Base (winter) Training & FTP Rides

Training
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Hi forum :slight_smile:

Just to mention, I am not a novice cyclist, but it is the first year that I decided to tryout training with a power meter and i am a bit puzzled looking at the base schedule.

Background info : Most of my races I ride are below 100km, I ride ok, (I win about 5 races a year) and I am more the sprinter type, in shape I can also join the attack. Cycling season starts end of feb and this week I will start to train light again.

So I would do 2x6 weeks of high volume Sweet Spot Base training, followed by 8 weeks high volume Short Power Build. First month of cycling season I do then the Criterium training.

Now, my question. Usually I do some base running, swimming, mountainbikes and lots of stabilisation/fitness training during Nov-Dec, all very low to moderate pace. Here I see that the first week of the base training program I already need to ride at 90% FTP , isn’t that very fast and are these generated heart rates not too fast without a base layer? seems like I will ride whole nov/dec already near the red zone.

Thanks for the clarification and/or tips.

2 Likes
2

That is in the Sweet Spot zone, not the red zone. In sweet spot training you are trading intensity for longer durations (Traditional Base). Also, if you are new to power and power based training (structured training), it is highly recommended to start with mid volume plans.

1 Like
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Don’t even think professional athletes would do a high volume plan with the running, swimming and mountain biking you mentioned. Would agree mid-volume would work better.

4

hi, thanks for the answers.

So what you guys are saying is : combine the mid volume training with some additional extra normal base training.

The mid volume training is about 6 hours/week. I can combine this with an additional 6-8 hours of low intensity training (mostly leg fitness training and some mtb, run or swim)

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Pretty sure traditional base is lower intensity than sweet spot, maybe check that out