Hi,
First post and very much new to structured training. I am building my own plan for threshold and V02 at the moment. I am thinking of doing 3 X 1-1.5 hr sessions per week and doing threshold 1 week then V02 the next week and so on. I was thinking to increase the progression level by 0.2 each workout to get progressive overload. Is this too slow or fast? My threshold in career is 7.7 and V02 is 7.6 ATM and an 8 week block will bring them to 10.1 and 10.0 respectively. I will also be doing a weekly mywhoosh ride which is fairly intense. 135ish TSS and I do a weekly zwift TTT which has a TSS of about 80 and IF of about 0.95. Everything in between that is endurance. Is this a good way to look at building a block?
Thanks in advance.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Too much intensity and not enough aerobic riding. You say you are new to structured training- how about riding in general? What is your riding history, how long on a structured plan and whats you goal? If I read your post right, it would break down to 5 days of intensity for an 8 week block. Is that right?
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3x 1-1.5 hr interval sessions
An 80 TSS Zwift TTT
A 135 TSS mywhoosh ride? No idea what this is but let’s call it a hard group ride.
Every week?
No, this is not a good block at all.
You can do MAYBE one interval set with those other two rides and ride endurance the rest and hope to sustain that. You’re just setting up to try and do WAY too much.
Alternating between VO2max and threshold week to week also probably isn’t ideal to progress.
Finally, planning an 8 week block… is there recovery in here anywhere?
If the TTT and mywhoosh rides are non-negotiable, plan for 1x VO2max for 3 weeks + those rides, take a proper recovery week; then plan for 1x threshold workout for 3 weeks + those rides and take another proper recovery week. Everything else ride endurance pace, ~60-70% of a proper FTP, or recovery spins at like double digit watts for an hour.
But as the poster above noted, we know little about your training history. That said, I don’t know anyone who I would recommend to ride hard 5 days per week and hope to make anything beyond “noob gains”.
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Thanks for the reply.
I have been riding mostly on zwift for the last 15 months (when I started cycling) and been very consistent 4-5 days a week for the last 12 months. I have started some outdoor racing and have an event to prep for 11 weeks away (a crit then a fondo the following day). I have never done a structured plan before just random workouts, I don’t like the pre-built plans available so was thinking to build one myself (maybe I am just stupid!)
Thx for the reply,
The mywhoosh ride is a race that takes approx 80 mins.
I dont have a training history just been racing on zwift regularly for 12 months and now keen to make myself better using structured training. I will take on your feedback and adjust accordingly. Endurance just felt useless as I only have 1-1.5hrs a day to train but I may be able to sneek a few longer ones on the weekends.
Well, you need to get over this because it’s not correct. You will burn yourself out rapidly riding hard every day in that 1-1.5 hr time. I agree that you want more volume of endurance, and not all endurance is created equal, but a 1-1.5hr endurance ride is hardly useless, particularly with 12 months of riding background.
You’re on a familiar path that many people go through - start with group rides and races and such, then come to structure for the gains but try to maintain the group riding alongside adding structure, and you’re going to plateau or burnout pretty quickly. Lots of people have been down that road… don’t!
It’s why one of the first things I have to do with almost all (not quite all, but many) of my clients is to get them to chill the heck out with their intensity and riding. You end up doing a lot of stuff that’s kinda hard, and it makes you tired, but it’s not hard enough to elicit the gains you need to actually improve beyond “noob gains”.
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Thanks.
Really appreciate the advice
I will do my 2 races, 1 interval session and all other rides at Zone 2?
What you are saying makes sense I just need to be patient.
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Exactly!
I would recommend endurance, yes. How that endurance looks can vary - I have people do some cadence work on those rides sometimes, sometimes those rides can become tempo… but really with the amount of intensity you’re doing with the two race rides and a big interval set, I would just keep it light: recovery or endurance sessions.
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Assuming you already have a decent base (you said you have ridden 4-5 days per week)… Why not something like this?
Workout: VO2
Endurance / Recovery
Endurance / Recovery or Rest day
Workout: Anything considered Threshold (tempo, sweet spot, etc)
Endurance / Recovery
Workout: Long Ride (25-30% weekly volume)
Rest day
Slowly increase PL and every 4th or 5th or 6th week (everyone is a little different) drop a workout in place of an extra recovery day (keep the long ride) and drop the PL.
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