Periodisation of training is an important component in the preparation of athletes for competition. Periodisation is the systematic organisation of a training programme into distinct phases. On a fundamental level, a training programme may be divided into pre-season, pre-competitive, competitive and off-season phases. These phases may then be divided further to focus on the development and improvement of specific performance related factors. An approach that is commonly used in the pre-competitive phase, especially by swimmers, runners, cyclists and triathletes, is to increase their training demands above baseline for a brief period (overload) and then dramatically reduce the training volume just prior to competition. The rationale behind this approach is that athletes enter a temporary fatigued state when training hard. Then, when the training load is reduced, an adaptive response occurs whereby the athletes actually perform at a higher level than they did before the increase in training.