/docs · Vetta Trainer
13 training philosophies
The Vetta engine resolves each week using a philosophy. Not marketing — each one is a weight profile over the 66 archetypes. Here are the 13 with the context to pick one.
Daniels VDOT (classic running)
Jack Daniels, 1979. The 5 pace zones (E/M/T/I/R) come from VDOT, which combines functional VO2max with running economy.
Who it fits: any track/road runner 5K-marathon with clean recent race data. The most stable baseline.
Lydiard (huge aerobic base)
Arthur Lydiard, 1960s. Aerobic-dominant in base phase, quality only in peak. Aggressive volume ramps in build.
Who it fits: distance runners (HM, marathon, ultra trail) with lots of available time. High volume and patience.
Kilian mountain (technical trail)
Kilian Jornet style. Lots of power-hike, vert-focus, low cardio on flats, technical descents.
Who it fits: ultra trail with real vert (UTMB, MIUT, skyrunning). Doesn't work for flat marathon.
Coggan power (cycling by watts)
Andrew Coggan + Hunter Allen, 2003. 7 zones Z1-Z7 based on % FTP. The foundation of modern serious cycling.
Who it fits: cyclist with a power meter. Without power, just an approximate guide.
Sweet-spot (efficient cycling)
Frank Overton. Lives in low P3-P4 (88-94% FTP). Improves FTP fast with less fatigue than pure threshold.
Who it fits: amateur cyclist wanting to lift FTP in short blocks (6-10 weeks) without blowing up.
Classic polarized (80/20)
Stephen Seiler. 80% of the time in Z1-Z2, 20% in Z4-Z5, almost nothing in Z3.
Who it fits: athletes with ≥6 hrs/week, experience, prepping long races (HM, marathon, ultra). Runner who can do Z2 without frustration.
Norwegian threshold (Ingebrigtsen)
Marius Bakken / Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Double threshold sessions 2-3 times/week in sub-aerobic zone (RPE 6-7), avoiding pure Z4.
Who it fits: advanced athletes with ≥10 hrs/week, lactate metrics or great intensity feel. Focused on fast 5K-10K.
MTB XC (mountain bike cross-country)
Mix of anaerobic punchy efforts + endurance. Short hard intervals + long technical rides.
Who it fits: XC MTB racer, MTB marathon, gravel with technical sectors.
Swimming CSS (Critical Swim Speed)
400m + 200m test → CSS sec/100m → zones S1-S5. More precise than HR zones in the pool.
Who it fits: structured swimmer or triathlete. Needs a pool and stopwatch.
Classic triathlon (multidiscipline)
Splits the week between swim + bike + run. One brick day (bike → run) and quality in different disciplines on the same day, avoiding overlap.
Who it fits: sprint, olympic, 70.3 and Ironman triathletes. The philosophy sets the time split per discipline.
Ultra Koop (worked ultra trail)
Jason Koop. Time-on-feet (not km/h), back-to-backs on weekends, leg-specific strength.
Who it fits: ultra trail 100K+, long traversals. When km matter less than hours on feet.
Polarized cycling (endurance variant)
Same 80/20 idea applied to cycling. Long Z1-Z2 endurance + VO2max intervals (4x4 or 5x3 at 110% FTP).
Who it fits: cyclist training by time + power who wants deep base + high VO2max ceiling.
Magness (running by evidence)
Steve Magness. Pragmatic mix: no extremes, what the evidence says works for each situation.
Who it fits: runners who trust evidence over trends. Good for those torn between Lydiard and polarized.
How Vetta picks for you
If you don't pick anything, the engine maps automatically: trail → kilian_montana, road running → daniels_vdot, cycling → coggan_potencia, MTB → mtb_xc, swimming → natacion_css, triathlon → triatlon_clasico.
In /training → Engine Settings → "Training philosophy" you can manually pick the one that applies to your sport. If you change sport and the saved philosophy no longer applies, it falls back to Automatic.