Hey folks, new to TR but so far I love it. I’m looking for some advice, I’m currently doing sweet spot volumn 1 and i’m really enjoying it but it only has me doing rides 3 days a week. I am indeed tired after my rides and I do appreciate them, especially the big one at the end of the week, but i’m wondering if I can add low cadence rides in between my training rides with TR?
Can i hope on the bike between two training rides for an hour and spin at low enough cadence for the caloric expenditure and not mess up my recovery?
I’m not looking into doing HIIT or anything like that, just an 45-60 mins of a nice easy pace to burn off an extra 500 calories a week.
Sure. Look at rides like taku (and it’s minus 1 version), beech, bald knob. Basically anything you ever see in a recovery week. Use the intensity adjustment if you want to drop the demands a bit more. But you should only do this if you won’t be left in a state where you can’t finish your next workout.
An alternate is extend the warmup or cooldown of the midweek rides by 15 minutes and the Saturday ride by 30 and that gets you your hour without needing to do extra days.
You can ride these at a normal cadence. There isn’t any specific reason I can think of to use an unusually low cadence just because it’s ‘easy’.
Experts will be along soon, but I like the podcast suggestion just to extend the cool down. Then you can choose your power and cadence.
By adding rides to my lot of 3 to my busy life means, changing clothes, syncing, calibration, fuelling, post recovery nutrition, laundry etc. So if I’m already on the bike my time is used more efficiently.
I think it is an excellent idea. I am currently on SSB low volume and I do almost what you suggest. I do the 3 prescribed workouts, add 20 minutes to the cool down on each ride and (mostly on Sundays) I do an extra slow low intensity ride.
Worked wonders for me so far. Up 15 W since I started. And the nI haven´t even gone in to the build phase yet.
But bear in mind that the 3 rides per week in low volume are quite hard, so keep good track on your recovery.
I like filling off days with rides and keeping my hr below 120. 600-700 calories burned. Typically they are zone 2 rides. I did it all last year. it never caused fatigue and I felt fresh for the next days ride. I have a teammate who has the same coach and his hr target is under 110. Not sure why the difference we are the same age but a bit of a weight difference. But you can see what works for you.
You’re on the low volume plan. If you have as much as a couple of extra hours per week then consider swapping to the mid volume plan. That essentially adds in additional Zone 2 work that you’re considering. Note that these rides are low intensity, not low cadence. There may be some benefit to doing some low cadence drills, but I think in this instance you are seeking low intensity.
Also note that Sweet spot base low volume 1 isnt designed to kill you. You should be completing workouts fairly comfortably and recovering in between sessions. Don’t confuse your current comfort with being underworked, especially as a new user.
Here’s my advice:
Complete sweet spot base low volume 1
When you start sweet spot base 2, consider changing to the mid volume version, but note that the workouts are harder than volume 1.
Note that it’s much better to comfortably complete a low volume program than start dropping workouts from a higher volume plan, which is worth considering if you expect to do any outdoor rides during this time.
I would first start by extending the workouts by extending the cooldown. That would give you recovery days still. If that isn’t enough, adding additional low intensity workouts, z1 and z2 is the next step.
I am in the same boat as you - wanting to add in some more rides to expend some calories, but cannot commit to the MV plan. I am also on the LV and add in 1 or two extra rides a week. The consensus seems to be to commit to the LV plan first and then add in additional rides as time allows. I have been adding in Carter most Wednesdays and then a couple of times I had done West Vidette on a Sunday.
I’m new to TR and structured training. I started with SSBLV1 and am currently nearing the end of SSBLV2. Throughout SSBLV1 I added either Taku, Taku-1, or Dans for extra volume and to burn some extra calories.
Starting with SSBLV2 I switched from adding workouts to extending the cool down and the cool downs intensity of most workouts. This switch wasn’t pre-planned, it’s what I needed to do to make sure I was recovered enough to complete the prescribed workouts properly.
Starting TR, I would never have thought that I’d need those recovery days with only 3 rides a week (3.5 hrs.). For me, one of the best takeaways from TR has been to change my thinking about the importance of recovery…that it IS part of training. I’d never really viewed or taken recovery that serious before. In addition, I still track my calories, but I also focus on properly fueling my workouts now. It’s a delicate balance I’m still figuring out.