Can I ask for an opinion on my self adapted program?
On june the 1st I start weeks 4, 5 and 6 of GBHV.
I feel like the only thing missing is 1 big Z2 outside ride per week, so I took the friday off and added an 8th day in the week to do that one. So I have 8 day weeks with 2 days off, which makes it basically 3 days on, 1 day off untill the recovery week. There is still a ramp in time and tss towards week 5 and 6. The recovery week would start on the 24th. In total I would do 38h in 23days instead of 30h in 21days Please share your thoughts!
Looks like you really only have 4 working days on the bike per week. 12 hard work outs in 3 weeks. I feel like the fatigue from 5/6/7 might impact your 9th work out.
With that being said why not set it up for hard tuesday, thursday, Sat and Sunday, and if you want to throw bays in on a Wed or Friday when you feel up too it. Always better to be crisp and nail the work outs then fatigued and grinding.
If it works for your schedule and you’re adapted that amount of volume then go for it. The reason most training plans run of 7-day weeks is that is how life is based for 99% of us. However, a lot of pros (at least in the running world, not sure about cycling professionals) operate on 10 day cycles rather than traditional weeks. Plus adding the Z2 work will be very beneficial for your overall development.
if it’s truly 3 ON, really hard, it may be tough to complete that with only one rest day. However, if the third day is endurance, and you feel good doing it, 3 day blocks can be really effective.
Just make sure you really utilize that rest week to recover, and absorb all of your hard work!
How old are you? If you’re a masters athlete I think 3 Vo2+ workouts in an 8 day cycle are likely to grind you down. I would do no more than 2, unless you recover like a 28 year old.
I know tempo work is a 4-letter word around here - but if you do tempo intervals at 60-70 rpm, you get a big TSS bang for the buck with very little recovery needs. See: Spruce Knob and variants.
I have worked with two elite coaches in the past and it is really interesting how they prescribe tempo to increase volume and minimize stress.
Thanks for your answer, I’m 31 and i race in the amateur ranks here in belgium, i recover quite well but i just want to fit in 1 long ride because i have the time. I don’t know if adding 1hr z2 to my weekend workouts has the same effect? I quit my coach and started TR in march, its going great so far but i used to do a lot of long z2 rides. It’s like i don’t yet believe the ss and tempo workouts have the same effect in less time
They don’t. But how much of an impact this “shortcut” has on you depends on how big your aerobic base is, how many years you’ve been doing this, etc.
For me, I’m 45 and my athletic background was in American football and basketball … and I only started training and racing in the last 4 years or so. Thus my overall base of endurance is something I’ve had to go back, pay attention to and build up with Z2 and tempo work – otherwise my repeatability in races was nothing.
I had a TrainerRoad FTP of ~315 … but I was getting spit out the back of races regularly. Now, my repeatability is much better due to base conditioning, and I can stay at the pointy end, even though my FTP hasn’t changed (it’s even gone slightly down, but I’m a much better rider/racer).
