Combined training with trainerroad and muscle training

Training
1

As a 70 year old I have a high emphasis on building muscle to enhance longevity. I’ve been doing mostly kettlebell and heavy club training. Several months ago I added in stationary bike to add zone 2 and HIIT training. However, I’ve been having a hard time setting up programs in TR to use on a regular weekly basis. It seems like I need to continually go in and select rides and hope the steps are sufficient to get me in to zone 2 and not push my HR to high. Also, if I end up with a ride that ends up pushing me out of Z2 I don’t see any way of reducing the programmed effort in the middle of the ride

Any suggestions on handling this would be appreciated.

2

If you’re looking to only do rides at zone 2 or below, you’ll have to either add a Traditional Base phase to your training plan, which can be found here [click], or you could use AI Workouts to pick an appropriate endurance workout for you each day you’d like to train.

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You’d want to delete your current training plan first since you won’t be using that any more, though.

Let me know if this helps!

3

I’d like to do one HIIT 4x4 per week and 2-3 zone 2, depending on state of recovery. My kettlebell work typically gets me into zone 4-5 based on which exercise I’m doing so recovery is no joke.

Joel Young

4

Honestly, why do you want or need TR to do this if you aren’t going to let TR train you?

You can control a trainer with most head untis (Garmin/Wahoo/etc) or the app that comes with the trainer.

1 Like
5

Being new to TR that is part of my question. It would be useful to have TR automatically progran my schedule, but I’d like to have it do it within my goal parameters. Perhaps I chose the wrong application to meet my goals.

6

If you have very specific workouts that you’d like to do (4x4), then you’ll likely have to schedule them yourself. You can make workouts repeat on your calendar, though.

I went to the “Browse Workouts” page and typed in “4x4” to pick the workout shown below. You can then schedule it and select “Make Repeating.”

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You could do this for some or all of your workouts if you’d like, but it doesn’t really harness the power of what we have to offer.

If you’re willing to break away from highly specific workouts like 4x4, we could build you a custom, adaptable plan that is likely more effective, but has more variance in workouts other than just 4x4.

Let me know if this helps and if you have other questions. :+1:

7

I appreciate your suggestions. They will be helpful.

I’ll probably look at doing a combination of the 2. Since TR can’t really figure out the level of training and recovery time for my KB work I’ll probably need to do a lot of manual programming

8

What do you mean by that?

Are you recording KB sessions now? I see activities in your calendar that aren’t bike workouts and things seem to be working fine..

9

I put them in my calendar and assign the TSS that was recommended. But I’m not sure that it’s correct as I’m not sure what TSS means. But just from a couple of weeks trial it seems like my suggested recovery may not be enough. I’m probably asking too much of TR since it’s primarily designed to calculate optimum bike training via it’s AI

10

As a 70 year old, as you’ve said, your recovery is the main constraint. As such, I would seriously consider dropping the kettlebells completely and switching to a more efficient strength training protocol and combining that with zone 2 and maybe 1 interval session, depending on your recovery. Heavy Squats and Deadlifts demand a lot from the body and CNS in recovery, but are worth it.

I’m sure you’re fond of the kettlebells and they can give you a great workout, but in truth, they are not very effective for getting strong, and the added intensity could be re-deployed in a more focused way.

This book is really useful, I think.

And I know that you’re in a different league to the couple in this video but the principles still stand and it counters the common belief that you can’t get strong or build muscle in later life, which is when it is most important (as you know already).

From my own experience, (I’m 45, fat, and never been any good at cycling, but race dirtbikes), two years ago my knee was in a bad way with damage to the cartilage under the knee cap. I walked with a limp, I had to navigate steps one at a time. I lost 2 inches around my quads from lack of use due to the knee. Then 18 months ago I started actual strength training and although the progress was a bit up and down due to a few niggles and illness, my squat went from a very conservative 155lbs/70kg for 5, to 350lbs/150kg for 5, and 405lbs/184kg for a single.

My knee is basically 90% now, and doesn’t ever cause issues in the gym. My endurance on the dirtbike is significantly improved through being stronger, and my cycling power has gone up about 10% despite not actually doing any training.

Point being, a properly constructed strength program will benefit every area of your health and fitness.

11

What you could do is go into Plan Builder and select Gravel, Getting faster fro group rides, 2 month plan. Go with the 5 workouts selected and adjust the days according to your preference and put the 1.5 hour workout on the day you want to do your strength training. When it builds the plan the first 4 weeks comprise (at least for me) of 1 x VO2max workout, I x Threshold workout (the 1.5 hr one) and 3 Endurance rides. When following the plan, the VO2max workouts will give you a manageable progression to increase your VO2max (You don’t just have to do 4x4’s) and ignore the Threshold workout and do your Strength Training on that day. When you are more comfortable with the system you can change the type of VO2max workout as the mood takes you.

Only do the the first 4 weeks of the plan as the second period will take you into a speciality phase which replaces the VO2max with Anaerobic workouts which I presume you would’nt want

Rinse and Repeat

If eddie from the TR team doesn’t agree than I’m sure he’ll comment and you can ignore this post.

PS I’m 70 as well and am doing something similar.

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12

Again, I don’t know what you mean when you say that your suggested recovery might not be enough..

It doesn’t look like we’re telling you that in the app..

We’ve built in strength training integration, so adding those strength sessions as you are causing any issues.

Could you help me see where the issue is?

13

Sorry I haven’t been active in the thread for the past couple of weeks. I’ve come down with a significant infection and haven’t barely been able to exercise. All the information you’ve been providing is interesting, and I’m going to examine all of it. With regard to Barbell training, I’m actually primarily concentration on functional fitness. I believe that muscle can be built later in life, but it does take a more concerted effort, including protein regimens and proper weight training, so I don’t disagree with anything you’ve posted here. I just have so much bandwidth to exercise, and I”m trying to fit in what I think is most effective right now.

14

TR does have recovery build into it’s schedule, which is normally a really easy zone2 session. I find those very good taken in isolation with the AI riding schedule. However, when it’s loaded on top of significant weight training, which pops me into anaerobic zone 4/zone 5, I don’t feel that it’s sufficient for muscle recovery. That’s how my body feels, and doesn’t necessarily line up with the planned AI training schedules. I think it’s just an area where I need to listen to my body and energy levels.