I’m sure there’s a sound reasoning behind the structure of the HV plan, but if you want to up the ante, as a first step you could also look for workouts with the same time in zone but less/no rest intervals.
Last year i did Extra Z2 on end of all rides, sat and sun had extra intervals.
This year(compared to my base last year) i do a little less total TSS, but even more SS and my avg IF during SS time is allot higher. Also doing longer intervals.
33/50 SS workouts done, getting stronger so its working.
I’ve modified the MV plan to be more in line with HV. But I think I might be doing to much work over Zone 2? Reason I went for MV is I have some weeks where I can’t be on the bike for 2hrs+ so I’d rather modify the plan.
Just have the weekend workouts left for SSB1 HV before recovery week. SSB is my thing but it’s been a bit tougher this year basing it off 290w, last year was at 275 and was way too easy, and even 285 was too easy for SSB2. Hoping to eventually settle at 295-300w for the year, I did SSB2 a 2nd time in late spring based on 310w but that was a bit ambitious because short power build I tried doing over the summer was way too hard. I’ll see how I feel after the end of week 6, but I’m prepared to keep myself at 290 for SSB2 and then bump myself up for build.
A big part is always just getting used to the workouts mentally, especially when they are relatively long. How did you get on the 2nd week?
Semi unrelated, as more about simply doing more volume, but at what kind of volume do you start focusing more on z2? Obviously when you only have 8 hours, doing mainly sweetspot is fine, but not the case when doing 12-15hrs.
For me, Z2 is the go-to for added volume, regardless of what phase I’m in. It’s pretty low stress and I think it’s always good to build/maintain base fitness. It’s a great break from intervals and can be done outside with very little mental focus needed to stay in the proper zone. It also requires minimal fueling and I always feel like I’m getting leaner when I’m doing Z2 rides.
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I have tried all. This year im actually doing allot of bonus SS work and also at a much higher IF (my own workouts with longer intervals and less breaks). And almost done with week 2 in SSBHV2, Big gains so far and at my all time best for base period.
Just make sure that you can show the gains by being able to raise TSS/SS/Watt per week.
I didn’t get on the bike at all, unfortunately. I got sick, and seem to be getting worse rather than better. Hopefully I’ll be back on the bike before too long.
This is exactly my plan, SSBHV1 doesnt have the issue but SSBHV2 does with those 2hr rides during the week. Having to be out the door at 7am for work, and not getting home until 6pm there is no practical way to do the 2hrs in the morning. I plan to do a 90min instead.
Has anyone subbed out the Sunday 2hr SS ride for the long endurance/tempo ride? As someone who races cat1/2 races I feel like the added time in the saddle and having one long ride a week would be more beneficial than just heaping on more SS, plus it allows for some active recovery (if we want to call it that) by dialling down the intensity a bit.
Since mid-Sept 2019 my rolling TSS looks like this as I have been going off-book with some different training to really build my aerobic base (lots of z2), and currently running a 6wk TSS avg of 502:
What I have then done is utilize the long rides on the Sunday to build things as follows:
And then begin modifying SSBHV2 into this;
I’m hoping that banging on 10hrs a week and a slow build in TSS should work well.
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Beginning of the end for my extra tough SSBHV, 15/50 SS workouts left (3 weeks). If i can just nail this week without any big issues the last 2 weeks will be so much easier mentally.
Taking out some vacation on intervall days next 2 weeks which may be counterproductive because it will lead to more training load (if my legs says it’s ok).
*Black line is 2019 season first round of BBS CTL/Fitness
This is what I’m doing, adding z2 volume to my General build MV plan. I end up with the same hours or more as the HV plan but I can only fit 90 minutes in the morning workouts during the weekdays.
Finished the hard portion of SSB1 HV yesterday, feels good to be done. And I ended the plan on a high, I absolutely nailed the toughest workouts. Galena +3 ended up with my HR avg 154 for 20mins, whereas earlier the 20min efforts might have had me around 158 avg. Interested to see how the recovery week affects me as well going into SSB2
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Tuesday is speedwork day for me, so here is last night – workout 2 for “do at least 1000kj of endurance, then do the hard stuff in the second hour.”
the :30 and 1min efforts are limited by the fixed gear setup, but I was trying to whip the gear as fast as I could (I’m a grinder, so this is probably pretty good for me over the winter).
I’ve adapted Jack Daniels’ plan for an 800-1500m runner for cycling – so my “speed” day is short hits at around my 2min power best from the previous year. AC/FRC is my weakness, while FTP and stamina are my strengths, so hopefully this approach works that limiter some over the winter without overcooking it.
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Does anyone have a strategy for weight training during SSBHV1? I’m trying to fit time in the gym in and I just see possible overtraining potential giving the TSS load. thx.
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I do it for only upper body and immediately after my workouts. I try to keep total set volume down. I usually leave feeling like I could do a bit more.
On some of my exercises I’m not trying to increase rep/weight; just maintain what I’ve already built. The more tired I am the more I try not to increase rep/weight/sets.
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word.
Gotta say I have seen appreciable, and I mean like 15% bumps in sustained power, after high weight low rep deadlift and RDL sessions. I want to get some multi-joint posterior chain stuff in but not sure how to do it on a 600TSS week. I just listened to the pod about muscle signaling, which all makes sense but at the same time it’s just a bummer man!
So i’m at an impasse on how to execute this.
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You could play with the workout creator if the TR crew hasn’t done something like this one – from the Pro/Elite thread talk about how U23s look at “tired 20” power, what they can put out after 2000kj of work, I’ve decided to do my 20s or other intervals after doing 1000kj of endurance or tempo. Anyone is fast in the first hour, right?
60min@80% (280w), then some surge-y 20s. I used to do a lot of isopower intervals, but now that’s boring, and oddly more stressful mentally than on/off type efforts that yield the same avg power, and as a 53-year-old dog, I’m trying to learn some new tricks and be less of a diesel and a little better at more road race-specific efforts.
First one is steady 88% with some :30 surges up to the high end of zone 5, then closing the 20min off with some 30-30 (again, power is gearing-limited on my fixed setup). The second one averaged out to 90% but normalized higher – 1:00 at a little over FTP, :30 down to 70-75%, for 19 minutes, then a closing :30 sprint. Next week, I’ll just do two of these. It seems to go by pretty quickly.
Sometimes, put the volume before the intervals – late in the race is where is matters.
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I felt amazing doing my first season of SSBHV1 after several years of mid volume plans. But, having successfully nailed all the sessions despite a tricky period of business travel, when I got to the first (much needed) recovery week, I got a series of minor bugs that wiped me out. Having picked things up again after 2 weeks of rest and recovery, I tested again. Devastated to find that my FTP had actually dropped by 1W!!
I’m trying not to lose heart over the result as, like many have noted, top-end power diminishes through the course of the base phase, and I am also clearly still not completely over the illness. Indeed I was astonished to achieve an all-time max HR that was 2bpm higher than my max of 2 years ago, but I put this down to fighting the infection. I did notice that, although my overall “score” was lower, I was able to hold a more consistent power output, indicating a stronger base. I’ll have a few days of outdoor mtb over the Christmas break before hitting the SSBHV2 but will be sure to get plenty of sleep and good nutrition to keep the bugs at bay this time (and try to shirk any business travel!).
Given that any powermeter will vary by +/- 5w on a daily basis, a 1w difference means absolutely nothing. Actually, so does a 5 or 10w difference – for a single day test.
Looking at HR/power over the training block is probably a better gauge of fitness. If, after a couple of rounds of SSBHV, your power at 60, 70, and 80% of HR peak is up, day in and day out, you’ve gained fitness.
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