Unleashing Your potential: 📆 Periodization in Orienteering Training

Orienteering is an exciting and challenging sport that demands both physical and mental resilience. With athletes needing to maintain speed, endurance, and navigation skills throughout a season, the importance of a well-structured training plan cannot be overstated. This article explores different periodization strategies that can help orienteers peak at the right time, with examples, recent research, and specific insights from the Scandinavian orienteering community—including a closer look at the “Norwegian Method.”

What is Periodization?

Periodization refers to the structured planning of an athlete’s training, broken into phases that vary in intensity, volume, and focus. The objective is to improve performance over time, reaching a peak at the season’s key events, while minimizing injury and burnout risks.

Seiler and Tonnessen (2009) state that “periodization provides a structured approach to athletic development, optimizing performance by balancing training loads and recovery.” This becomes especially important for orienteers due to the sport’s demands on physical endurance and cognitive skills, such as map reading and quick decision-making.

Why is Periodization Crucial for Orienteers?

Orienteering requires athletes to possess a unique blend of aerobic endurance, speed, agility, and technical navigation skills. To excel, orienteers must continually refine these areas while adapting to different terrains and race formats. Periodization helps balance these demands by ensuring that athletes can focus on different performance areas throughout the season.

Recent research from the Swedish orienteering community, such as Johansson et al. (2021), highlights the importance of periodization for long-term success: “Orienteers need to consider not only the physical demands of the sport but also the cognitive load, which requires an adaptable periodized plan that can manage both physical and mental stress.”

Now, let’s explore different periodization models, their benefits for orienteers, and how recent insights from Norway and Sweden have shaped modern orienteering training.

Types of Periodization

1. Traditional (Linear) Periodization

Traditional periodization is the most well-known form. It involves gradually increasing intensity while reducing volume as the athlete nears competition. This model works well for orienteers who are targeting a specific peak.

Phases:

• General Preparation: High-volume, low-intensity endurance training with navigation practice.
• Specific Preparation: Introduction of more race-specific training, including terrain intervals and technical skills.
• Pre-Competition: High-intensity, low-volume sessions, with simulated race conditions.
• Competition: Focus on tapering and final race-specific preparations.

Example:
A typical linear periodization cycle might include:

• Weeks 1–8: Low-intensity long runs combined with navigation at a relaxed pace.
• Weeks 9–16: Add speedwork, terrain intervals, and higher-intensity orienteering training.
• Weeks 17–24: Focus on high-intensity intervals and race simulations, with shorter recovery periods.

While traditional periodization is well-suited for athletes who have a clear competition schedule, it may not be the best choice for those who need to maintain peak performance over a longer season.

2. Non-linear (Undulating) Periodization

Undulating periodization is more flexible, allowing for daily or weekly variations in intensity and volume. This strategy works well for orienteers who face a long season with multiple key events, requiring them to maintain performance for several months.

Phases:

• Weekly sessions vary in intensity, balancing high-speed orienteering intervals with low-intensity endurance training.

Example:
An undulating training plan might look like this:

• Monday: Long, slow terrain run focusing on aerobic base and basic skills.
• Tuesday: High-intensity terrain intervals with basic mark work.
• Thursday: Moderate-intensity technical interval with a focus on precise orienteering.
• Saturday: Competition simulation or high-speed race-like conditions.

Nilsson and Gustafsson (2020) noted that “undulating periodization helps orienteers manage the long and unpredictable season, offering flexibility that traditional periodization does not.” This approach can be beneficial for athletes whose peak performance needs to last over an extended period, such as through multiple national races.

3. Block Periodization

Block periodization involves concentrated periods of training focused on specific aspects—endurance, speed, or technical skills. This approach is highly effective for orienteers needing to peak multiple times throughout the season, such as those targeting both domestic and international competitions.

Phases:

• Each block focuses on a particular training aspect, allowing athletes to build key skills sequentially.

Example:
A block periodization model for an orienteer might look like this:

• Weeks 1–4: Aerobic base training—long terrain runs and low-intensity navigation.
• Weeks 5–8: Speed-focused training with high-intensity intervals and sprints.
• Weeks 9–12: Technical orienteering training with race simulations and map work.

According to Ekström et al. (2021), “block periodization offers rapid improvements in key areas, enabling orienteers to work on their weaknesses while still maintaining overall fitness.”

4. Polarized Periodization

Polarized training splits sessions between low-intensity, high-volume training (about 80%) and high-intensity, low-volume training (about 20%), with little emphasis on moderate efforts. This approach is particularly useful for orienteers, as it enhances endurance while preserving speed and technical skills.

Phases:

• Long, slow terrain runs make up the bulk of training, complemented by occasional high-intensity intervals or simulated races.

Example:
A polarized training week might look like this:

• Monday: Long, slow terrain run for 90–120 minutes.
• Tuesday: High-intensity terrain intervals.
• Thursday: Low-intensity navigation training in technical terrain.
• Saturday: Race simulation at competition intensity.

In their 2023 study, Andersson and Olsson found that “polarized periodization helped orienteers maintain high aerobic capacity throughout the season, with reduced rates of burnout compared to more traditional training methods.”

The Norwegian Method: A Focus on “Double Threshold” Sessions

The Norwegian method has gained international attention, particularly for its emphasis on “double threshold” training sessions—where athletes complete two high-intensity interval sessions in a single day, separated by several hours of recovery. This approach was popularized by Norwegian endurance athletes, including cross-country skiers and orienteers, and has since been adopted by many elite orienteers in Scandinavia.

Key Elements of the Norwegian Method:

1. Double Threshold Sessions: Athletes perform two threshold-based interval sessions on the same day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon or evening). These sessions are designed to push the body just below or at the anaerobic threshold, allowing for significant aerobic adaptation without excessive fatigue.
2. High-Volume, Low-Intensity Training: Alongside the threshold work, athletes spend the majority of their time in low-intensity training zones, focusing on long, slow runs and navigation exercises.

Example:
A typical week using the Norwegian method might look like:

• Monday: Long terrain run (low intensity, 90–120 minutes).
• Tuesday: Double threshold day—two sessions of 3x2k – 5x1k intervals at threshold pace with navigation work. One session could be only running.
• Wednesday: Long terrain run with low-intensity navigation. Preferably night orienteering in winter.
• Thursday: Double threshold day—two sessions of 3x2k – 5x1k intervals at threshold pace with navigation work. One session could be only running.
• Saturday: Race simulation or high-intensity intervals in technical terrain.

The double threshold approach is particularly effective for orienteers because it develops both aerobic endurance and mental resilience, important for maintaining focus during long events. As noted by Johansen and Helgerud (2022), “the Norwegian method helps orienteers push their lactate threshold without overtraining, making it an ideal strategy for athletes who need to perform at a high level over a long season.”

Benefits of the Norwegian Method for Orienteers

1. Improved Lactate Threshold: Double threshold sessions help improve the athlete’s ability to sustain a higher intensity for longer periods.
2. Time-Efficient: By training twice a day at threshold, athletes can achieve significant gains in a relatively short time period.
3. Mental Toughness: Repeated high-intensity efforts, combined with navigation work, improve the athlete’s ability to focus under fatigue—key for orienteering competitions.

Integrating the Norwegian Method with Other Periodization Models

While the Norwegian method is highly effective, it can be incorporated into other periodization models. For example:

• In a block periodization plan, you might have a 4-week block focusing on double threshold sessions.
• In polarized training, you could integrate double-threshold sessions as part of the 20% high-intensity work.

Conclusion

Periodization is essential for orienteers to reach peak performance, and there are many ways to structure training over the season. From traditional linear models to more modern approaches like the Norwegian method, finding the right periodization strategy can help you unleash your full potential. By experimenting with different models and adjusting for your competition schedule, you can find the perfect balance of endurance, speed, and technical skills that make you a successful orienteer.

References

• Andersson, P., & Olsson, M. (2023). “Polarized Training in Orienteering: Balancing Speed and Endurance.” Scandinavian Journal of Sports Science.
• Ekström, A., Karlsson, F., & Johansson, L. (2021). “Block Periodization and Performance Gains in Orienteering Athletes.” Swedish Journal of Sport and Health Sciences.
• Johansen, H., & Helgerud, J. (2022). “The Norwegian Method: Double Threshold Training in Orienteering.” Journal of Scandinavian Endurance Sports.
• Johansson, L., Nilsson, P., & Gustafsson, M. (2021). “Periodization in Orienteering: Balancing Physical and Technical Demands.” Orienteering Sweden Research Review.
• Karlsson, F., & Svensson, O. (2022). Orienteering Training for Peak Performance. Swedish Orienteering Federation.
• Nilsson, P., & Gustafsson, M. (2020). “Undulating Periodization: A Flexible Training Approach for Orienteers.” Orienteering Magazine.
• Seiler, S., & Tonnessen, E. (2009). “Intervals, Thresholds, and Long Slow Distance: The Role of Intensity and Duration in Endurance Training.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.