Any chance you have the full text?
With the Steve Neal podcast, one thing you have to remember is that he was talking about riders training in his gym 4 days per week (two strength sessions, two bike) during the Canadian winter. If you listen to other things he has said he is obviously a believer in big volume
Exactly. For some reason people think medical doctors are scientist. They are not, they are doctors. Also it’s really hard to read a critique of something when it’s riddled with grammar and spelling errors. I wouldn’t have gotten a biology degree from I wrote papers like that🤷♂️
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I just read through the paper from the above download. It seems theoretical, as with one quick read-through, I don’t see how they characterize an athlete’s anerobic or aerobic capacity. It seems sound, in terms of application of training stress, but there are precious few of us that are able or willing to do the extensive on going lactate testing as part of our training. Personally, I spent about 9 hrs/week over the summer doing Zone 1 rides with one of Chad’s VO2 max workouts/week. My FTP went up about 8 points as a result. I’m giving the SSB route a try currently, it is certainly more stressful for less volume, and we’ll see what happens with FTP
This is the podcast with Steve Neal I was referring to.
I think there’s another where he talks about his winter training.
Touché, my friend 
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Frankly, calling it sweet spot base is a bit misleading, considering much of SSB2 is threshold work.
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Last four weeks below.
Main goal: buidling turbo diesel for A-race event
Main intensity/volume regulator: sleep quality. Tried HRV for over a year (yes, I looked at weighted values not just the actue … useless). Sleep and how I feel after waking up.
Endurance rides (END) can go up to TE/SST in intensity. Or can be very easy. Once again, regulated by how I feel. Follows Lydiard’s suggestion for doing base runs at “best aerobic pace”. For me a 2 zone model seems most appropriate, endurance (up to SST) and hard/intense (>= threshold/vo2max/anaerobic).
The entire approach is basically motivated by all my pro Strava hacks which I have shared partly in this forum. Furthermore, all the inputs we have gotten from folks like Filliol, the Norwegean triathletes or Lorang: key is figuring out what you can absorb on a weekly basis. It is important to trust your own feedback loop (in my case sleep quality). It does not matter what hypothetical training intensity distribution you follow, appreciate the individual, pay attention to your body.
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We’ll never know where you would have ended up doing alternative training but based on the ‘bell curve’ thread, a stable FTP in the 50+ age group could actually mean you’re progressing relative to the overall trend.
At 64 I reckon I’ve got to improve 10% a year to stand still.
I certainly agree that a lot of SSB is threshold unless you do HV. I did it last year but was doing 2 hours after work which wasn’t sustainable in the long term and my weight crashed (plus got ill). I find that SS is ok, VO2 in small doses the same, threshold is ok as well…BUT super threshold stuff at 108% kills me - I can just about get through but 2 years running I have got ill a couple of weeks into doing stuff like Wilhelm. Of course this could be because with an April season start for time trials in the UK I am doing it in Feb which is virus time if you teach like I do but I think I will avoid them in future. I like hardish 90 min SS mixed with short VO2 max a group ride and I am going to add the 102% stuff for a month (like Stromlo) which should be near to my 10 mile tt pace pre season. My FTP is still rising slowly as is my W/KG (although that is more a factor of my lack of weight 60.5kg this week than massive watts - 298W on the last ramp). But I suppose I am in a position where all gains now will be slow especially as I am 51. 
Trainerroad really should just rename SSB to something like “High / Medium Intensity Base”
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Who is it that always touts Lydiard? Was it Howe?
This seems to be a key element missing from the discussion, huh?
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Totally agree, for the Low and Mid Volume “Non-Traditional Base”. Could just about call them Threshold or VO2 max base since the distribution is about even between workouts and related energy systems. That is even more true for the 2nd phase.
A training plan by any other name… 
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Didn’t mean for this to turn into yet another SS vs POL thread, sorry. 
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I don’t agree with respect to SSB-1, looking at the plans the only above sweet spot work are the over-unders and here is an example of the goals for over-under:
The two McAdie workouts in SSB-1 (mid-volume) aren’t exact copy&pastes of the other over-under goals, but still basically the same:
Same same.
You’ll notice a lot of drills during sweet spot base 1, and the over-unders are another form of drills IMHO. From the description of SSB-1 mid-volume:
Following the initial fitness assessment, Sweet Spot Base I emphasizes pedal economy - via leg speed, speed endurance, and cadence. It also targets base aerobic fitness via a healthy dose of Sweet Spot training aimed at making every minute of your indoor endeavors count.
While TR downplays traditional base, the mid-volume plan has a very good progression on load. I did part 1 and part 2 over 9 weeks, and my CTL ramped around 4/week from CTL of 4 to 46. Triathlon full distance base (mid-volume) also looks very interesting to my eyes. One “feature” of those plans is they require a large time commitment, raising a compliance issue if you are time-crunched because of all the 2-4 hour workouts.
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For most of us amateurs and/or time challenged masters with career and family, this is the discussion (POL v. SST) is one of the few to keep going. So no need to feel sorry.
In my experience, the elite masters racer, when on form, generally ride some impressive hours. In that time they do a mix of things but, the Kj’s and TSS are impressive. I just don’t understand how anyone could push the stress up high enough with polarized on less than 10 hours a week and expect the same overall supercompensation compared to SST for base.
Just did a stage race against some very elite masters and have raced the best for a while now…Ian Tubbs and Ben Sharp were fascinating to chat with this past week end.
No idea what’s right or wrong but, for me it’s all about pushing CTL up while watching the ramp rate as high as possible. Then shift 4-6 weeks out to more specific training. I’ve found for me mentally SST is way easier than going after big time/miles. Easier to recover, eat, plan life, less mental stress.
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Yeah, I was short on time and didn’t get a chance to confirm on SSB1. Correct at the SS range there.
The title of the article:
Is sweetspot really the best training method for 99%?
suggests only SS workouts… but if you simply take a closer look and let plan builder set something up for you… you will end up with a wide variaty of workouts, in most cases starting with a block of mainly SS workouts, but not even SSB1 is only SS…
In my opinion this article is even worse then the video he posted a few weeks ago… at that time, you could say he was just not informed… but trust me… he got a lot of shit about that, so he should know there might be more behind this statement. But he still has not looked into a total plan and how specific it gets based on the personal goals…
SS is a big part of TR, they simply suggest 99% should start with SS that’s something different then 99% of all people should only do SS
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