SS level 10 what’s next?

Training
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I reached Sweetspot level 10 well 10.4 a few weeks ago.
The following week ai ftp only went up 3 watts to 306 which ai ftp had it at before it went down to 303 the previous time.

I may have failed one workout in that time period.

I’m reaching the point where it’s harder and harder to find time to complete the sweet spot workouts.i think im down to 9.4 with the increase.
I do all these workouts outside. So my gap between intervals is always longer due to descending.

I know this is a silly issue to have but I just can’t believe I’ve done this much work to get a 3 watt increase.

This week I skipped my sweet spot workout and did a 2nd threshold workout.

My target events are crits, road, and gravel.

Anyone else had this problem of hitting sweet spot level 10 and not sure what to do next?

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Sweet spot doesn’t do that much to actually raise ftp. I like doing sweet spot and it helps with time to exhaustion but don’t expect it to raise the ceiling. You should move on to vo2 stuff

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+1

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Word! My plan has that for me in 3 weeks.

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Remember too that all that sweetspot work will benefit your cycling fitness in ways that the FTP test simply does not reflect.

As has already been said, use the base it has strengthened to add some threshold / VO2 / Sprints into your schedule now.

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Nice work on your training lately – great consistency!

As others said already (and as your plan has you doing soon), it seems like you’re about ready to move into some more Threshold and VO2 Max work.

All that Sweet Spot training will have strengthened your aerobic base considerably, which means you’ll be able to make some solid gains as you move into higher-intensity sessions now. :muscle:

Since you’ve reached SST Level 10, it seems like you’re quite fit at the moment. I noticed your plan calls for Level 1.X VO2 Max workouts as you get into your next phase of training, so I’d recommend using Workout Alternates to find something in the 3.X-4.X range – those workouts would probably be more appropriately challenging for you. You could also use our Workout Library to search for “Traditional” VO2 Max workouts in the 3.X-4.X range. Once you get through one of those workouts, your Progression Levels will update, and your plan will adapt to reflect that.

Hope that info helps – feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions!

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image

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Need some long steady state intervals

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Thank you for the reply and I’ll definitely bump those vo2 workouts up a bit. :muscle:t3:

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Why doesn’t adaptive training understand that a 1.0 V02 workout isn’t appropriate for someone who is doing level 10+ sweet spot workouts? I know that a big WL V2 project is in the works, but there are some real low-hanging-fruit fixes that could much more easily be done in the meantime.

I’ve used TR for years, so I know when to ignore PLs, but it’s easy to see how newer users can be confused with examples like this.

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vo2 to raise the ceiling. SS and threshold to push the duration.

TR has a custom workout creator. Build a workout with a warmup, then progress SS time in zone. Don’t know where you are at now, but I assume if your are at level 10, you can do 2 x 30 without issue. So 1 x 60, 2 x 35, 2 x 40, etc, etc… Or if you higher, you get it. Just push 5 or 10 min a workout.

Or if you don’t have time for long SS, do threshold work. Same concept.

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Lots of good info here :smiley:

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What else than base training do you expect to raise your FTP?
Of course it does given progressive overload applies.

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Vo2 work raises ftp, sweet spot and threshold work help to extend time to exhaustion.

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My greatest improvements in FTP was during Traditional Base Mid Volume. That’s not possible then? I think your view on training is a bit oversimplified.

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For a well trained cyclist sweet spot doesn’t really raise ftp. For a beginner every kind of riding raises ftp.

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I do not use the PL’s so not sure what SS level I am in but in history I went to 10 on SS, tempo,… al ‘base’ zones…

I did some aerobic riding last days and maybe it also time to move on to something else? vo2? treshold?

  • Endurance 4hr ride: 0.63IF 3.8% decoupling
  • Sub LT1 2hr ride: 0.80IF 2.2% decoupling
  • Tempo ride 35min 0.86IF 3.7% (5 min easy)
    20min 0.86IF 0.3%

Maybe do a longer tempo interval (1h-1h30) and watch HR change over time?
But when you know your aerobic fitness is good enough and you start doing treshold, or even vo2max work?

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it’s not, go listen to empirical cycling podcasts on FTP training. I myself do sweet spot blocks every year where I do at least 1x90 at 90% percent, my ftp won’t budge that way, believe me, I wish it did, but it won’t. Once you’re past some initial gains, neither sweet spot nor threshold work will increase your ftp.

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It’s not about 1 block or two blocks, it’s about progressive overload or not.
FTP is driven by the ability of substrate oxidation which can be developed with lower or higher intensity training. Just that you can do so much more of the first one.
Given you are healthy, if you don’t see FTP improvements with base training you are either at your genetic limit or you don’t apply overload.

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base isn’t for ftp building, base is for working endurance/time to exhaustion. i don’t know how else to say it. I’ve been training for years, vo2 work is the only thing that actually moves the needle at this point. go listen to empirical cycling pods, those guys know way more than I do.

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