TR Polarized Plans Announcement

I was thinking about this announcement and wondered if it would involve 6hrs endurance riding on an indoor trainer? How do you think they will offer the structure to make it appealing to follow?

People have been asking for it…I dont think they need to make it appealing. The question is what percent will use it? The answer really doesnt matter as TR is just offering more options.

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If you do long events then long training rides are appealing and ideal training for endurance. So it will appealing to those who choose it. Just like sweet spot is appealing to those who choose it, but not appealing to others.

Longest I’ve managed on turbo is 2.5 hours but 6 hours or longer outdoors. No bother at all.

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I was forced to train indoor for a long event. I did a few 4-5 hours rides and emerged with PTSD from the experience; won’t recommend that even to my enemies.

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Assuming they are released around the same time as AT does it even matter?

If the system is adjusting workout difficulty and duration based on your performance and feedback you won’t end up with those rides unless you can finish them and report a relatively low RPE

Everyone is different - some people can do these rides and some cannot. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, including when it comes to training. You might be great at VO2 max 3x a week or you might be great at 4 hour endurance rides or maybe you’re great a both - but just because it was torture for you doesn’t mean it would be torture for everyone

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Ochoco is 2:30h inside and 3:45h as an outside workout. Maybe they give you a trainer discount for the LSD rides.
Anyways, on the physiological side, diminishing returns kick in after 4h and the training effect/per h is becoming smaller and recovery duration increases.

I don’t think it’s about making it appealing. Offer it and the people who want to use it will use it. There will always be people who don’t want to sit on a trainer for more than ___ and that’s their choice.

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That’s going to be an issue for many. Those long but easy hours are boring and inconvenient. Though with POL it’s somewhat of necessity.

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Boring for you because of your mindset. It’s not for you but will be for others. Some find day after day sweet spot on a turbo boring and monotone.

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No one wants to do 6hr rides on the trainer. Not even the best paid pros. That’s why they move to nice warm places like Nice.
Polarized suits people who actually enjoy riding bikes! 4-6hrs should be a lovely day out, not something to be endured.

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Guys do it. I know an ultra distance rider, he’s finished RAAM and holds a record in the UK. He can sit and get the work done indoors or outdoors for unholy hours.

You also see people doing ultra rides on Zwift now, so it’s an option for the harder athletes who’ve been missing this.

Personally I would be taking that sort of ride outdoors - don’t think too many can tolerate that long on the trainer. Most guys I talk to struggle to do 2 hours on the trainer. If done as a Group Ride, I think we’d see more people lasting longer, especially if organised on Zwift.

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I would argue that the vast majority does 1-2 hours of sweetspot intervals rather than 3-4 hours of endurance. Not to mention the time crunched aspect.

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OK so there’s outliers, but realistically 3-6hr rides on a trainer are not possible. We’re not talking about a one off, we’re talking about at least 2 rides per week like this, perhaps 4. Month after month, year after year.
If you don’t enjoy the feeling of travelling vast distances around the countryside in all weathers and only see cycling as trying to improve your ftp then you’d be best off following a sweetspot style plan don’t you think?

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Might be true of TR users but certainly not true for most cyclists.

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Exactly week in and out of sweet spot isn’t going to be for the person who likes the long exploratory ride.

I agree, but I also get some great satisfaction out of enduring a 4 hour winter ride in miserable weather!

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It’s totally possible. For many there’s no other option. But yes, they are miserable.

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We’re all different, but I simply can’t do anything >2h indoors as the saddle discomfort just gets too much, whether on rollers or the turbo.

I train as I enjoy riding and I ride as enjoy being outside, exercising and exploring, so no way I’d even be interested in long rides indoors. If I could get ALL the benefits of structured indoor intervals by riding outside then I’d never train indoors again! Right now I’m doing a polarised plan and happily racking up 15+ hr weeks outside even in the cold winter weather. This weekend was 2 back to back cold 100km 4 hr rides and loved it! As I retire this year and plan to spend winters somewhere warm(er) I hope that indoor training will soon become a rarity! :smiley:

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With the right local geography and a bit of imagination, you probably could. :shushing_face:

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sorry, I maybe missed that - can anybody please post a link to the announcement? thx

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