I’ve been using TR for over a year consistently and began racing this season. I’ve gradually increased training load over this period of time and just started a Masters High Volume Training Plan with some adjustments made by myself.
I’ll have the biggest Endurance workout load weekly and longer Intensity workouts, which means the majority of my training time will be within the Endurance power zone.
For a while now, I’ve questioned what would be the appropriate way to train in this “Zone 2” power. Basically, as my FTP has increased over time, so has my wide range of endurance zone. My FTP is currently 362w so depending on the workout prescribed, I feel like the high end of the zone is too high and risks leaving into tempo.
I just wanted to see if this is a commonly held thought with endurance workouts or am I partly missing the point of the workouts.
No this is totally a thing. For a couple of reasons (and I’m sure there are more):
Your ‘endurance’ zone doesn’t correlate as closely to FTP as the traditional model represents. This is part of the reason for the range of the zones. It’s not so much that as long as you ride within the band you’re doing Z2. But rather because of the variation in people’s LT1’s your Z2/Z3 line might be 68% while someone else’s is 73%.
As you FTP get’s higher and higher. There becomes such a great energy cost of riding at say 70%. You begin to burn so many KJs that it can become very fatiguing. Most pros with FTPs in the neighborhood of 400W are doing their Z2 rides at 280W. Many of them might do those rides at like 220W. Where you can get largely the same benefits but saving yourself ~250cal/hr of energy burn.
IMO you should be riding your Z2 to RPE. Power can be a guide or maybe a min/max limit but largely ride to feeling. This allows you to find YOUR endurance limit even if it doesn’t match with the traditional zones and allows you to adjust for your other training.
Ex, I usually do my endurance rides around 195-210W (avg) with an FTP of 325ish. But during a VO2 block or other heavy training block, some of my long rides were done down at like 175W. Both because I was so tired but also to get the volume while leaving myself a chance to recover for the intense workouts to come.
Kolie Moore of Empirical Cylcing believes that all Endurance rides should be based on RPE and should feel relatively easy so your High Intensity Workouts are of the best quality. TR’s model is catering more to time crunched cyclists and are usually pushing up intensity as you work your way through the Endurance PL’s to try to make up for the lower volume by increasing intensity. Constantly riding Endurance in the higher end of the zone can potentially be very fatiguing over time.
You’re definitely not alone in wondering about staying within Zone 2 during endurance rides, especially as your FTP gets higher. But don’t worry—your training plan takes this into account.
While it’s true that riding near the top of Zone 2 can sometimes dip into Tempo or Zone 3, nothing major happens when you cross that line.
In fact, touching into Zone 3 every now and then isn’t going to hurt you—it can actually be beneficial as long as you can handle it over the long term. So, the mix of intensities in your plan is there for a reason—to give you the right amount of challenge without burning you out.
As @mwglow15 mentions, your ‘endurance’ zone doesn’t always correlate perfectly with your FTP. This is why while the training zones are useful as guides, your body doesn’t work in rigid percentages, so it’s okay to be a little flexible.
I do agree with riding more to RPE for your endurance rides, using power as a guide but not as the main driver. By tuning into how you feel, you can find your personal endurance sweet spot, even if that doesn’t match up exactly with the prescribed power zones. This becomes especially important during heavy training blocks when recovery is key.
Thanks for the replies from everyone. I’m going to try to not adjust the intensity percentages during prescribed endurance workouts and see how I manage it.
My ftp is somewhere in the range of 345-360. I ride all my easy endurance rides around 200-215w, whether it’s for 1 hour or 4 hours. It should feel properly easy IMO. I can ride much harder for longer, but if I plan to do key workouts throughout the week, I tend to build fatigue that gets in the way of my workouts quality.
Endurance work is not a precise thing, rather, you should have a wide range of acceptable power to do the ride at (ex: 210-245w).
If you feel tired, aim for the lower end. If you feel really good, aim for the high end or even get into low tempo.
You also need to consider your schedule for the next day. So if you’re planning to do an important VO2max workout the next day, maybe don’t go quite so hard even if you feel great.
