Do I really need SSB and Speciality Plans?

Training
1

hi there,

I just coming back from 2 weeks rest before which I have completed SSB Mid I and II, Sustained Power Build and Century Plans.

I am returning back to training next week and I will have a GF race in November and at the same time I want to get ready for local league which will have lots of rolling road races, criteriums, etc.
As my fitness and form at good level, I am planning to skip SSB and Specialty Phases.

I am planing to start with General Build for local races and then continue with Sustained Power Build for GF in November.

Just want to hear from you guys, if this will be a wise approach.

Thanks

2

There’s a blog post that sort of addresses your question, and some related discussions. I don’t think TR generally recommends doing multiple Build phases back-to-back, because (from what I’ve picked up as a very inexperienced layperson, heh) there are diminishing returns on that level of stress. Repeating Build/Specialty seems to be the “rebuild” consensus.

6 Likes
3

You appear to be setting yourself up for burnout with Base, Build, Specialty, Build, Build. Including the later part of SSB2, you’d be at about 35+ weeks of getting after it before your GF in November. Maybe you are complete machine, but you “probably” need to allow your body and mind to recover before you ramp it back up to a high level of fitness. If it were me (what I’m currently doing), I’d do an abbreviated (skip first 2-3 weeks) of SSB1, SSB2, Build then Specialty. You can race/ride very well in SSB since your FTP the second time around will be much higher.

2 Likes
4

I’m in the middle of a similar “season” where I just did a metric century, racing six crits, and a stage race in the next two months, followed by a Century about four weeks after that. I’m doing general build and then either Century, Climbing RR, or maybe XCM (for the variety) specialty depending on which one seems most appropriate for the century. I’d recommend that over Build-Build, for sure. That Build-Build is a recipe for cooked legs heading into the century, IMO.

5

hi,

Thank you all for the great responses. I can now see why it is a bad idea to go for Build-Build.

To cover both local and GF races, I decided to go for General build where I will have variety of build workout from V02max to Sustained power and Century plans.

Thanks again.