Combining General Base & Polarised Build

Training
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This might be a stupid question, but is there any reason to not string General Base 1-3 and Polarised Build together?

My background, 40m, non racer but like my speed, mostly targeting long (~1 week) multi-day Gran Fondo type events in the 1000 mile ballpark. Heavily using TR since 2020, mostly High Volume. I’ve always had pretty good results with Sweet Spot Base, now General Base, but I’m a bit of a diesel engine and have always found Base waaaay easier than Build, particularly on the knees so I’m trying to find an alternative to flinging myself against General Build. As I see it, options are:

  • Reduce FTP Might work for Build, but throws off Base where I’m not having any problems at all
  • Reduce Volume Not appropriate for my goals, very much “quantity has a quality of it’s own”
  • Sustained Power Build I didn’t pick this first because most of the year I’m riding in rolling countryside, not mountains.
  • Masters Build Potentially ok, but I’m not needing Masters Base so I’m not sure that’s appropriate or if I’d be giving up gains?
  • Polarised Build Looks much more friendly to me and is currently leading my thinking, but I’m not sure if I need to be polarised across the whole plan to gain benefit?

Any thoughts welcome.

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Hey there!

No reason not to – many athletes have done so and found success with that strategy. :slight_smile:

General Base sounds like a good call if you’ve had good gains from it in the past.

Build is usually when the higher-intensity stuff starts to pick up, so it would make sense that you might need more recovery during that phase of training.

Masters General Build or Polarized Build should fit what you’re looking for. Masters General Build will have some shorter bursts of power and some over/under work, while Polarized Build will generally feature more “traditional” intervals. You can click on the links to each plan to check out those differences in more detail.

Hope that helps! Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions.

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