Beginner Series 4 - Training structure and key principles

31 snips

Aug 9, 2025

Explore essential training principles tailored for beginner triathletes. Learn how to structure your weekly workouts with the right balance of frequency, duration, and intensity. Discover the significance of micro-, meso-, and macrocycles in your training. Find out how to assess if your plan is effective while avoiding common mistakes. Get practical tips for creating a training schedule that prioritizes consistency and recovery, ensuring you stay energized and avoid burnout.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ADVICE

Don't Stack Hard Days

Avoid stacking hard sessions back-to-back; space them to allow recovery between intense days.
Introduce double sessions gradually and only after you adapt to single daily training.

ADVICE

Use Mesocycles With Deload Weeks

Build blocks of load then take planned easier weeks: three weeks on followed by one deload week works well.
During deloads, reduce intensity and slightly lower volume to aid recovery.

ADVICE

Plan Annual Time Off

Take annual downtime: two full weeks off structured swim, bike, and run per year to reset physically and mentally.
Follow rest with a couple of unstructured weeks before returning to planned training.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In part 4 of the Beginner Series, we discuss training structure and key principles. After listening to this episode, you'll already be able to write a basic training plan for yourself.

HIGHLIGHTS AND KEY TOPICS:

Eight key training principles for beginner triathletes
How to structure your training week
Frequency, duration and intensity
Distributing time between swimming, biking and running
Micro-, meso-, and macrocycles
How do you know if your training plan is working?
Common mistakes related to training principles and structure

DETAILED EPISODE SHOWNOTES:

We have detailed shownotes for all of our episodes. The shownotes are basically the podcast episode in written form, that you can read in 5-10 minutes. They are not transcriptions, but they are also not just surface-level overviews. They provide detailed insights and timestamps for each episode, and are great especially for later review, after you've already listened to an episode.
The shownotes for today's episode can be found at www.scientifictriathlon.com/beginner4/

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NEXT?

If you enjoyed this episode and have missed any of the previous installments of this series, be sure to give them a listen:

You can find our full episode archives here, where you can filter for categories such as Training, Racing, Science & Physiology, Swimming, Cycling, Running etc.

You can also find separate archives for specific series of episodes I've done, specifically Q&A episodes, TTS Thursday episodes, and Beginner Tips episodes.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENTIFIC TRIATHLON:

The Scientific Triathlon website is the home of That Triathlon Show and everything else that we do
Contact us through our contact form or email me directly (note - email/contact form messages get responded to much more quickly than Instagram DMs)
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Follow us on Instagram
Learn more about our coaching, training plans, and training camps. We have something to offer for everybody from beginners to professionals.

HOW CAN I SUPPORT THAT TRIATHLON SHOW (FOR FREE)?

I really appreciate you reading this and considering helping the show! If you love the show and want to support it to help ensure it sticks around, there are a few very simple things you can do, at no cost other than a minute of your time.

Subscribe to the podcast in your podcast app to automatically get all new episodes as they are released.
Tell your friends, internet and social media friends, acquaintances and triathlon frenemies about the podcast. Word of mouth is the best way to grow the podcast by far!
Rate and review the podcast (ideally five stars of course!) in your podcast app of choice (Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the biggest and most important ones).
Share episodes online and on social media. Share your favourite episodes in your Instagram stories, start a discussion about interesting episodes on forums, reference them in your blog or Substack.

SPONSORS:

Precision Fuel & Hydration produce our favourite gels, sports drinks, and electrolyte and carbohydrate products here at That Triathlon Show and Scientific Triathlon. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised plan for your carbohydrate, sodium and fluid intake in your next event, and get 15% off your first 2026 order by using the code TTS2026 at checkout.
Rouvy is hands down the most complete indoor cycling platform for triathletes. Among their thousands of beautiful bike courses from all around the world, all filmed in stunning quality, they have over 75 IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 race courses plus 20+ Challenge Family courses, so you can pre-ride your race from home. Real gradients, real visuals, and real feel! Head to rouvy.com and use the code TTS to get your first month free on top of a 7-day free trial.
Effortless Swimming produce the best swim goggles for triathletes and open water swimmers. Their NanoClear anti-fog lenses give you clear, fog-free vision that lasts and doesn't wear off. Don't let foggy or leaky goggles ruin another swim. Go to shop.effortlessswimming.com and use the code TTS15 to get 15% off your goggles, and get a free two-month Effortless Swimming course membership.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.