Took a rest week due to travel and through in a ramp test upon return. 230w up 5+ watts from prior tests. But this one was solid whereas the others I was flogging it. So happy with the current training directions.
Back on track with the 4x8 crusade this week.
Good effort today. 4 x 8, mid-day, outdoors in 90-95 deg F heat (but no wind - LOL)
250, 240, 238, 225 Current FTP estimate is 230w
Loop has a couple right hand corners so depending on traffic might lose a few watts depending on cars and such.
These are good workouts. Hard enough and long enough and feeling pretty good about incorporating them. Still a long way from riding a solid indoor 4x8 with 2-3 min recovery. But its coming along.
My season has been cut short by injury, travel, and work. Looking ahead, Iāve got another 2-3 weeks of travel before I start my annual base in late August. Thought about modifying TRās traditional base (adding some vo2 work), and instead am going to try the 2014 Stƶggl and Sperlich 9-week polarized intervention. I used the paper and Watt/Kg plan to create the 3-week block that is repeated 3 times:
Interestingly, that 9-week block delivers the virtually same training load as doing TRās SSB1 high-volume followed by 3-weeks of SSB2 high-volume:
Polarized (2014 Stƶggl and Sperlich) 9-week block:
SSB-1 HV and 3-weeks of SSB-2 HV:
Personally I love the TR calendar (versus TrainingPeaks). Would be nice if TR licensed CTL and used it, but comparing past results between
The curves are very similar with similar values. TRās proxy for CTL is more than good enough for planning IMHO.
One more comparison on ramping load, polarized first and then followed by SSB-HV:
Now Iām going to remove SSB-HV from calendar, and insert (some/all of) SSB-1 before the polarized block as Iām actually traveling a lot between now and the end of August.
Ended up with a nice 15 week base and then low-volume sustained with outside rides on the weekend:
Training load peaks around 81 and stays in the 70s all the way to February. Iāll need to do a little more rearranging, need to change SSB1 to 2/1 to accommodate work travel - that way I can plan out work travel every 3 weeks.
Love the research and interested to see how it works for you.
Work disrupting the 4 x 8 quest and screwing up my consistency. Thatās fine, donāt get paid to ride a bike. Out today for a couple hours and had a nice surprise.
Been trying to get back over 500w for 60 seconds. Now and then Iāll give it a hard effort. Got 500w on the button today. Best five in a long time and my best ever is only 530w.
Toward the end of my rides there is a small roller and I usually give it full blast. Target is 1,000w max and got close today with a 970w max (930w for 5s).
Guess the block of short power work paid off. There might be something to this training stuff after all.
Back to the longer stuff this week unless work surprisesā¦
-Mark
Good post, Iām pleased you highlighted the point about ātime above thresholdāā¦yes the studies used 4 x 8 but itās not the session to get fixated on, that one is 32 mins of work, 5 x 7 is usable, 6 x 6 even, so many variations.
At 53 years of age Iāve found that the very hard work is way more achievable after 3 or 4 days of LT1 work.
Iāve taken a polarized approach to prepping for ācross this year. Iām a low FRC guy, TTer profile, and wanted to try an approach that really worked the aerobic end of things until about 4 weeks or so before the season starts. With about a month to go, Iāll do 100āā intervals at about 100-110% of pVO2 max to start working the top end. Iāve stuck to the 2 days of intensity and the other 5 days Iāve done endurance rides. Recovery has gotten better day to day and also between intervals. Iāve increased weekly training loads without feeling like Iām starting to buckle. I have to agree with Seiler when he talks about the endurance rides giving you āmetabolic resiliency.ā This works for me because I have July and August free, so finding the time is not an issue.
Ok, so im the poster who kinda started the whole discussion with the 4*8 question.
So after investigating this at length and taking in to conisderation other research, including that of periodiztion and other related research here is where I am at.
In relation to periodization
Just a note: I am still doing the 30 second efforts as I think you simply cant ignore the research on HIIT.
So far I have increased my FTP by 10% in about 8 weeks (it sat pretty still on TR programs). Ill also note; my last XC race I was leading my bunch right up to the point where I binned it on a rock and broke myself 
In relation to the future; Ill be adding more XC rides in on weekends now the weather is improving in Australia (weāre currently at the back end of Winter). These sessions will be aimed at technique.
Also my next race is a 6-hour XC, so there will be 1 or 2 long road rides (5-6 hours), more just to give myself the mental confidence I can pedal a cycle for 6 hours.
Indoor 4 x 8 @ 105% So close!! 240-240-240-234 but was flogging the last one for sure.
Current training plan is not so much a plan as enjoying summer. Like several of yāall above Iām shooting for two quality training sessions a week. One is 4 x 8 or similar and the other is VO2max oriented both on weekdays. Other trainer rides are Z2 and then on the weekends I have fun. Mountain bike, calm group ride or long solo. Also hitting upper body weights (maintenance) a couple times a week, core as time permits, etc etc.
Am finding that mix is definitely driving the type of fitness Iām after. Getting stronger on bike, enjoying summer season. Come fall am going to hit the weights hard and double down on periodized with two hard efforts per week.
Hi all,
Iāve been trying to polarize my training as of late. Iāve noticed that it is actually hard to find endurance workouts at 1:30 to 3 hours length that stick my effort into the Z1 (out of 3) HR zones. iāve even found baxter to consistently throw me into Z2 due to the tempo efforts mixed in. Any recommendations for some TR workouts of a longer length or should I just build my own?
I like Boarstone and Koip. See if those meet your requirements.
Iāve used koip but Iāve noticed that anything in the 70% range is a bit too high for me. Boarstone is similarly a bit too hard. Anything in the 55-65% range that youāve tried?
Conness and Gibbs does come to mind. There is also a -1 version of Boarstone. You could do a search of endurence workouts and sort by intensity, that will give you some alternatives. You can also knock down the intensity some if needed.
Thanks for that. Iāve searched through and I have these on hand as well. I wanted a bit of a sanity check as it feels like there isnāt really truly easy rides on hand.
Agreed, but I dont see any harm in touching z2 slightly as long as recovery isnāt affected.
Agree but just keep an eye on your heart rate to check it doesnāt go to high
You know, its funny. I thought some of these rides that touch 70% should be fine. However, looking at my rides with golden cheetah, Iām finding that such spikes in intensity really push my HR into Z2 for the remainder of the ride. So much so that what I think is only Z1 turns out to be a split of HR at both Z1 and Z2 levels. Kinda started validating why I was feeling so fatigued a day later.
Just use the plus or minus and adjust as needed 
Ive found keeping my HR down in Z1 takes an awful lot of discipline particularly if Iām feeling quite good. I use my power target to try and ensure I donāt go over it and watch my HR to check it doesnāt drift up into Z2. Mostly unsuccessfully I might add
Have you looked in to decoupling? If you have a insufficent aerobic capacity the slightly higher intensity in the second half of Boarstone could be to much. Adding volume should help. There are some articles over at TrainingPeaks that describe the topic if it isnāt familiar.
Are You Fit? Aerobic Endurance and Decoupling
Iām currently performing with a negative decoupling (if thatās a good thingā¦) so the second half of Boarstone gives me roughly the same average HR as the first.
