Adjusting SSB loading period length

[njv299]

I typically follow a low-volume plan, and then supplement with a lot of outdoor Z2-ish riding. Over several seasons of doing this, I’ve found that the sweet-spot base plans containing 5 consecutive loading weeks followed by 1 week recovery are just too much. I usually crash and burn pretty hard somewhere in between weeks 4 and 5, leaving me in a position of wanting to start the recovery week early and subsequently probably taking too much overall recovery time to keep somewhat in line with the original plan schedule. I would much rather split the Sweetspot base plans into 3 4-week blocks (3 weeks on, 1 week recovery).

I’ve fumbled my way through this process before by pushing/pulling weeks and creating my own recovery week schedules, but is there a cleaner way? Especially with AT now involved, would it be better for me to do something like adding ‘Time Off’ and then just doing a self-planned recovery week? If so, should I then insert FTP tests at the start of each new block? I’m not sure how to properly do this without significantly messing with the overall plan schedule and requiring a ton of manual intervention.

TL;DR: In my experience the 2x(5 on / 1 off) schedule of SSB is too long, and I’d rather do 3x(3 on / 1 off). What’s the best way to logistically do that in TR?

[Wayne]

@njv299

I would much rather split the Sweetspot base plans into 3 4-week blocks (3 weeks on, 1 week recovery).

I’ll try and find the thread but there’s many people that do exactly that, split the plan and insert a recovery week in the middle. I wouldn’t personally FTP test in between since you’re just inserting a bit of recovery into what still is a base plan.
Check these for reference:

Alternate Sweet Spot Base, Work : Recovery Week Layout

The following are some possible adjustments that can be made to the Sweet Spot Base plans. The goal is to shorten the number of “Work Weeks” between “Recovery Weeks”. It can be helpful for those who find the default 5 Work to 1 Recovery schedule too taxing. This may include Masters riders and anyone else looking to reduce the fatigue between recovery weeks. It adds one total week to the typical cycle and makes the full Sweet Spot Base a total of 13 weeks (instead of the default 12 weeks). …

Combining and shortening Sweet Spot Base 1+2 (4 work weeks each) - Training Plan Modification

Inspired by Alternate Sweet Spot Base, Work : Recovery Week Layout I came up with another approach of combining and shortening Sweet Spot Base 1+2. I plan to use this as the second Base phase in a progression of: Base 1+2 => Build => Base 1+2 => Build whereas my alternative would have been to just go standard Base 1+2 => Build => Base 2 => Build The adjusted plan skips the easy first 2 weeks of SSB 1 and then consists of 2 parts with 4 work weeks each. In order to get a very nice and cont…

I’m curious about a couple things though:

1. “a lot of z2” - maybe have a look back at previous base periods where you did burn out and were the extra rides all actually lower intensity, or were they maybe higher intensity and even with the low volume plan it was too much without a break? Perhaps you could adjust the additional rides. Speaking from personal experience here of over extending myself many times.
2. I’m not sure of the answer of this offhand since I don’t have a LV plan to reference but plans were updated with some knowledge gained from AI - you might compare the current LV plan with that of previous years to see how the workouts may have changed in the plan and how that might impact your training/recovery.