Frustrating lack of progress and possible AI weirdness

[kire7705]

I’m seeing some weirdness (or maybe it’s by design) from the new AI.

Some background-

I’ve been on TrainerRoad for about 7 years. I’m a 53 year old Firefighter, married with two teenagers, who works 2 24 hour shifts on an 8 day rotation (more on that in a bit) I saw the initial beginner gains but have been around 200 watts FTP for about 6 1/2 years, with varying levels of consistency. I feel like I’ve tried everything to get past the plateau and nothing seemed to work. I’ve watched pretty much every single TrainerRoad podcast in that time and try to honestly incorporate what I learn from them. For a while I accepted that plateau as just a function of what my life will allow, but this past March, after getting over two illnesses in a row, I decided to give it another go. I tried to be much more consistent with training, I quit drinking completely (I was a one or two beers with dinner, drinker, nothing crazy), I started losing weight (I was at 73kg, which was an all time high for me) and I really tried to get more sleep (8+ hours every night) and I’m eating much better, and I started strength training (I was a climber, but had to give it up due to some hand issues). I was successful in losing weight, I’m down to 63 kg or so and I want to be around 60. I was successful in getting more sleep, although there is a limit due to my job, and strength training has made me noticeably stronger, my legs are physically slightly bigger, my diet is much better etc. None of that success has traslated into watts, I’m still pretty much exactly where I have always been. I was at 217, so I had thought I made a slight improvement, but the new AI dropped me right back to my familiar 200ish level that’ I’ve been at for years. I guess with aging, not getting worse is a win, I also understand that FTP isn’t everything and levels matter as well, so I think I understand what the AI was trying to do (It did increase my levels at that lower FTP).

I never had any racing ambitions (I raced a bit in high school and then a bit after I got out of The Navy), but never really had any ambitions outside of just being able to get as many downhill laps in at my local trails network as possible. This August I watched Leadville and got hooked, and even though watts hadn’t gone up much since March, my W/Kg had, because of the 10kg weight loss, so I thought maybe the goal of under 9 hours for 2027 wasn’t unreasonable, so that became my Goal with my plan. I thought maybe I’d do some local racing this summer, just to get my feet wet, without any expectations outside of gaining experience, but even that seems to be slipping away.

Nutritionally, I’ve been using FuelIn and Hexis to manage my macro timing and have been very good, I would say, about sticking to the ratios. I eat a lot more fruit and veggies than I used to and take a multivitamin, Omega supplement, vitamin D and Creatine. I’m not starving myself, it took me 10 months to lose 10kgs. My bloodwork is much better than it was before, still no watts. I do drink a bit again after 10 months of not at all, probably 4 drinks a month on average, only when we go out to dinner or are on vacation, but it doesn’t seem to make much difference, either way.

I have to reschedule all my workouts manual, because of my work schedule, I work the 2 24’s and I’m completely useless the next day, so that leaves 4 days per week I can ride. For a while, I was trying to do workouts at work, but it’s just impossible, the constant interruptions and the zero sleep to recover that night, made it more of a detriment then a help, so I stopped. Once the new AI came along, as another try at breaking the plateau, I thought maybe I’ll try to increase my zone 2 volume (the kids are more independent now, so I have more time) so I enabled dynamic endurance up to 5 hours, but it seems to ramp me up too fast to the point where I’m getting so many yellow and red days, it suggests endurance days on most of my interval days. When I run “check volume” it suggests 1.5 hour endurance rides, but that’s exactly where I was before. I suppose I could ramp that up manually over time, but isn’t that the whole point of the Dynamic Endurance function in the AI?

So I’m looking for suggestions, as I am at a loss as what to do. How to schedule workouts around my work schedule? Have I discovered a bug with the AI? or is it user error?

Any help, or constructive feedback is appreciated. If I need to post more screenshots of my calendar, I can.

[LacticacidMCB]

Is the issue how you log your work days. Would it be better if you used a time off notation for the time you are working? Block off the 3 days.

[kire7705]

I think that actually did help a bit.

Now I have a new feature request- make these “Time off” events repeatable on a custom week length, so I don’t have to add another thing manually.

[Tina_M]

I’m a 60 yo woman who works as an arborist and landscaper for a golf resort. I am the head of my division which has exactly 1 crew member: me. Like you, I have a physical job and have hovered under 200 watts for a number of years. I ride with a cycling club and people a lot younger than me so I’ve tried for years to push that FTP without success. First, the one thing that the new TR AI system has taught me is that FTP (at least the TR version) is a myth. It’s kind of like chasing a high score in a video game. Use it as a metric but one that gives you a guideline, not a magic number you need to reach.

Second, now that my outdoor season is approaching, I’m doing 4 bike workouts and 1 or 2 strength workouts per week. Two bike workouts are intensity workouts and 2 are endurance level. I often drop a strength workout and let my “job workout” take its place if I have a particularly hard day at work. I build my own plan in 2-3 week increments. I basically know how hard my work weeks are going to be and I will swap a VO2 max workout for a sweet spot workout as needed. Honestly, that change isn’t going to make a huge difference in FTP in the long run but it will make a big difference in my fatigue level which impacts performance.

This brings me to my third point: recovery. If you’re not getting enough recovery, you’re not going to improve. Mentally, I still feel like I can push and push and push but my body is not so sure. You need to maximize recovery. Sometimes when you back off, your body responds more. I just took the better part of a week and a half off the bike (my dog died and I caught a vicious head cold) and my first intensity workout was surprisingly strong. Schedule your workouts like a doctor’s appointment and follow your body’s advice.

Finally, if you’re getting into racing or are just interested in a gravel race or a time trial, do it. Don’t go into it thinking that you have to be on the podium to be a success. There is so much benefit to just experiencing it. (That being said, do not do a criterium until you have more experience!) You have a future and things change. I ride with guys who are 65 and 70 and their tactics can outshine guys in their 20s. Just take it easy on yourself. You aren’t getting paid to race, you do this for fun!

[kire7705]

Thank you for your thoughtful and kind reply and sorry about your dog.

I do try to prioritize recovery, especially as I get older. I was doing Medium volume when that was a thing and went back down to low for a while. Now I’m back to medium-ish, It’s just odd to me that when I really prioritized recovery (from March to now) and doing all the “right things” they talk about on the podcast, it made no real difference. Perhaps I’m just at my lifestyle ceiling.

I do sometimes get caught up in the number, but ultimately as you said, my goal is fun. I just find that the faster you are the more fun you have, at least it looks that way.

[J_K]

Hey - I didn’t see anyone mention it yet, so wanted to. Your 24hr workouts - I assume those are your work days. Don’t put them in the calendar as workouts unless you want the AI to think you were actually working out for 24hrs - which is a huge stress on your body. Of course, you’d know much better than I would how much stress you get at work, so use your discretion. If you are planning a day off after your 24hr shift anyway, maybe just use the notation feature alone instead of the workout. I used to use my Garmin FR to track meditation. It uploaded to TR as a “workout” and I would get yellow days for 30 mins of meditation at a HR of 50bpm. Just a hint about how TR AI might be interpreting your work shifts!