Are you training with purpose?

A lot of amateur triathletes do not need to train harder. They need to train with clearer intent.

One of the most common patterns I see is this:

Easy sessions become a bit too hard.
Hard sessions become a bit compromised.

And suddenly most of the week sits in the same “moderately uncomfortable” place.

That does not mean moderate intensity is bad. Threshold work, tempo rides and race-specific intervals can all be very useful, especially in triathlon. The problem is when moderate intensity appears by accident rather than design.

A few practical checks:

If it is an easy session, you should finish feeling like you could continue comfortably for much longer.
If it is a hard session, it should hit the intended target, not become an "all out survival" session.
If it is threshold work, it should be controlled, not a disguised time trial. 2-3 reps in reserve is a good guideline.
If you cannot explain the purpose of the session, the training program is probably not precise enough.
If your easy sessions reduce the quality of your key sessions, they are not easy enough.

This is why I think the “polarised vs pyramidal vs threshold” debate is often less useful than people think. All three models can work:

A polarised model can be useful when an athlete needs clearer separation between easy volume and hard work.
A threshold-focused model can be very effective when controlled aerobic stress is the priority.
A pyramidal model can be a good balanced default when the athlete is not clearly limited by one specific area.

The real question is not which model sounds best but whether your current training distribution lets each session do its job. I wrote a full article about this, including what polarised training actually means, why moderate intensity is often misunderstood, and how amateurs can apply this without blindly copying elite athletes.

https://substack.com/@dorianhorsten/note/p-199047158?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=2dd4wx

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