That’s about right there will also be sweetspot in their as well. I personally have a coach which saves me having to work things out and when things ain’t going right it stops me from being too hard on myself. Zone 3 to sweetspot will give about IF of 80 here is a strength endurance workout
my zones will be higher so adjust to yourself.
thx, my specific goal is to keep my muscles busy and developing and growing to reduce my need for insuline on a a daily basis.
i am not training for an event, nor race, nor any kind of competition. i work out for myself and for the therapy mentioned above.
so over the last months i tried to activate my muscles in a short but intense frequency…
and this was succesful so far: i built up muscles on my legs considerably and was able to reduce my need for insuline remarkably.
still: this way I exhausted a lot… which is why I am asking here 
there is a clear pattern in all this: on days of intense (but short) workouts and 1-2 two days after my need for insuline shots was reduced a lot despite eating and behaving similarly on these days as on days without workout, where i was forced to inject insuline 3-7 times per day.
so my motivation is clear: build muscle strength, keep the body busy, reduce insuline dependency…
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The intensity factor on LV is at 0.8 because even though it has longer workouts than you’ve been doing it is still er….low volume so you need a higher IF to get the TSS. I have done 15 hours/week of zone 2 the last couple of weeks with just the odd vo2max session and a training tt - the IF of those rides is much lower - probably around 0.65 but you are training for longer and that leads to Mitochondrial biogenesis - i.e increases the density of that organelle in every cell - since they are what convert glucose to energy using oxygen during respiration the more you have of them the fitter you get. You can short cut the process with more sweetspot workouts if they have intervals of 20-30mins @85-94% FTP - which is what the HV SS base does - you can also do it with some SS and some work@ just above or below threshold - which is what the LV/MV plans do - although it isn’t as good - what you can’t do is do it with just high IF workouts
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jdman, what do you mean with zone 2? Individual watt zones? pulse? where do i find this data? what would be my zone 2?
sorry for the silly question…
15h/week——— wow, i feel silly now with my 30min per day
So I would say biking alone isn’t going to build muscle. Or at least, you’ve probably maxed that part out. What I mean is, whatever muscle you need to complete the workouts has been built, and it won’t stimulate further growth (even though it still feels hard). Muscle building requires progressive overload with harder forces and the best way to build muscle is lifting weights. On the bike, it’s really your cardio system that is the limiter for performance unless you’re doing track (in which case you’re lifting weights…)
So I know HIIT workouts have unique metabolic impacts on insulin sensitivity. It sounds like the maintenance plan on it’s own is helping there, but is too much stress to sustain (likely because no cardio base to support it). You might try sprint intervals (birling, charing, etc) – very short efforts that really hit that HIIT system without tons of lasting fatigue – a few times per week. And then maybe 1 boring-ish workout per week. Sweetspot might be best, but I bet even pettit would do at first. This will burn plenty of calories and generally boost your cardio fitness without so much fatigue from pushing threshold+.
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Dr. Andrew Coggan’s Z2 power zone, i.e. “Endurance”, 56-75% FTP.
Common Z2 TR indoor workouts would be Pettit and Baxter.
That said, no need to overthink things or totally geek out on it. Sweet Spot Base LV1 will go a long way in your situation.
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thanks to all of you, great, and very helpful!
I can spare more time than 3-4 h in Sweetspot Base LV1 per week——— should I go with Mid Volume right away?
Thank you a lot. this is great support.
Ultimately, there’s no substitute for volume.
I recently got back into 5+ hour rides at 0.75-0.80 IF, and that was one key piece of the puzzle to my plateau in fitness.
Zone 2 is endurance - as mentioned 60-75% FTP - so for me that is 180 - 225W usually giving a HR of about 115-130bpm unless it is really hot. You should be able to hold this pace for several hours. I race up to 50 mile tt so I will usually do up to 3 hours 30mins zone 2 (as my races last just under 2 hours) - or maybe 4-4.5 hours if I am with friends…which of course we can’t do at present. Also 30 minutes is not silly - your still doing more than 99% of the population and you can only do what you have time for…that said if you can make time for some longer rides you will find your cycling fitness comes on hugely…good luck 
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Sure, mid volume is one answer but if you don’t want to dive headfirst into a plan that might be too much, you could try low volume first and add an extra day or 2 of zone 2 endurance rides. Or also extend the cooldown of the workouts to add more endurance time. That’s currently what I’m doing…low volume while extending the 1 hour workouts w/30 minutes of additional zone 2 and then adding an extra day of maybe a 2-3 hour endurance ride.
I’m a type 2 diabetic so TR was also a way for me to keep in shape and keep my blood sugar levels in control. Also wanted to be consistent year round with my riding so that when I do go out for group rides, I’m no longer last or suffering as much on the climbs.
Take a listen to this podcast. IIRC, they discuss how endurance paced training can improve mitochondrial function and improve symptoms in people with diabetes.
Endurance training is lower stress and more sustainable than the high intensity stuff.
From the show notes:
- Relationship between exercise and insulin sensitivity (and what we can learn from studying patients with type 1 diabetes) [1:46:30];
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You should probably start with a week off and then maybe try the Traditional base plan for a while.
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Dave, very helpful! Thank you. The podcast, especially the Type D1 part, is very interesting and confirms quite some of my understanding about the desease and sports… at least here I seem to have some knowledge
hey all, so this is my chart based on my 240 FTP, taken from my Wahoo account. Are these numbers more or less correct?
so I will concentrate on Zone 2, here called Aerobic Capacity? EDIT: Sorry, Aerobic Threshold (thx Lebowski!)
Instead of going short, high power workouts?
Less power is more for my special need then?
If your FTP is 240W, a typical endurance / Z2 workout is 65% of FTP - so 150-160W.
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No, it’s the other way around. Zone 1 is the bottom of the chart, zone 5 the top.
As others have said, either do sweet spot base low volume and add extra zone 2 rides like Pettit, or try a traditional base for a few weeks to see if that lowers your level of fatigue.
I wouldn’t advise starting with the mid volume sweet spot plan as you may just dig yourself a bigger hole. Try and complete the 3 prescribed workouts in a low plan each week and if you feel OK between the days then you could add a zone 2 workout or ride outside (If allowed in your country). On the other hand, if you are still jaded from the last hard workout, don’t be afraid to substitute a workout for either a shorter version or a zone 2 workout.
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@lebowskii98
right, sorry - i corrected my post above… it was just too early in the morning
I meant Aerobic Threshold.
Your threshold should be 240W - you should be able to hold that for an hour, endurance as mentioned for you is going to be about 135W - and I would be conservative as you are obviously tired. I would do a month of just zone 2 endurance@135W then add some tempo segments - maybe 10-15min intervals @ 80-85% - around 190-210W. Then after a couple of months of that add some SS workouts@90% - up to 225W. You could retest your FTP in between. As mentioned both LV/MV SSB have a stack of o/u workouts which you don’t need at present - McAdie etc will just dig you into a bigger hole
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NO!!! Do the LV plan and add as you have time and your body can handle it. This has been discussed here and on the podcast multiple times. I am doing MV for the first time (after years on the bike) and my standard running volume (replaced swim with bike) and I am struggling with it. Better to have 100% compliance with LV and add than miss workouts.
Me = JEALOUS!!! Life does not allow 2 hour rides right now.
Hi again,
i have followed your advice and switched to the zone 2 approach with less intensity and longer workouts, about 90min per session.
I feel much less worn out and do also feel some help for my insuline responsiveness.
Thank you all a lot for your support.
I mostly control my Kickr via Element Bolt for direct input of Watt, or use my komoot planned trips to simulate my most beloved outdoor rides… I am not planning any competition or dont need to “get faster”…
So… Now I just dont see too much value for a TR subscription 