New to TR, been cycling for 6 years now.
Last 1,5 year I did more structured training because of an event I did earlier this year. I cycled 1300km and 21.500 altitude meters in 8 days (no resting days). The Workouts mainly consisted in endurance (Z2) workouts and some sweet-spot.
Next year i want to be stronger and fitter and am aiming on some Grand Fondo’s like the Marmotte in France and set a good time.
Current stats:
44y old male,
Weight: 76kg, trying get back to 71-72.
1m86 in height.
FTP around 250-270,
Cycling around 10.000 per year (out and indoor), 7-10h per week.
Goals for next year (march-april) is to get my FTP around 300 (or more).
Be able to do more head work in faster grouprides (350-400W for 3-5 minutes).
Become a better Climber, sustained power for 2h, preferabele above 250W, I am now around 210-220W
What are your thought about creating a plan for the next 7-8 months??
Follow TR plan? Or make a custom plan on my own??
Available time 5 trainings per week, max 1,5h on work days, weekend i can do 3-4h sessions (endurance).
I did, plan start tomorrow, but the workouts seems “light”…
I know that I dont have to feel dead after every hard interval session, but my first feeling is that I can do more.
But maybe TR will adapt the intensity after a few weeks? Depending on my input etc?
If it’s serving you up, say, one Threshold workout per week and it looks way too easy, go into Workout Alternates and grab something better.
If it’s offering you 3 × 10 minutes at FTP but you know for a fact that on current fitness you can easily (RPE 7-8) knock out 3 × 15, go ahead and look for a workout that’s nearer 3 × 15 and then let it progress you from there.
Yes, you can speed up the adaptation process by switching in harder workouts and scoring the feedback to reflect that you found the harder workout only as hard as TR expected you to find the suggested workout.
Any ride proposed can be subbed out for any other ride. You have a lot of control over the plan.
If I look at the calendar, the workouts for the coming weeks/months are already known, will that change automaticly?? Or do I have to change it myself??
You might also consider a hybrid approach. For me, the primary value of TR is serving up my interval work (a couple rides with intervals per week). The other (primary) focus of my training is to hit weekly TSS targets and I don’t use TR for that. I use intervals.icu (and previously golden cheetah) to manage my overall training stress and stress balance. I like that approach because it gives me the flexibility to get to a similar end point without planning or locking into specific rides. I might get to the same TSS target by stacking a few medium rides back to back, or I might do a couple really big rides to rack up similar stress. So, I make sure I get my TR intervals in on Tuesday/Thursday (sometimes in the middle of a longer “unstructured” Z2 ride), but the rest of the time is very flexible. In actuality, I’m a creature of habit and most of my weeks take a very similar approach, but it just makes things a little easier and less regimented when conflicts come up.
Here’s a pic of the main intervals.icu chart that I use to manage progression/stress. It basically becomes an exercise of pushing the top chart up (they call it “fitness”) while keeping the stress balance (they call it “form”) in check. And obviously listening to your body at the same time to make sure you aren’t digging a big hole.
Do the first change for this week and then TR will change the workouts for the coming weeks based on how you give feedback on the workouts you doing. It does that in all stages, just do your workouts.
If you’re just going to jump on the trainer, load up whatever Adaptive Training suggests, then I’d go with the plan and (as others have said) mark it as easy and AT will…adapt.
If you’re looking at Training Peaks and intervals and etc then I’d leave it to you to select as you seem fit.
I think the whole marketing strategy for TrainerRoad is for time-crunched cyclists. I’m time crunched enough that I’ll just accept what the plan feeds me. If you’ve got lots more training time then maybe, maybe TR isn’t the best choice for you?
I am not really time crunched, but i miss the expertise to maximize my training effort.
I just want to get better/faster for the fast group rides and be able to go faster on climbs when I do a grand fondo.
Last year i stepped into a trap by training overload, was getting worser every week.
I just need a coach (or algoritme) that give me the proper feedback on the type of training I need.
I will give it a few weeks and see how the plan progresses.
First thing tomorrow, the ramp test. After 6 weeks of vacation and not many hours on the bike it will be challenging.
A good Training Plan is periodised and progressive. This is allows you to target specific physiological systems in an order that ensures you are peaking at exactly the right time.
When you enter the date of your A event in TrainerRoad’s Plan Builder, your Training Plan will be built with the goal of peaking for this event. You will cycle through different phases of training that target specific physiologocal systems.
At the moment, you are in the Base phase of your Training Plan where Workouts are “less intense”. This is intentional. Base training is about establishing a foundation of strength and aerobic endurance. Subsequent phases of training will include more intense workouts, as the goal of the Training Plan shifts toward building fitness specific to your A event.
As you move into the Specialty phase of your Training Plan, the focus will shift to sharpening the fitness you have built, into race readiness.
This is good advice. Give it a shot, let your Plan adapt accordingly and watch your fitness progress.
Red Light Green Light will ensure you avoid this going forward. RLGL is a TrainerRoad feature that monitors your training to help prevent long-term fatigue. You can learn more about it here.
No need to do the Ramp test!! You can use AI FTP detection. Check out this article to learn how we analyse your Training History to get an accurate assessment of your FTP without testing!!
That was a lot of information . Let us know if you have any questions about anything!
Tnx for you comment…
I will do the ramp test, because i just want to know my starting FTP…
From there on i will AI lead my FTP progression…
The base training is indeed lighter than expected (especially the recovery/endurance/tempo sessions), I will see how it benefit me the coming weeks.
I have not a specific event yet to train for, just want to be ready and strong as possible for next outdoor season that starts in march/april.
This year my fitness is very well, so i hope to see some good progression during the base training block, and not only in the 2nd or last phase of the training…
AI FTP will give you a number based on your past history if you connect your prior data to your TR account. I believe it has since estimation for reduced FTP due to a break. But some other FTP estimation methods do not (such as intervals.icu).
For either ramp test or AI, I suggest doing a couple unstructured rides with a few hard efforts before trying to determine your FTP. I say this because you haven’t ridden in 6 weeks. Likely your legs need a few efforts in them to get used to the effort. I’ve found that to work better for me to get an accurate FTP.
Tnx, i did the Ramp test yesterday, and the outcome was as expected.
I did not say that i did not ride my bike last 6 weeks, the volume is just much less then in the spring were i had weeks of 15+h compared to 5-6h last couple of weeks…
Also did a first workout, just to see how a TR workout works, and i was very suprised about the guidance throughout the workout…
I just did some tempo intervals, but TR did give some variation into the blocks, like standing up, increase/decrease cadanse, position on the bike etc… It was very nice to be coached this way…
Last question, the recovery/endurance workouts i want to do them outdoor, does TR automaticly see it (via Strava) when you do these workouts? Or do you need to link it to the planned workout in the calendar?
If the workout is scheduled in your calendar as outdoor (its prescribed power profile is green), it should automatically associate when it gets the activity from Strava. If it shows up as blue (indoor), it definitely won’t associate automatically, but you can go into the ride on your TR calendar & associate it manually.
If the Outside Workouts are scheduled in your Calendar, they will automatically associate to the scheduled Workout and impact Progression Levels and Adaptations.
At the moment, if you do unstructured outside rides, they won’t impact your Progression Levels or Adaptations but will be considered by Red Light Green Light.
At this point no, it was a great event, 8 days of cycling through mountains and very long distances every day is quite challenging…
My goal for 2025 is to do 1-day events, like the Marmotte or the Mallorca 312, 5000 altitude meters and 180km (or 312 for Mallorca), and do it as fast as possible.
So i want to have a higher FTP and have more sustained power to do 2h climbs at 8-10%…
This year my avg power on those type of climbs was around 200-210W, want to get it a bit higher (like 230-250W) to save time and be faster in the overall event.
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. Let us know if you have any questions about anything! 