If you mean the TR Polarized plans then no. But I’ve trained polarized with a specific focus on accumulating time at LT1 with 1 day of VO2max type work per week and it worked extremely well. I’ll describe the approach and let other argue about if it’s polarized or something else.
I think the major problem with “polarized” is folks cannot readily agree on what it is and finding plans that plot out day by day polarized are not easy to find. You can roll your own Polarized plan simply enough. TR Sustained Power Build MV provides a progression of VO2max that will get you started for the hard day.
Let’s build some blocks:
Block 1 - 6 Weeks: Take the Tuesdays from SPBMV and keep them as Tuesday. Fill in the rest of the days in with good Z2/Z3/LT1 (*) rides. Try to get about 8 hours a week for the first 6 weeks. A long ride helps so if you can get one 2-3 hour ride that’s a plus. Z2 / LT1 won’t crush you so it’s ok to add more but work up over the first 3 months.
Block 2 - take the Saturday VO2max workout from SPB and put them on Tuesdays. Again, fill in with Z2/Z3/LT1. Try to work up into the 10-12 hour a week range.
For future blocks will remain at that 10-12 hour a week target. If you have time, and legs can take it, building up to 15 is a nice target. But don’t go 6 hours to 15 hours. Take some weeks and build up.
Block 3 - keep progressing the VO2max Tuesday but don’t go crazy. 4x5 or 5x5 efforts are plenty. It’s fine to repeat the VO2 workouts and not keep progressing those interval times. I rarely go over 5x5 and often just stick with 4x5 or even 4x4.
That’s 18 weeks and you should feel pretty good.
In the fourth block, I keep the VO2max work about the same but add an additional “hard” day. Typically that will be a Saturday race, or a simulated race, or just a hard ride with good efforts. Depends what I’m doing and how I’m feeling. A simulated race for me would be a Time Trial. An all out 20 min (10 mile) stretch building to perhaps an hour or 25 mile test as the weeks move on.
Notes:
(1) I’m a big fan of tempo riding. There is nothing wrong with some tempo time on long rides as long as you have the hard day(s) sorted and are getting the long LT1 type stuff in.
(2) I also lift 2-3 days a week. Mostly upper body when “in season”
(3) Without a big race goal, I find 4-6 months of structure is about all I want to do. Once I achieve good fitness, I tend to want to use it and will look for fun rides. I typically am “training” for a two week vacation of mountain biking in July. I’ll build into that, go hammer the trails, and then enjoy the heck out of riding Aug-Sept-Oct.
(4) November I will start leg strength again “seriously” and drop VO2max stuff. In the fall I like to get long rides in but it’s “base” and fitness stuff not building toward any other goal.
Appreciate that may not be as specific or programmed as folks need or want. But this type of training has worked extremely well for me in the past. “Worked well” meaning increased MLSS and increased TTE at MLSS with lower RPE. That’s winning for me nowadays!
As an aging (55) and medium talent bike rider / athlete, have found it helps to break the year up into three chunks: hard bike training of 16-20 weeks; have fun with the on bike fitness 8-12 weeks; strength training and base riding 12-16 weeks.
YMMV and I’m not trying to coach anyone, just outlining a simple approach that seems effective and is pretty enjoyable.
-Darth