Thinking about a polarized plan.
I’m considering taking the 2 most intense rides from each week of a Short Power Build Plan, the 2 longest rides from each week from a Traditional Base plan, a good sweet spot ride and a good recovery ride to arrive at a 6x/week high volume equivalent.
Seem reasonable?
Sounds to me more like a pyramidal plan. Polarized per Seiler is 80% or more of the workouts in his zone 1, or Coggan’s Zone 2, below ventilatory threshold. Nothing below FTP, and FTP and above 20% or less of the time. I did this over the summer, made significant aerobic gains, but didn’t change FTP much. Lost it all due to weeks off with a leg injury this fall. Getting old is a bear!
If you haven’t already, check out the Polarized thread. There’s a list of workouts that fit Seiler’s profile. Briefly: You want 80% “endurance” (ish) zone, 20% suprathreshold (ish). No sweet spot, and not necessarily any of the highest-intensity stuff from Short Power.
Well maybe I don’t want polarized then. Or maybe I dont want Polarized with a capital P, but more just a set of workouts that are more bi-polar. SSB HV 1 has me pretty burned out on grinding 20 to 30 minute blocks at 93%. SSB 2 looks like more of the same but just longer workouts. Trying to figure out a way to keep it interesting.
You’ve just described low and mid volumes.
The reason why SSBHV doesn’t have any high intensity is due to inadequate time for recovery for most people.
Recovery on the HV is key. I’ve been going to bed an hour early every night which helps a lot. I’ve also given up the standing desk for the last two weeks.