Guides · Planning
How a Training Plan Is Built
Build, ease off, peak and taper — and why.
2 min read
Training works by stress, then recovery
Every session is a small stress. You don't get fitter during the session — you get fitter in the days after, as your body repairs and adapts so that the same work will be a little easier next time. A good plan is simply a way of arranging that stress and recovery so you keep improving without breaking down.
Build a little at a time
The most common mistake is doing too much, too soon. A widely used rule of thumb is to raise your weekly total by no more than about 10% at a time. It isn't a law of nature, but it's a sensible ceiling: your heart and lungs improve quickly, while muscles, tendons and bones take longer to catch up.
That's why a plan starts from what you can do now, not from what you'd like to be doing.
Three weeks on, one week easier
Most plans build for two or three weeks, then have a lighter week with about two-thirds of the usual training. The lighter week isn't lost time — it's when the previous weeks' work sinks in. Many people find they feel strongest at the end of a recovery week.
Each session has a job
Easy runs build your aerobic base and help you recover. The long run builds endurance. Tempo runs raise the pace you can hold for a long time. Intervals raise your top-end fitness. Strides and hill sprints keep your legs quick and strong.
A balanced week has mostly easy running, one long run and one or two harder sessions — never two hard days in a row.
Phases: base, build, peak, taper
Longer plans move through phases. The base phase is mostly easy, building volume. The build phase adds more race-specific work. The peak is your biggest, most specific training. Then, in the last one to two weeks, comes the taper: you cut back the amount of training but keep a little intensity, so you arrive at the start line fresh but sharp.
It can feel strange to do less before a race. Trust it — the fitness is already there.
Plans are a guide, not a contract
Life gets in the way: illness, holidays, a bad night's sleep. Missing a session isn't a problem; trying to cram it back in usually is. Move on, keep the next easy day easy, and pick the plan back up.
In Exersio
Every Exersio plan follows these rules: it starts from what you do now, rises by no more than 10% a week, eases off every fourth week and tapers into race day. Catch Me Up, Holiday or Time Off and Niggle or Illness (Plan › Manage) reshape the plan when life happens.
General guidance, not medical advice. If something hurts or you have a health condition, speak to a doctor or physiotherapist.