3 intense workouts per week + long rides = too much! Strategies to Increase Volume?

this is excellent advice. if OP wants to increase volume, dropping one intensity session and increasing reasonable z2 (not 70% ftp or f>) would be a good start. that is my one gripe with TR endurance sessions. most of them push you above 70% which i think for most amateurs is really tempo.

i guess i’ll chip in my 2 cents since i am on a high volume plan by TRs standards. just some background. im 37. office job but i have young kids and dog. regularly do lots of walking and playing with the kids. normal yard work, snow shoveling, etc. i started training again mid-october. this is what a normal training week looks like for me.

2 intense sessions, 1 gym session, 2 long endurance sessions, 2 easy recovery sessions. I use abercrombie as my long weekend ride and just scale it up to 65% of ftp. the other long endurance sessions go up and down too much for me. i know this 7-day schedule won’t work everyone but maybe a variation of it will. best of luck.

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Note: this Z2 80% LTHR cap is useful only during volume increase period. Once you have reached to target volume and body has adapted to this load, then you need to raise intensity again to continue progression.

Everybody is different, I myself squeezed ~1 year of “cheap” progression this way. About 4 months with HR capped volume increase (~12-14h/w → 15-18h/w) and then another 6 months gradually shifting number of Z2 days to go by power (68-75% of FTP). After that played with various approaches (back-to-back very long days, Z4 intervals during long ride, prolonged 20+h/w camps) but it is clear that I have plateaued with “forever base phase”. Now I need some serious intensity.

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In what country do you live? Becoming a pro at 4 w/kg seems unrealistic…

I live in Belgium and my ftp sits at 5.1 w/kg and I am just a high-level amateur.

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The way I read the post - if you mean OP is that he is a young professional (i.e he has a job) rather than a professional bike rider. As you say 4W/kg isn’t going to cut it…I’m about 4.3W/kg and I’m not even a top amateur! :laughing:…although I am old and can run as well :grin:

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