1 or 2 workouts a day

If you have time, are you better off doing 2 training session a day, or one 2hour session on a training plan? Doing the SSBHV1 atm. I feel I could do more with 2 sessions.

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Putting the extra energy into strength training probably has a higher impact.

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Generally One 2 hour session is better than the same work over two sessions IMO.
Even better, maybe 2 hours in the moring and strenght training in the evening (that is is my double session day today :wink:)

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There are benefits to training more than once a day. Training stimulates a spike in (natural) human growth hormone release for example. As does sleeping, which is why professional athletes will train 2-3 times a day and have power naps in between. Unfortunately most of us have jobs!

There are also benefits to training long. Obviously if you’re training for a long event then you need some longer sessions to build endurance and time to exhaustion. Longer sessions also help with fat adaptation, economy, mitochrondial production. And mental strength.

If you’re a triathlete then 2 sessions a day comes with the territory. If you’re a cyclist then I’m not sure the benefits of splitting your bike training in 2 would outweigh the benefits of a single long workout. But as suggested above, if you can do your 2 hour session in the morning and then add in even a short strength session later in the day then you might get the best of both worlds.

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I would choose a single session any day, I think you want get better training adaption and benefit from the longer quality rest.

I’ve become a fan of doing my intensity in the morning and then if there’s time in the early afternoon doing a recovery or light endurance ride to spin out the legs and burn a few more calories. This also gives me a chance to watch some shows since on the bike is of the few times I get to do so. Doesn’t seem to be hurting anything and mostly seems to help since I seem to react well to recovery rides.

This is what I am planning to try tomorrow. I have been commuting by bike on rest days but tomorrow I am going to do my early SSB LV1 workout and then in the evening do an easy ride like Petit to get a few more miles etc. This means that I am not doing anything else on rest days. I thought they mentioned doing something like this on one of the podcasts.

Anyway I will let you know how it goes!

In general, I’d say sweet spot base high volume is very challenging & whatever you feel like gets you through it you should do! Ha!

But I’m going to echo what is probably the consensus opinion on this thread: it’s better to do the 2 hours straight if you can continue to complete it that way. If you feel like there is still gas in the tank later in the day it might help to do an hour of recovery then re-fuel properly afterwards. That way you get the blood flowing and take advantage of the increased insulin sensitivity you get post workout.

+1 to this. I do my intensity workouts in the morning for bike and run then my swims and aerobic work in the PM before or after dinner. It’s been great especially since I know the “work” is done and I can relax without having to think about the workout coming up in the PM

Thanks guys, will stick with the 2hr rides, add in a recovery ride in the evenings if I’m able.

Chad’s workouts are pretty specific. The fatigue builds from interval to interval. Splitting a 2-hour workout in half is not going to give you the same training benefit.

If you don’t have time to consistently follow High Volume plans as they’re written, then you might have better luck following low or mid volume plans to the T, and adding additional workouts when possible.

2 sessions a day is less time effective, you spend less time working because you require 2 warmups and cooldowns.