Benefits of 30min easy ride?

Training
1

I recently used the “check volume” function and TR suggested I increase my volume from 4 days (3 hard, 1 easy) to 5 days (3 hard, 2 easy).

It suggested adding a 30 minute easy ride, any duration above this generates a “not recommended” warning. These 30 minute rides are all Endurance 2.1, 2.2. FWIW my AL for endurance is currently at 5.9.

Is there a benefit to adding these 30 minutes workouts, or just stick with the 3+1 schedule I have been on? Feels like I might be better off with the extra rest day, unless the intent is to gradually implement more volume over time?

2

Is cycling your only exercise? If so, then yes a 30 minute spin would be good for spinning the legs and getting the blood flowing. However, I don’t do them because I prefer to do 30 minute whole body exercises on my non-cycling days. Today I did pull-ups, push-ups, burpees, deadlift/military press combo, curls, bulgarian split squats, crunches and glute bridges…done in less than 31 minutes.

3

30 minutes of easy several times per week is going to add up to meaningful extra volume if you do it consistently.

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4

I took the liberty of moving these 0.5hr or 1.0hr rides and putting them after my weekday interval workouts. I like doing a bit of endurance riding after my intervals, and it’s easier for me to spend more time riding one one day rather than riding on an extra day.

So far, the system seems happy enough to let me do this.

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5

Same question from last week. If you search, there’s older posts too.

6

Personally I’ve found them to be helpful. There seemed to be a noticeable difference when doing 10h a week on 5d and then adding a 30min recovery ride on the 6th day.

I kind of assumed this related to effects from increased consistency (fewer days off means the exponential decay in training effect get less far down the curve before your next ride, and you stack training effect more as a result), rather than the TSS.

7

Better than nothing, but with the before & after prep, I wouldn’t find it a productive use of my time. When I committed to all 90+ minute rides a long while back, that was a big improvement. 4 days at 1.5 hrs is a lot more convenient than 6 days at 1 hour.

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8

I use them as a warm up for weight training. Good warm up. Pulse I add endurance CTL.

9

I always do better on a hard day if I’ve been on the bike in some fashion the day before. I prefer a short bit of intensity before a tough training ride, but a short endurance ride helps too. I perform worse when I show up cold with nothing the day before. Chad mentioned this on the podcast years ago and I totally agree.

10

I do strength training twice a week too. One session on Wednesday when I’m not on the bike and one on Saturday after a threshold workout

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11

This seems like a logical approach. I’ve also just noticed (obviously missed it before) that it’s reduced my Saturday threshold workout from 90 minutes to 60 minutes, then added this 30 minute endurance ride on another day.

So in fact, it isn’t extra volume, but less intensity spread across more days.

12

I should really use the search function before I post… whoops

13

Consistency is King.

If you have got through all your planned three or four rides a week and suddenly add a 4hr hard group ride, odds are your consistency will go out the window.

If you haven’t got through all your planned three or four rides a week for the last month then adding anything isn’t going to help consistency.

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