Need help using the Coe System

ok that chart i made came out bad, but any help from someone who knows the Coe system?

I had the same question a while back so I contacted Dave (Martin) about it. The idea is to distribute the number of workouts over the entire microcycle. So, if you see 4 to 5 Lactate Threshold runs, then, do one a week for that 4 weeks. Later in the year, it's sort of tricky cause of the density, but, the idea-if you compare against other workouts and what they write-is to combine workouts in such a way as to get 2 (or 3) into one. For instance, one workout they write specifically is that a workout of easy miles and hard miles is actually 2 units (1 aerobic conditioning and 1 aerobic capacity).

part of the problem is that one training session can involve two different types of training. for example, a common track workout is a pyramid. starting from 200 you can go up as far as you like (say to 1600). the workout might look like this 200-300-400-600-800-1000-1600-800-400-200 or whatever. the 200's up to the 600 would probably be anaerobic while the 8,1000, and 16 are aerobic capacity. same thing holds true of a fartlek run with varied surge times. those numbers mean how many times each week you are to use the different systems in order to imporve them.

I used the coe system when i coached in college. Remember they are giving examples of the progression. In the book it even says they are trying to help people develop a system that works for them. Also the use of mixing workouts helps to count as two or even three units trained as stated above. My advice is to adjust the progression to your needs and ability. I found many of my athletes could not handle the some the higher progression levels.

I haven't read Coe, but I think this is what your table is supposed to look like based on what you typed above. If this is wrong, I'm sorry and just ignore this.

The authors of the book don't want to pigeonhole you into an exact schedule. Look at the units given as ratios, or percentages, like making a mixed drink. So one week might have 2 parts aerobic conditioning, 3 parts threshold, and 1 part anaerobic capacity. The idea of that table is to show the change in emphasis on different workouts as the year progresses. Bottoms up.

so are those numbers representing how many threshold, anaerobic, and aerobic workouts per week or per 4 weeks?

If the charts present only total number that should be done in four weeks, and Dr. Martin confirms this, then the authors disagree..

I was coached by Mr. Coe for a bit over two years and asked him specifically about these charts when I visited London for training. And he explained that is was for every week.

Needless to say, his workout schedules were pretty sick and matched the charts...

Marius

http://www.mariusbakken.com