Polarized TRaining & 5 Zone TRaining
By Andy Newell
I recently received a request to clarify the difference between a Polarized Training Model and our typical cross-country 5 zone method. April is the time of year when we are able to look back at all our yearly training to reflect and learn from what we logged. It’s also the time of year when we begin planning next year’s training outlines, so this is a great opportunity to go over some basics.
For some background information on the Polarized Training Model check out some previous entries in our Resources:
Ventilatory Thresholds (Training Periodization)
Intensity Distribution of the Polarized Training Method (methods)
Be advised: Diving into a deep Google search on this topic can be head spinning. There is a lot of information out there the majority of it fueled by the cycling community. Cyclist often use different 7-9 Zone system. Their yearly volume and training intensity percentages are also a bit different than xc skiers in ways I will outline below)
First, let’s clear the air on something important. The Polarized Training Model is a training theory, or what we call a training method. Zone training is a way of monitoring heart rate intensity and keeping track of training. So, it’s kind of like comparing apples to oranges. Someone can use a 5-Zone heart rate system AND the principles of polarized training all at the same time. Which is exactly what most elite level skiers try to do.
Using polarized training simply means in order to race fast, the majority of our training needs to be slow. Building a base of easy slow aerobic training will allow an athlete to perform higher quality interval efforts, build better race stamina, and overall racing performance. Like we’ve said before, ‘keep the easy easy and the hard hard”. In endurance sports like cross-country skiing and cycling this means that if approximately 80-90% of our yearly training is easy, and just approximately 10-20% is hard, we are using polarized training.
Believe it or not that’s exactly how most xc skiers train. To put that in realistic skiing numbers, if an elite skier trains 500 total hours in a year 450 of that will likely be L1(a small amount of L2) and just 50 hours of L3/L4/L5(speed)
The Polarized Training Model has become a buzz word in the cycling during recent years partly as a backlash to what had become the norm with so many novice, weekend warrior type bike racers. Everyone got together for group rides that would inevitably escalate in pace until everyone is hammering by the end. An athlete does this week after week and before long all of their training is medium to medium hard. The opposite of the Polarized Training Model.
In a similar fashion, novice endurance athletes whose schedule’s never allow for much training during the week gravitate toward ‘power hour’ type training. “I only have an hour to train per day, I need to make it count”. Training like this can often yield positive results short term but for long term improvement it’s just not going to cut it. One reason Polarized training has recently gained in popularity is as remedy to this type of training.
John Wessling found us a great podcast on the topic that is definitely worth a listen.
How do skiers use Polarized Training and a 5-Zone system?
First, let’s reiterate what training zones are. The words Zone and Level are interchangeable in endurance sports. Zones/Levels refer to a specific heart rate window but far more importantly a specific lactic acid window. You can see in the level breakdown below, physiologist use the measurement of millimoles per liter of blood, or mmol for short.
Without ever experiencing any lactate testing it can be tough to accurately use a 5-zone system, but it is possible. Athletes can use a heart rate formula:
Just remember that 60% of your max heart rate (which is often a target for L1 training) might be very different running vs. skiing vs. cycling etc. Training zones can be modality dependent and also fluctuate daily due to variables such as temperature, fatigue, and athlete hydration. This is why elite level athletes use lactic acid readers and perform spot checks often during interval and distance training sessions.
For those who do not have access to lactic acid testing, pay special attention to how a pace 'feels'. I suggest going on feel versus a specific percentage of your max HR.
Zone 1 - < 2 mmol Lactate – can comfortably talk while training. Maintain for 2+ hours
Zone 2 - < 3 mmol Lactate – cannot hold full conversation while training
Zone 3 - < 5 mmol Lactate – Threshold training. Below lactate threshold. Long distance race pace. Sustainable for 60+ minutes
Zone 4 – 5+ mmol Lactate – Short distance race pace. Sustainable for 5 – 30 minutes
Zone 5 – Max effort. Only sustainable for short periods of time typically less than 1-2 minutes.
Skiers who actually polarize their training will spend very little time in Zone 2. The body more or less receives the same benefits from Zone 1 as Zone 2, however, Zone 2 is much harder on the body and takes longer to recover from. If we refer to the athlete who is trains 500 hours, 450 of which is ‘easy’ it would be realistic for this elite skier to spend just 20 – 30 total hours (5-10% of their easy training) in Zone 2.
If Polarized training means only going really easy and really hard why do we train Zone 3?
The simple answer to this questions is because of the duration/distances of most ski races. Elite level ski distances range from 10km - 50km (occasionally 50+) . Races that are in the 30 minute to 2hr range demand a lot of aerobic capacity (Vo2Max) and aerobic efficiency.
Elite level skiers can log over 20 hours of maximal racing time throughout a season. Because of this aerobic high demand during the season we use Pyramidized training in our preparation phase. Yes, athletes can train in a pyramidized, polarized way (it’s a mouthful). Pyramid style training in this sense refers to the fact that skiers spend more time training in zone 3 than zone 4, even though we spend more time racing in zone 4 than zone 3. We believe the efficiency gained while training zone 3 (both by producing mitochondria but also power based technique) allows a skier to build a higher end Vo2Max through Zone 4 training and racing.
On the surface, pyramided training, might seem different than the way world classic cyclist or marathon runners train execute their intervals. Why? Cycling and marathon races typically range from 2 hours – 4 hours relying more on sub maximal effeciency. Ski races have a higher percentage of Zone 4 while cyclist spend more race time in Zone 3 because of the longer race duration.
Because of this difference it would be more common to hear a cyclist proclaim that when they do intervals they only focus on >VT2 (ventilatory threshold 2) hard intensity. This might be true but through their season of bike racing they are logging a considerably more amount of Zone 3 than Zone 4 during those long races. In fact, if you were to take a Tour de France rider and add up the time they spent in Zone 3 versus Zone 4 throughout their entire 3 week stage race it would look every similar to the percentage breakdown of a skiers pyrimidized Zone 3 and Zone 4 training and racing approach to their ski season.
To sum things up, regardless of what sport an athlete is training for, a recurring theme among the best in their fields is that easy distance training is extremely valuable. The more experience an athlete gains, the more training hours they get under their belt, the more they want to avoid the ‘middle ground’ Zone 2 training. The details and percentages of how much ‘hard’ training to incorporate in the training season will depend greatly on the duration of their races and the number of races an athlete enters during the season.
If you are a skier who is reading this and only has a certain number of hours to train per week, no stress! In the weeks to come we will go over some ways to periodize your training in a way that will maximize your easy distance training hours. Polarized, pyrimidized, periodized training... now that IS a mouth full.
