- Pyramid training alternates increasing and decreasing intervals of speed, working on physical endurance and fatigue management.
- It is useful for training the heart, lungs and mind, making training more varied and less monotonous.
- It can be done by setting time or distance, adapting to all levels of runners.
Have you ever tried to perform a pyramid workout? If you’ve taken your eyes off the screen in search of a helping glance come back here with us and I’ll explain it to you right away. Pyramid (or ladder) training is nothing more than a type of training based on speed intervals organized in a precise pattern: a gradual, progressive increase in speed is followed by a subsequent decrease. The factors that determine the length of the intervals are: duration or distance, depending on the objective of the workout and the stimulus you want to work on. This is a great workout to get you used to managing fatigue in a progressive way.
Why is it called pyramidal?
The reason is fairly intuitive, but just to be clear, I will confirm (or reveal) that pyramid training owes its name to its symmetrical structure and intensity that rises in the beginning phase and then falls in the final phase.
Different shades of pyramidal
Classic pyramid training is structured with a gradual increase in interval time or distance until the peak phase is reached, which graphically corresponds to the tip of the pyramid. At that point the decreasing phase begins until returning to the starting level.
For example:
Pyramidal (in minutes):
1′ fast – 1′ recovery
2′ fast – 2′ recovery
3′ fast – 3′ recovery
2′ fast – 2′ recovery
1′ fast – 1′ recovery
Keeping the same structure you can convert minutes to meters, turning the one minute into 100m, the two minutes into 200m, and so on. The shorter and more intense the intervals, the more the work will put strain on the heart and lungs, so you will require more effort from the cardiovascular system.
Then there is a variation to the classic pyramid, namely ladder training, which can be ascending or descending. Similar in basic structure to the classic pyramid but in this case either ascending or descending, there is only one of two phases.
If it inspires you and you want to try your hand at it, you can add such a workout once a week instead of the classic intervals session.