Working on the idea that it’s better to do the low volume sweet spot plan and complete it fully rather than the medium plan done half arsed, this means I have spare days.
Would it be better to do similar workouts as the rest of the plan or throw in something different like VO2 or anaerobic ones?
This wouldn’t be every week as I work shifts hence not doing the medium, which I think I most weeks I’d be able to do.
You always could put a week of mid-volume in when it fits then do low volume weeks when you are short on time. just make sure the workouts progress as you go through the period. The logic being that the low volume plans are more intense but lower volume and the mid-volume back off on intensity but make up for it in volume.
As @bhrylski already mentioned, the low volume plan already has quite a lot intensity in it, so I wouldn’t add more vo2 max / anaerobic workouts. Better to add something that doesn’t have that much of an impact, like endurance workouts.
I have been adding a 1.5 to 2 hour endurance ride on Sundays…not too much TSS. Ive been shooting for weekly TSS about halfway between LV and MV plans.
Physiologically adding a workout is likely going to be better than skipping workouts. Generally when I’m looking to add a workout to the LV plan, I just grab the corresponding week + day workout from the MV plan.
I just finished SSB 1 and 2 LV with added endurance workouts and rides when possible (60 to 180 minutes).
It feels good to do less intense workouts and it’s more sustainable in the long run. I had a small but appreciable FTP gain for each phase.
It’s seems to be largely accepted that these longer less intense workouts are very beneficial for base phase (and year round).
Hi,
I have a similar problem and from your replies it seems that there are different approachs (adding endurance rides or replacing the whole week by the corresponding MV week).
I’m following a low volume olympic tri plan and feel that I could do more bike workouts (there are only two TR workouts in the LV plan). As I cannot ride every weekend, I like the flexibility offered by the LV plan and I am therefore considering sticking with it and adding a third workout when I can.
It is still not clear for me what the best approach would be :
Considering that adding workouts to my LV plan will mess with the designed continuous and progressive grind in TSS of the plan, can this harm my progression in any way ?
I am currently finishning base and plan builder is proposing me 2 back to back build phases. Maybe I could start by adding easy endurance ride during the first build and more specific (ex muscular endurance) workouts in the second phase if I am handling well the weekly volume?
Thanks
Hello,
Following on this thread with a similar question, I’m following the LV plan and doing some running on Thursday instead of the planned workout. I then do the weekend corresponding MV plan on both Saturday and Sunday to have a bit more bike TSS, with sometimes added endurance at the end.
Any issues with this? It looks like the intensities are similar at the end of the week so I don’t think there would be any issues.
I use low volume and add 1-2 endurance rides a week between 30 min to 1:30 long depending on how I’m feeling. I go with the “it’s better to do low volume and add than it is to do mid and skip workouts” crowd.
Bringing this back from the dead. I did the ssblv1 plan and had zero problems with completing the workouts. So then I decided to try ssbmv1 because I really felt like I could/would enjoy more time on the bike. I have 2 weeks left in the plan including the 1 Easter week. I just did Eclipse which is 3/20 sweet spot and I had to call it with about 15 minutes left. Lately the workouts are really painful towards the end of the interval but I haven’t been stopping workouts much at all. Maybe a couple over/under but that’s maybe 2 and towards the end of the session. Is that ok or should I drop back to low and add some Pettit and Baxster rides?
Thanks!!