I’m currently training for a sportive to challenge myself — 87 km with +1650 m of elevation on May 4th — and I may try to grab a bib for the Étape du Tour (131 km with +4500 m). I’ve been consistent for over a year after a long break, mainly following low-volume plans to keep training manageable due to other life commitments. This approach has worked well, helping me gradually raise my FTP from 194 to 226 (2.35 w/kg) AI detected ( my garmin say i’m at 2.41 wkg) without risking burnout.
Now, I’m facing a dilemma as Ramadan approaches, during which I’ll be fasting for almost 12 hours daily (from 7 am to 6:30 pm). The first week will be a rest week, focusing on endurance and active recovery to adjust to the fast. In the second week, I’ll begin the specialty phase in preparation for my events.
I’m wondering whether I should stick with a low-volume plan (3 training days per week see the screenshot) to maintain intensity without overloading my system or shift to a medium-volume plan (5 days per week) with shorter workouts — around 45 to 30 minutes each — to spread the load more evenly. My goal is to balance effective training with recovery, ensuring I don’t compromise my fitness gains or overexert myself during the fast.
Yes that’s my plan in both scenarios. Breaking my fast, usually with dates a banana, during workout may be I’ll take a gel ,if need be, and electrolytes drink to replenish then have a proper meal after training. May be a recovery shake before going to bed.
My question is would doing a mid volume with shorter workouts be equivalent to low volume long workouts? I know that I need long steady efforts to prepare me for long climbs but I also thinking that it may take longer to recover from those given the fasting state.
As @MikeMckinney posted, check out some of the previous threads on this subject – there is a lot of good discussion!
I think sticking with 3 days per week as you have now is a good starting point. That gives you 4 days totally off to recover each week, which may be needed with the fasting. It may even be worth changing your plan to a Masters Plan to decrease your intensity a little bit while still maintaining 3 workouts per week. Depending on how you feel, it may also be worth using Workout Alternates to find shorter versions of your upcoming sessions if you find that what’s on there is too long.
You can maintain your fitness on relatively little training, which I think might be the goal during this period given your life circumstances – it will be tough to gain fitness while fasting. Overexertion while fasting can happen quickly as well – as @ivegotabike mentioned, some of those workouts you have scheduled currently will burn over 1,000 Calories, which can be very difficult to recover from without enough food coming in.
For those reasons, I think it would be good to keep the Low Volume plan for now and perhaps even dial down the volume/intensity further by using Workout Alternates. I think prioritizing preventing burnout/overtraining will be key for now, then you can really smash out the end of your Specialty Phase when the fasting ends.
