What exactly is base training? I’ve read about it at training magazines/books, endurance websites, I’ve heard coaches refer to it in training plans and even I’ve used it in different occasions in the context to describe a training period, yet to be honest I am not entirely sure what it does specifically mean. Does it refer to a particular training cycle? Does it refer to a particular training zone? Does it refer to a particular training approach? I did some research to try to find out what the specific definition is and understand what are talking about when using the term.

From different websites, training books and articles I found out that the concept has many definitions and it can represent something different to many coaches. Some people refer to it as a period to develop and improve one’s body ability to burn stored fat for fuel and they recommend limiting our training intensity to a specific training zone. They also advice using specific methods to determine that limit (like the Mafettone or MAF formula) (1). Others refer to it as a training period to mainly focus on developing our aerobic energy system via low intensity training. Others refer to it as a training period ideal to train endurance through the Aerobic Threshold aka as AeT. And yet others refer to it as the first training cycle with a simple training load to better prepare the athlete to handle greater training loads down the road. Although high intensity sessions are not avoided, they are limited to certain extent. (click here to read the entire post)