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Between the person who rides for pleasure or for fitness and the athlete who aspires to victories in World Tour Classics, the number of weekly training sessions can vary from single to… quintuple. And when you practice a sport like triathlon, chaining several sports sessions a day is not unknown to you. Focus on twice-daily training, with its benefits and drawbacks.
By Jean-François Tatard – Photos: Frédéric Poirier
While two to three sessions per week allow you to maintain good physical condition, champions in full preparation, and even more so in triathlon, train 12 to 14 times a week. It’s mathematical: if you train 14 times a week, it means you train twice a day. This is called twice-daily training. This is essential for elite triathletes. At certain times of the year, Vincent Luis would even go up to 18 sessions per week. This particular planning is essential to optimize performance at this level of practice.
For whom?
This organization is already less common in cycling. However, during lockdown, many cycling champions we followed on social media were doubling their sessions. Let’s say that this planning makes perfect sense in cycling during the preparation period, but once the season starts, with races chaining one after another, the priority between sessions is recovery. And for beginners: Be careful though! You don’t just jump into it overnight either. Twice-daily training is demanding, and in most cases, it is feasible but sporadically.
Whatever your level, you can try. The golden rule in this case is always the same: Progressiveness! So, if you started triathlon or cycling less than a year ago, there’s no question of throwing yourself headlong into this new experience. Start by training twice a day once a week, no more, consisting of two cycling sessions of a few kilometers at an endurance pace. 1h30 on the small chainring at 60% of your max heart rate at first, then move to 2h, with at least 6 hours of recovery between sessions (ideally one session in the morning and one in the evening). Or, a 45-minute run in the morning and a 1h30 bike ride in the evening. Or even a 1h30 bike ride in the morning and 45 minutes of alternating swimming in the pool in the evening.
For the more experienced
If you are among the more experienced, twice-daily training, at a rate of two to three sequences per week, will allow you to increase the workload both qualitatively and quantitatively. This twice-daily training should lead you to accumulate more kilometers. But on the condition that it is not just the division into two of a session you are already doing. The goal is rather to make a greater number of qualitative training sessions possible.
Training twice a day can bring you real benefits, starting with an optimization of your fitness and an increase in energy expenditure. If you are looking to get leaner, combined with a dietary rebalancing, this will allow you to lose fat mass and weight.
On the other hand, by comparing the effects of two training sessions spread over two days, it has been shown that physiological changes are more significant following twice-daily sessions separated by a recovery day, with a greater improvement in performance parameters (VO2max, MAP if it involves cycling or MAS if it involves running…)
Paradoxically, twice-daily training turns out to be less strenuous than classic daily training.
Training several times a day can be interesting if you are preparing for a big competition or during the break between the winter and summer seasons. The objective of this practice is to break an adaptation barrier to effort, but also to allow you to reach a new level. Paradoxically, twice-daily training turns out to be less strenuous than classic daily training. Potentially fun, many variations between several disciplines and types of efforts are possible. Dividing your efforts also allows for a more targeted approach to different work zones. But the biggest advantage of this technique is that it suits all disciplines: whether you are a cyclist, triathlete, runner, or even for your friends who play a team sport.
Some rules to follow
Twice-daily training should primarily enable more quality training: strength training, proprioception or coordination sessions, general physical preparation (GPP) sessions, technical work for mountain bikers, small drills like in soccer or team sports (high knees, butt kicks…), interval training and, why not, other complementary endurance activities, such as rowing, arm cycling, Aqua jogging or Aqua biking.
Prioritize morning training for endurance work and midday or evening training for qualitative work (your body will be better prepared for it), and be sure to alternate different types of sessions during your twice-daily training, performing one endurance session and one interval session.
Listen to your body, to respect its recovery needs, and remember to compensate for the increased energy expenditure as well as water, vitamin, and mineral losses.
Implementing this type of training is then just a matter of organization. For example, if you usually exercise 3 times a week, adding one or two twice-daily workouts to your program will allow you to increase to 5 weekly sessions without having to skip your rest days.
No improvisation
To be effective, twice-daily training must follow a few rules. First, regarding the calendar. It is preferable not to schedule a major competition directly after intensive weeks of work. It is considered that about twenty days are necessary to fully benefit from a period dedicated to volume. For beginners, it is also important not to try to impose such a sustained rhythm on a daily basis. Integrating twice-daily training every other day or every three days during your interval sessions is largely sufficient.
Training several times a day on an almost daily basis is only possible after about 4 weeks of progressive adaptation – while integrating at least 2 half-days of rest into your calendar.
Learn to listen to yourself to best adapt the effort to your state of fatigue. Also know that effective recovery is not just about resting; it also involves nutrition. So remember to hydrate well and also to refuel with complex carbohydrates and proteins. The use of food supplements can also be considered. And if your schedule allows, do not hesitate to visit a physiotherapist regularly.
| In practice Example of organization for twice-daily training aimed at increasing workload and optimizing progression; Morning session: Endurance cycling at 60% of max heart rate for 1h30 – 2h00. Afternoon session: Endurance work or more qualitative work such as GPP, strength training, or swimming. |
To conclude
Twice-daily training is the very basis of weekly planning for high-level athletes. But it is possible for non-professional athletes who are still seeking performance to imitate them.
Less strenuous than it often seems, twice-daily training allows for very precise management of the workload performed each week.
Finally, twice-daily practice can only be considered when the body tolerates being challenged twice a day without complaint. It is also advisable for those who adopt this discipline to vary their sports activities…
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