I sleep badly, have a longish work day and struggle to have the energy for turbos in the evening. They also disrupt my sleep even more as i finish and then jump into bed (with rushed visits to the shower and fridge). I’ve tried (fasted) 4am turbos but I think that just cuts out a vital extra hour of sleep and reinforces an irregular body clock. Cycle commuting works better for sleep (~40km, earlier in the evening) but the training benefit is obviously much lower.
I’m not looking for sleep advice per se (tried everything) but on the training side… I’m wondering if i could do 30-45min turbos every night (e.g. the -4 or -5 options) instead of 1h+ turbos three times a week or is this just too short to be of much benefit?
Do i just need to HTFU or is there a workaround for poor sleepers?
Thanks very much,
Katherine
You are only as good as what your body can absorb. Sleep is the foundation to maintaining your body’s equilibrium. You can pound out the training but if you arent putting yourself into a position to recovery properly then you wont be consistent with your training. Consistency is key.
So yes, riding less volume more frequently is much better than doing longer sessions less frequent, especially if you run the risk of less sleep. You can get a good level of (positive) stress done in 30-45’. Obviously not every session is hard.
I’m almost certain that there is a sentence in one of the Sweet Spot Base sessions that says a 30-45 minute, structured turbo session is as productive as almost double that time spent outdoors.
Personally I stick with the Time Crunched sessions and I’m willing to bet that you’ll see positive improvements.