My training this year has been restricted to a low volume plan. A lot of it came down to having young twins that liked to wake up at 6am when I was previously getting some of my training rides in.
Recently they’ve started sleeping better and I may be able to add some more volume back into my training ride schedule. My question is: how should I go about it, make one or more of my existing rides longer in duration or adding another ride day with a shorter duration?
Right now I’m riding three days a week (doing trainerroad workouts mostly outdoors while it’s still nice outside). Two of those days are hour long rides over lunch and then an hour and a half ride on the weekend. I could add a new ride day in the morning and do an hour or I can try to stretch my weekend ride to two~two and a half hours.
I would say that riding that amount of volume per week then either option would give you roughly the same benefit and that you should do whatever your new circumstances (congratulations) allow.
Personally, I would choose the higher frequency, but lower daily volume option.
Consistency is the key to improvement and filling in rest days with an added day of training will yield grater benefits than adding volume to one existing training day, IMO.
That said, both options will provide improvements, so don’t sweat it either way. More volume = good!
I’d add the extra day and then go longer on the weekend when you can. That way you’re guaranteed the extra day during the week, but longer weekends will add even more when you can, and also be a nice weekend stress reliever.
More volume is almost always better, how you get there is secondary. I personally do well with longer rides on less days. I generally prioritize 3 long rides per week and that gives me more mental and physical rest between rides. Most of my priority races are 8+ hour events, so the longer rides also better prepare me to be on the bike for long hours.
Part of this is what kind of riding/racing you are training for. If you are a 1 hour crit guy, maybe doing all short rides works well. But many coaches advocate for getting in long rides periodically, even if it can’t happen every week. I don’t know how much of that is mental vs. physiological benefit, but I feel like long rides are the cornerstone of my fitness. I also feel like I spend a bunch of time getting prepped for rides and winding down and cleaning up afterwards, so doing fewer/longer rides feels like it’s making training more efficient. But my kids are out of the house and I have the time to jump on the bike for 5+ hours at a time.
Agree with the others - try and fit it in when you can. Adding an extra day and planning to go a little longer on weekends is going to be a great way to add volume. That being said, don’t discount the benefit from adding 30 minutes of Z2 work at the end of your intervals on your shorter days on the bike. If you do that 2 - 3 times a week, the extra time will add up. An extra 90 minutes extrapolated over a season adds up to a lot of hours. Now compound that year over year, and you get the idea…
Take it when you can get it. 15 minutes of z2 after your Low volume intervals, a stolen 0530 30-75minutes of zone 2 another day. I even created a custom workout, low zone 2, I literally call “routine builder” just to get myself in the habit of claiming time. I can zone out in front of the TV, not think about the workout, but claim 75 minutes of riding even when motivation is weak after the kids go to bed.
I lost AM workout privileges in my house when my second child refused to sleep past 0400 (pre TR). Just add the volume any way you can, that impacts family life (partner’s attitude) the least.
I still don’t have AM rights to the home gym, but I’ve got a lot more freedom to go long 1 weekend day as long as chauffeuring duties are covered.
As far as which is most effective? Its the consistency of volume for me, and that’s partially why I commute by bike as often as humanly practical - 55 minutes of riding time (daily) only costs me about 20 minutes of family life, strictly… And since I’d be leaving before the kids were even awake, for car or bike, its really only 10 minutes in the evening that I’m out… That math is good math for consistency. It also keeps me sane when I can’t steal a workout on the trainer.
i would say if you’re gonna add under an hour to just add on to what you’re already doing…just because every time getting on and off the bike / shower, etc adds whatever 15-20 min?
just for me personally…dunno about you. if I had this type of set routine in stone, I would want to preserve it so it was my floor and my family knew these are the times I ride. so I would wanna add 15 min to each lunch ride and 30 to the weekend ride. I feel like if you start to add another day, you might get called into family duty on your normal day and disrupt that. I dunno. that is just me and depends on you and your family. i’d just wanna preserve my floor / routine.
