Iam a time crunched cyclist and ride about 450 hours a year. I think in the season around 8-10 hours a week and somethimes 12+. Before covid sometimes i commute to work wich is 1:05 hour for each ride. Thats fine and i have the idea that i make more progression than one time 2 hours, but i am not sure.
Because covid i work from home and ride only in the evening my bike. So the time is limited and also my CTL is limited. Is it a good idea to do in the early morning a workout (intensive, sweetspot etc) and in the evening a workout (z2 etc)? Assuming I can handle that physically.
Yeah, like yourself I’m finding it hard to balance home working and working out. Of all the different sports I do, I definitely find cycling the hardest one to fit in effectively.
I guess it depends what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re trying to maximise time in the saddle, then yeah you will probably have to do a a couple of split sessions if you don’t have time for one longer session. If you’re trying to improve fitness then I would suggest just making one session as effective as possible, if you’re riding on a trainer as opposed to outside then the programmes are pretty effective at targeting specific gains.
I know a few people who work out twice a day, not just cyclists, and to be honest I don’t think their abilities or gains are that much improved over others who do 1 session a day, if at all. Particularly if your first session is an intensive effort, it’s hard to make gains without sufficient recovery time.
As a triathlete you’d more than likely be doing 2 workouts a day anyway, just to be able to fit in the requisite number of training sessions for your 3 sports. I quite often do a 5 mile run before breakfast and then have a bike session at 5pm.
Just eat well and recover well and listen to your body (if you need a couple of days off then take them) and you should be fine.
Hi
I am about to start the same. 3 times a week. Going to do the MV plan Century plan.
I used to commute as well, but now retired so maybe i was not any faster, but i always felt great first thing in the morning having cycled to work. Better weight control. Also i did not get the choice of being Lazy in the evening cycle home … No matter if there was a 30mph head wind. I also will see if i can physically do the 3 days. I think I will start with 2 days to start with rather than burning out.
Yeah maybe it is better to start with 2 times a week 2 workouts. Early morning indoor and in evening outdoor when the weather is fair. Listen to my body will be important.
With this plan i will have 2 restdays a week. For example
Monday rest
Tuesday 2 workouts
Wednesday: 1 workout (z2 endurance)
Thursday: 2 workouts
Friday: rest
Saturday: outdoor (z2/tempo/sst etc)
Sunday: outdoor (z2 endurance)
Yes. You may need the extra rest if you are doing those days with 2 workouts.
You may also want to have the rest days after the days you have done 2 workout days.
You will know if you are recovering well enough to do a workout the next day.
Now i do tuesday, wednesday and thursday 3 workouts.
In the new year i will start with tuesday 2 workouts, wednesday rest, thursday 2 workouts. So i can do 1 extra workout with 1 extra restday.