So the last couple of years I have been on and off with my training. Resulting in higher weight and lower FTP. I don’t race, but I like to be fit on the bike - and do the occasional Gran Fondo. I mainly use my road bike, but sprinkle inn some trail riding. I’m 44 so I have a more holistic approach to training - I’m doing this for health and fun. And actually managed to establish a fairly good routine for strength training this winter. A hard sell for me, as I generally find it boring. The success was focusing on consistency. I have scheduled 3 wo per week, but with 2 of them being equal I have rated 2 a success. Even a shorter than normal routine is deemed ok.
Now, I want to translate this to the bike. TR often talks about consistency being the key to fitness. Not chasing watts, weight, or even hours on the bike. But I still think this approach needs some guardrails, and some measurable outcomes (like KPIs). So I turn to the forum for some guidance. Let’s say I make a 6 month training plan, including rides, wo’s, and work off the bike:
What would be a good consistency goal? 90%, 85%
Would you set a lower limit for “success”? I.e. if the plan schedule a 4 hour endurance ride, but I could only squeeze in 1 hour - is this ok? Yes, it’s better than the couch, but fairly far from plan… Once maybe ok, but say this happens 2, 3, 4 weeks i a row. Then what?
Would you have separate goals for separate activities? Say avg 2oo3 for strength, and % for bike rides? Be happy with the occasional run?
How would you treat outside “stuff” affecting the consistency, like illness, work travels, vacation, injury?
What about recovery weeks? Since I commute to work I normally do not plan any wo’s during my recovery week. Rather I focus on family, work, social life that may have been set aside during the training weeks.
Thoughts?
PS. If I find a good system for this I am think of making a bet with myself. I really want to do a weeklong ride in the alps next year, but with my current weight and fitness that would be a big ask. So I am think of setting aside the cost of that trip. If I’m consistent, I go. If not, some charity will get the money.
I think this whole topic is very subjective to personal preferences and what kind of definition will work best for you.
Personally, I strive for >=100% on my training plan. No hours, no TSS, just the plan. Real life events such as sickness, travel, etc can cause this goal to be missed temporarily, but what matters is the long term anyway. For some of them the adaptation made automatically by TR solve the issue completely: if you are sick, add the matching note to your calendar and workouts get removed while you are sick and future ones lowered. If anything, TR is build to enable you to reach 100% of your plan.
As you already seem to have a goal for your cycling, why not generate a plan targeted towards it and start training? Aim to achieve what the plan tells you. Add more on-demand if you feel like it or use the training load check to see if you should add more or reduce volume.
The plan will also already account for recovery weeks, but with workouts - which is important to keep the effects of consistent training going. Fully resting for a week every three weeks likely isn’t very helpful for any training goal. Fully resting should only be necessary if you really have overextended yourself and need to recuperate. Beyond that, at least some light exercise should be more beneficial
I am like the other posters. My goal is always 100% compliance. If there is a workout posted, I will do my best to make it happen.
Allowable deviations are: Sickness. That is about it.
I pick a plan that fits my life and my desire to train and I complete it. I fit my training in around my work and family schedules. If I have to get up earlier, I do it. If I am traveling on weekends for family events, I do a workout when I get home Sunday evening.
If you are scheduled for 4 hours and don’t have the time, can you move your week around? If not, get in what you can. Anything beats zero training.
Following these simple rules for exceptions, I think a target of 100% is appropriate.
I will off course strive to do all my workouts. That’s the goal. But if success/failure is based on 100% compliance, that’s a bet I’m going to loose.
Lot’s of good advice from @JoeX . Advice I have been adhering to in the past, and will in the future. I also agree the approach of @KonaSS - and I have been doing workouts at the strangest places and times through the years. If push comes to shove I could even run (hill repeats works extremely well for VO2-max for instance).
So, being an engineer by education, and project manager by profession, I have made a chart Based on the 6 moths plan made with plan builder. Red line is 100% compliance. Blue is 85% compliance (with 50% in recovery weeks). I’m going to use this for the next 2 months (4+4 weeks), and then assess.
I would certainly set the goal as 100% but be happy with whatever you achieve.
I had some goals and rides planned, but my father is declining rapidly and I just can’t get the training in.
I like the idea of rewards. But maybe break it down into smaller pieces. If I hit 100% for a week then I’ll buy that dvd/deposit into bike fund/etc. I just think that it would be a good reward for the weeks/months when you have hit 100%, rather than punish yourself when you assess an entire year.
