Hello all,
I am generally following general build, rolling road race or climbing road race plans.
I am able to Add 2 more days to my structure. What is your suggestions about these rides?
I will add a 4 hour endurance ride. But I am not sure for the other day. I have available 1.5 hours for this day. Should it be SS or Endurance?
Thanks.
From the podcasts it seems like 3 days of intensity should be it and then fill in with endurance.
Here is a good article to review with more depth and options:
Remember that these LV plans are designed because 3 days is ALL the available training time available, so represent the maximum amount of intensity that should be done.
If you want 5 days of intervals then look at the MV or HV plans and you’ll see the general level of intensity of each workout is reduced to compensate for greater volume, and density, of intensity days. You wont see a HV plan that is simply a LV plan with 2 more interval sessions bolted on - they are all scaled down in intensity.
Adding more intensity in the form of SST work on top of the LV plans would be a bad idea for 99% of people. Just add easy days and keep an eye on how they might affect completion of the hard days each week. You dont need more than 3 days per week anyway, and many would say 2 is probably optimal, but you will benefit from as much z2 endurance volume as you can manage without building too much fatigue.
Alternatively, add strength training if you’re not already doing it. Then add Z2. Or both. As always, add a small amount, assess the impact on fatigue and recovery, then add a bit more.
Man, I wish I followed my own advice all the time.
Definitely endurance. The LV is plenty of intensity.
If you are doing 5 days why not just follow a midvolume plan? Just have a look at the midvolume plan for what you are currently doing. It will give you an idea of what TR suggests.
The other item to consider is do your current plan and add in your long endurance ride…see if you can handle the increase in riding. There is a trade off with intensity, more isnt always better.
In case of doubt, I’d always err on adding endurance rides. These things are like the vegetable of cycling: they’ll do you a ton of good in the long term and they add comparatively little fatigue.
If you look at GBMV, it has one VO2 max, one Sweet Spot, one Threshold, one Anaerobic, and one Endurance. If you look at GBLV, it has one VO2 max, one Threshold, one Anaerobic. So if you could do a mid-volume plan you should be OK to add one Sweet Spot workout to the low-volume plan. Same with the other two plans.
I ride about 5 days a week and have tried both LV using TrainNow to fill in the gaps and MV plans. With MV, I either do the prescribed workouts or use workout alternatives depending on how I’m feeling. Sometimes I substitute one of my intense workouts for a fast group ride. I like doing MV plans only because I’d rather rely on TR to select the recovery/endurance rides that fall in-between the intense ones rather than myself or TrainNow, which doesn’t account for upcoming workouts in your plan. TN only considers recent performance when recommending workouts.
Everyone is different. Just pay attention to how you are feeling. If you’re tired, give yourself a recovery day (or two) and make sure to properly fuel and sleep.
Endurance without a doubt!!!