Mastering Your Training with a Progressive Approach: The 5 Phases for Endurance Success

For endurance athletes, a well-structured training plan is key to maximising performance. Training in progressive phases not only ensures steady improvement but also reduces the risk of injury and burnout. Here’s a breakdown of the 5 key phases that will help you build your best season ever, from laying a strong aerobic base to sharpening for race day.

Phase 1: The Endurance Base Phase (12 Weeks)

The goal of this phase is to build your aerobic capacity and establish a strong foundation for the rest of your training. Focus on increasing volume each week while keeping intensity low to develop long-term fitness without overloading your body.

Key Focus Areas:

• Increase duration gradually while keeping intensity low.
• Build chronic training load over 5 consecutive weeks, with adaptation weeks for recovery.
• Incorporate heavy-load, low-rep strength training to build muscular resilience.
• Introduce long tempo efforts toward the end of this phase to start bridging the gap to higher-intensity work.

Phase 2: Time to Exhaustion Build Phase (8–10 Weeks)

In this phase, the goal is to extend the time you can sustain your threshold power. By improving your ability to ride or run at or near threshold, you’ll become more efficient and faster for longer periods.

Key Focus Areas:

• Prioritise sweet spot, over-under, and FTP intervals.
• Reduce strength training frequency to prioritise high-intensity sessions.
• Use a 3:1 work-to-rest ratio—three weeks of progressive load followed by one adaptation week.
• Take an extra recovery week if you hit a plateau in interval duration.

Phase 3: VO2 Max Build Phase (6 Weeks)

This phase raises your cardiovascular ceiling and increases your Functional Threshold Power (FTP). Expect this block to feel tough, but it’s worth it for the gains in power and aerobic capacity.

Key Focus Areas:

• Focus on 3- to 5-minute intervals at maximal sustainable effort.
• Gradually increase interval intensity each week to push your limits.
• Keep endurance rides easy to ensure you’re fresh for high-intensity sessions.
• Continue light strength work to maintain muscle balance and injury prevention.

Phase 4: Anaerobic Build Phase (4–6 Weeks)

The anaerobic phase develops your top-end power and anaerobic capacity. These short, high-intensity efforts will help you perform well in punchy sections, attacks, or final sprints.

Key Focus Areas:

• Include 30-second to 2-minute all-out efforts.
• Focus on quality over quantity—ensure you are well-rested for key sessions.
• Keep endurance training light to balance recovery and intensity.

Phase 5: Taper and Race Prep Phase (2 Weeks)

The final phase is all about balancing freshness and fitness so you arrive at race day feeling sharp and ready. Volume is reduced, but intensity remains to keep your body firing on all cylinders.

Key Focus Areas:

• Reduce overall training volume by 30–50%.
• Include short, high-intensity efforts to maintain race-specific sharpness.
• Add unstructured rides to stay motivated and reduce mental fatigue.
• Prioritise sleep, recovery, and nutrition in the final week to hit race day at your best.

Bringing It All Together

Each training phase builds on the one before, creating a structured approach to fitness that delivers measurable improvements. The combination of aerobic base-building, threshold development, and high-intensity work ensures that you’ll be ready to handle the demands of your key events.

Fuel for Every Phase
No training plan is complete without the right nutrition. Each phase places unique demands on your body, and our range of sports nutrition products is designed to support your goals—whether it’s fuelling long endurance sessions or recovering after tough intervals. Stay consistent and fuel smart to maximise every block of training.