French Training Plan Index September - November December January January - mid-March Mid-March April - May

GOAL: Gain Strength GOAL: "Wake up" your body to race GOAL: Adding more speed GOAL: Becoming explosive GOAL: Preparing for competition GOAL: Race speed development

January: Adding more speed 1 Macrocycle = 3 Weeks Hard + 1 Week Easy. This 4-week cycle is similar to September-early December, though you may wish to mix in more short interval workouts to build speed during this time.
Example of hard week:
4 x Weight Lifting		6 weeks high rep at 70% of maximum + 4 weeks low rep at 80-90+% of maximum Focus on paddling muscle groups, with exercises like bench press, bench row, abdominal, back, shoulders, etc.
5 x Paddling		1 x long paddling workout moderate to easy intensity (1.5 - 2 hrs). Can include long aerobic Intervals such as 3 x 20 min on / 1 min off. 2 x technique-specific paddling workouts: 4 x (3' on 1' off 6' on 2' off 30"on) 10 x 3' on 1' off 1 x Speed Workout (Race pace for 1 hour) 2 x (6 x 45" on 15" off) High stroke rate: K1s = over 100. C1s over 85
3 x Running or Biking		Long slow workouts. Stay aerobic for a minimum of 1 hour.
Example of easy week:
2 x Weight Lifting		Same as above
2 x Paddling
1 x Running or Biking