I know this kind of question was already asked, but I’d like a confirmation about my own training.
Currently doing Base Training (started 3 weeks ago) and already a long distance rider, I’ve currently got an unlimited amount of time for training for a month. The current volume (8-10 hours) is easily done and I’d like to add some Z2 sessions. Ideally a Z2 session before breakfast and normal session in the afternoon, after a pre-training meal.
My question is: considering I want to add 1-hour Z2 session by day, what would be the ideal amount of day by weeks? I can do it everyday if needed, but want to consider the benefits/time_invested ratio.
As many as you can manage without incurring undue fatigue? Seriously., every day if you can do it. Add an hour of endurance volume, great.
But are you doing this with Sweet Spot Base HV? Because if you have unlimited time to ride and can do 15-20 hrs, I would suggest not doing sweet spot base.
Sweetspot is seen as a way to get a good bang for your buck in limited amount of time. If you have plenty of time you could go for the polarized approach, spending a lot of time in Z2 with a bit of higher intensity days. Some people might say this is already the best approach even with as little as 7-10 hrs per week.
I’m not saying sweet spot isn’t adequate. I’m saying if you have the time available to ride 15+ hours of endurance and do like 2 interval sessions per week, that’s the way to go. SSBHV (last I looked - it’s been a while) is 4 interval type sessions per week. No need for that.
Ride as much endurance as you can, do periodized interval work. That can be sweet spot, threshold, VO2max, etc. Just depends on your goals. But riding 10+ hours per week and doing four sweet spot interval sessions isn’t going to last long for most people. Riding that much sweet spot is intended to be a hack for not having enough time to ride endurance. It works to a point, but you’ll plateau quickly and never really develop great endurance.
As someone who did this last winter…100% on point. I was probably doing 15 hour/wk on the bike with 4 sweetspot sessions/week and additional lifting. I plateaued HARD.