First training program

Hello,

Today i decided to switch from Zwift over to TrainerRoad, simply because i love doing workouts rather then race. Over the past year i dident do any structured training because i had some family stuff going on. I gained a little weight and lost fitness aswell.
With the upcoming spring/summer i wanna be fit again!
I currently weigh about 76kg and am 167 short.
Today i started of by doing the FTP ramp test, given me an FTP of 161.
Now… with this little info given… what would be a good starting of program for me?

Should i go with a custom build plan? ( i am currently looking at the Traditional Base - low volume).
I also wanna lose weight again during the process which will bump my w/kg too.

I know i will benefit from follow the structured training, but i kinda wanna know what would be the best starting point for me.

I hope some of the more “experienced” TrainerRoad’s can give me some good tips to put me on the way.

Thx!

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I would start with Traditional Base Low Volume. If you find it’s not enough you can add a Z2 ride.
If that’s not enough maybe Medium Volume.
Once you kinda understand TR, go to plan builder and set up a long range plan. It will then be base/build/speciality. Trust the system. It will work as long as you’re consistent.
Have fun.

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Thanks for the reply!
i’ve been looking at the programs…
Now… there is General Base Phase and Traditional Base Phase.
I notice one big difference between those 2.

General Base Phase looks like alot of intervals.
Traditional Base Phase looks like long endurance Z2 rides.

Would the outcome on those be the same?
TrainerRoad actually tells ppl to start of on the General Base as a starting point.

Hey there and welcome to the TR community! :smiley:

Going with a custom plan from our Plan Builder tool is what we’d recommend. After you enter in some details about your goals and how you’d like to train, TR will serve you a plan tailored to your current fitness levels that you follow along to. Easy as that!

We generally advise sticking with General Base, as it says on our website. On a Low Volume plan in particular, you’re likely to see more gains in your fitness by following a General Base plan rather than a Traditional Base plan.

As you already noticed, General Base incorporates more intervals into the plan. These structured workouts will help you build your fitness back up more quickly and efficiently than a traditional base plan, which consists entirely of Z2 riding.

The Tempo, Sweet Spot, and Threshold workouts you’ll encounter in the General Base plan will also typically burn more calories than a lower-intensity workout, which might also be helpful with your weight loss goals.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with the Traditional Base approach, and some athletes prefer it over General Base. It typically requires more volume (around 10+ hours per week) to get the results you might see more quickly by following a General Base plan, though.

Hope that info helps you out! Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

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I believe General Base used to be called Sweet Spot Base(SSB). It’s what I started on. It has intervals but nothing you can’t do if you have been riding.

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Thanks for the reply!

I’ll start of with the General Base Plan on low volume & will throw one endurance Z2 ride each week then.

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