race specific 8 weeks out.  For me this means working in the power zones that are sub lactate threshold and fatigue related, reducing the high aerobic parts of the plan to very little if at all.


Could you clarify what you mean in terms of fatigue related and high aerobic - I'm not 100% sure I understand what you are trying to convey.

If I were focusing on an Olympic, I probably would become race specific 4 to 6 weeks out from taper with a mix of LT training and high end aerobic, keeping endurance training to maintenance.  Training would be at race distances.


Again, what you mean by high end aerobic is important to understand what you mean here. As to the time frame, I'm not sure why you would want less race specific training for a shorter race than you would for a longer race.

If I were focusing on a Sprint, I would become race specific around 3 weeks, focusing on high end aerobic and above LT training, and at race distances.   Endurance training is almost completely sacrificed for high end power output.


Everything a triathlete does (unless they are an elite short course athlete and even then it would only be a small amount) is endurance training. Again, not sure why you would want only 3 weeks specific training for a shorter event.

1.  No need to do specificity for Sprint/Oly (I assume the athlete is versatile and operates at the Iron distances).  (I've seen Iron distance athletes easily win Sprints with no specific training.  Would that be there best performance if it was an A race...not sure)

2.  8-12 weeks for shorter distances, 12 weeks plus for longer distances (I'm clearly outside of this.  Jarring my thoughts on whether I have it right)



1 - definitely not their best performance in terms of potential

2 - again, general to specific is a concept and the length of the specific training portion doesn't directly correlate to race distance (assume good general training)

Some of the useful caveats pointing out in the replies.

1.  Be aware of periodization in the longer race training

3.  One poster suggested (at least for the swim) that specificity is not necessarily equal to race distance.  This is an answer that I've seen repeated in different forms (for all three disciplines) in various forum talk, meaning do you have to become specific at the race distances to do well at the race.  My naive thesis is "yes" for sub iron distances, "maybe" for HIM, and "no" for Iron, but I'm not sure at all.



1 - General to specific is periodization

3 - Not 100% sure what you mean but all triathlons are endurance events which means that proper training (especially in the general phase) will be similar for all triathletes. Obviously a sprint distance athlete doesn't need many (or any) century rides during the specific phase of their training nor does an IM need do lots of 20km TT's in the last few weeks but more than 12 weeks out, there really should be little difference between the two programs.

Shane
2013-02-11 9:27 AM
in reply to: #4615493

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Subject: RE: Specificity
FranzZemen - 2013-02-09 8:21 AM

So I brought this confusion on by being to general;  is this specific enough?:

As Shane kindly pointed out, not really. 

And as Don explained better than me, you are looking for a specific prescription based upon a general principle (it's general despite being called 'specificity').  Your questions lead people to believe that you don't fully understand this fact so they're trying to help you (despite your insistence that they don't know what we're talking about and are simply getting in the way of the answer you are hoping to find).  This way, hopefully, you can better form your question to get the prescription you are looking to find for your specific situation.  But since my answers have apparently not been useful to you and I'm 'discussing the discussion' again, I'll refrain from adding more.  Good luck.

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