Why "Reverse Periodization" is nonsense

The practice of periodization in endurance sports has been described as "making your training increasingly similar to your race as your race approaches." This makes sense logically because if you're training to get better at something you should be practicing relevant skill sets. Before we talk about periodization vs. "reverse periodization" we should emphasize how it is necessary for every endurance athlete to periodize their training. At the simplest level this means that different skills are trained at different times of the year, and training is changing over time as to not stagnate. The athlete's body will stop adapting if the stimulus isn't changed, so some form of periodization must be taken.

When it comes to endurance sports most people think of a conventional periodization approach that involves building an "aerobic base" with a lot of easy mileage in the winter and slowly adding in "race pace" high-end aerobic and anaerobic intervals as race season nears. This approach makes sense if this high-end work you are adding in mimics the type of races you are competing in. However, I see a lot of training plans and methodologies continuing to use this same approach even for athletes who's races look nothing like the type of training they're prescribing. "Race Pace" doesn't always mean hard, especially in triathlon when the majority of athletes are nowhere near their true anaerobic thresholds during a race. If you are periodizing an athlete's training, especially for the half ironman distance and up, they have next to no need for any intervals above the lactate threshold and anywhere close to VO2max. True periodization for longer distance racing means as the event gets closer the key sessions should include more and more Ironman and half ironman-paced intervals, and these are generally zone 3 at best for the average age grouper.

Don't be an off-season hero

Now a lot of coaches and athletes take the approach of "reversing" this traditional periodization approach including short, hard reps in the early season and gradually adding more endurance work as they approach "A" races. I totally agree with this methodology for just about every Ironman and half ironman racer. But when people label it as "reverse periodization" it's just not the case. Your workouts are more closely mimicking your race as the race approaches, so by definition this is still periodized training. However, if you were training for a sprint triathlon and did all of your intensity in the winter and didn't perform a threshold interval for months leading into your race, this is true reverse periodization, and I would argue a silly approach.