I finally got my butt back on the bike in December and have a goal to ride a GF in May with my wife. I started at 190lbs at the beginning of December with with an estimated FTP of 213. I bumped it for January to 225 and completed every workout I started. Having done ftp tests for many years I feel like I have a decent RPE of my body.
Instead of a plan, I’ve experimented with the AI/ Trainnow feature 90% of the time with a few zwift rides to keep things interesting for the last 8 weeks.
Today is the first ramp test to see where I land. (181.5lbs) My mental goal I made for myself in December was 245. This will give me some perspective if the AI gets me to my goal or go back to the traditional style plans.
What does your training look like as a result of TrainNow? I assume you just had it pick a workout for each day…did it give you any sort of structure? Or did it spit out a standard SS, Threshold, VO2 type deal three time a week?
Just got done with the cool down. New FTP of 253w, which I am very happy about.
I started more or less off the coach with some weight training and running in the fall of 21’ (3 times a week). No cycling for at least 6 months.
I tried to stick with the recommended workouts each day. I started with 30-45 minutes and I gradually bumped the time based on my schedule, fatigue etc. I also bumped the 100% effort a few times. (single digits mostly, and I love this feature)
I’m not doing huge TSS blocks yet because I want to pace myself a bit more to stave off burn out. 6 Week TSS average of 291 which includes this week’s taper.
I do about 5-6 TR rides per week using TrainNow in some flavor of the following format:
1-2x 90m sweet-spot/threshold
2-3x 90-120m endurance/tempo
1x 90m VO2Max/Anaerobic
In the summer I’d flip this and drop everything but the VO2Max stuff, and do 2x 60-90m a week. Everything else would be unstructured outdoor rides.
This works really well for me and lets me keep the structured elements, but still gives me the flexibility to move things around without being tied to a plan. I don’t just blindly go with the TrainNow suggestions every time, I’ll adjust based on how I am feeling and use the alternates tool.
Once progression levels were released for TrainNow it really made it easy to achieve progressive overload this way without being tied to plan, since you can keep edging up on productive/stretch workouts as appropriate.
AI FTP is the slam dunk on this. Now every few weeks I can just have TR re-assess my FTP algorithmically to keep me in the right zones.
I can vouch for the AT + New Plans in that light. I used to apply my alternate plans with more recovery weeks instead of the default 5+1 we see in the Sweet Spot Base plans. I did that successfully for 2 seasons after I found the default timing and old plans were not doable for me into the 4th and 5th weeks.
But with AT and the new plans, I have now completed SSB1 twice, and nearing completion of my 2nd SSB2 with the regular 5:1 ratio. I am feeling well trained with appropriate fatigue, but nailing workouts in all but once case. At least for me, this new setup is totally manageable without the old alternate setups I used to apply.
This is my first recommended workout at the new level (based on the time I chose). At first, I wasn’t sure I would be able to complete it. I stepped off the nutrition wagon Friday night-Sunday but was really happy to nail it. I do enjoy these types of workouts though
Like most TR workouts, the RPE in the first 4-5 was high and just figuring out how to suffer. Midway through was hard, but solid. The last 4 took concentration and focus to finish well.
