Training is a process of getting fit then getting fitter. To accomplish this, the best training model is one with progressive training stimuli, called the adaptation process. First you must establish your current level of fitness on ""the training tree"". The training tree has five different branches and the goal is to climb towards the top branch of the tree.
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1. BASE ENDURANCE BRANCH: The first branch is the starting point of most training programs. Base training is slow, easy, and fun. All of the training during this phase or period is in the lower three heart zones (50%-80%).
2. STRENGTH BRANCH: Following many of the same principles that weight lifters use, athletes stimulate muscle power by applying specific resistance stimuli to the specific activity that they are training for. If you "overload" the specific muscle by repeatedly asking them to work at higher levels of workload, the muscle responds by getting stronger. Examples of resistance training are office building stairs, bleachers, stair machines at the club or hill intervals.
3. INTERVAL BRANCH: The third branch involves getting fast by training fast. This is the phase that builds upon the lower three branches by adding your first redline (90%-100% maximum heart rate) workouts. It's time to watch for the highest sustainable heart rate and to work at raising that value.
4. PEAK BRANCH: The fourth branch is a favorite for many athletes. The peaking phase is the time when you put all of the other branches together and fill your weekly training schedule with all of the different branches: endurance, strength, and intervals. It is a time of excellent fitness. It's here where you experience all of the heart zones.
5. RACE or PERFORMANCE BRANCH: This fifth branch is as much psychological as it is physical. The demands are arduous because it requires constant testing, usually against other athletes as well as against your own goals and that great truth-teller--the clock.
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