How you should train depends less on your calendar age than on your training age: the consistent, structured work you have accumulated in your sport. This tool estimates your effective training age and matches it to the periodisation model that will keep you progressing.
How it works
Your raw years are multiplied by a consistency factor to give an effective training age, which then maps to a category and a recommended model:
effective years = raw years × consistency factor
high consistency ×1.0 moderate ×0.7 low ×0.4
< 1 yr → Novice → linear progression
1–3 yr → Intermediate → undulating / weekly periodisation
3–5 yr → Advanced → block periodisation
≥ 5 yr → Elite → conjugate / specialised blocksThe discount for inconsistency reflects that adaptation accrues from regular training, not the passage of time. Two disciplined years beat four sporadic ones.
What each periodisation model means in practice
Linear progression (novice) is exactly what it sounds like: add a small fixed load each session — 2.5 kg to the bar, one extra set, ten more metres — and the body keeps adapting. This works brilliantly for beginners because the stimulus is genuinely novel and recovery needs are low. The moment progress stalls week after week, you have outgrown linear programming.
Undulating periodisation (intermediate) varies the training stimulus within the week or the month. Instead of adding load every session, intensity and volume rotate: a heavy day on Monday, a moderate volume day on Wednesday, a lighter technique day on Friday. The variety prevents the stimulus from going stale and suits athletes who need concurrent strength, power, and conditioning work.
Block periodisation (advanced) dedicates four- to six-week mesocycles to one dominant quality — an accumulation block for volume, then a transmutation block to convert it to strength, then a realisation block to peak performance. The sequencing allows high specificity without the overuse that would follow from training all qualities simultaneously at high intensity.
Conjugate and specialised blocks (elite) blend multiple training qualities simultaneously through rotating exercise selection and maximal-effort or dynamic-effort methods. These approaches require the recovery infrastructure, body-awareness, and base of adaptation that only years of consistent work supply.
Example and tips
A lifter with four calendar years of fairly consistent (×0.7) training has an effective training age of about 2.8 years — intermediate — and is best served by undulating periodisation rather than the linear progression that worked as a novice. As you advance, expect gains to slow and your programming to need more variety; this is normal, not a sign you are doing something wrong.
A few practical notes:
- Be honest about consistency. Many athletes overstate their disciplined years when counting calendar time.
- Switching sports resets your training age for the new sport, even if you carry over excellent aerobic base or movement literacy.
- Injury lay-offs of more than a few months reduce effective training age, because adaptations in connective tissue and motor patterns partially regress.
- Training age is sport-specific: a marathon runner with eight years of mileage who adds strength training is a strength novice and should program accordingly.