I decided to start the The General Build (low volume) plan, after completing the Sweet Spot Base plan, also Low Volume as I wanted to at least be able to ride outside 2 times a week, including the club ride on Sundays.
So after 2 weeks just riding outside (enjoying the improvement) I started General Build. This is a tough training! I really had to get into a high level of concentration and breathing to nail the trainings. But, I did and it is very fulfilling when you do! Meanwhile, I was kicking ASS outside. KOMs, Cups, PRs all over the place. Currently at 4.1 w/kg
Then, week 7 arrived and I could not finish the trainings (actually starting with the last training of week 6).
My body felt weak, like in a state of reserve. Very strange to experience something like this. I did some easy rides outside, and although I feel there is power, it’s not working. I tried a short (half mile) sprint, got a good PR (15th out of 5500), but right after the sprint I almost fainted. I know I need to rest big time, and I will (in week 8 now). I’m just wondering if anyone experienced something like this before? If I look at the TTS it’s much lower than what I normally do, and I don’t feel tired or exhausted at all (off the bike).
Get checked by a doc and ask for a simple blood test. I put things like that down to age on hindsight I shouldn’t have done, I was only in my late 30s/ early 40s. It was a developing tumour causing an iron deficiency. A couple of years later it developed into a catastrophic deficiency and a need for major surgery. If I had had that blood test earlier it would have flagged up the need for follow up tests which could have scraped it out before things grew and no surgery / chemo would have been needed. I am sure that isn’t the case for you but a simple blood test will put your mind at rest.
Overtraining? I highlighted the word that looks like a red flag to me.
Edit to clarify: The low volume plans are still high intensity workouts. Combine that with high intensity outside riding (KOM-Hunting, ambitious club rides etc) and overtraining is a quite possible result. Without knowing your exact background & numbers it just sounds like too much intensity to me (not saying too much volume to be clear)
I totally agree, it looks like overtraining. However, I never experienced it being this intense before. By kicking ass I mean not KOM hunting, more like coming home and seeing the improvement looking at the data.
So you say the Low Volume plans can be as intense as Mid or High? That’s what I wanted to avoid.
If anything the Low Volume plans include a higher proportion of intensity than the Medium and High plans. The less volume you’re doing, the more of that volume needs to be at high intensity to provide enough training stimulus for continued improvement. If you’re doing the LV plans and then supplementing with Z1-2 riding, maybe some Z3, that’s fine. If you’re doing the LV plans and then going on rides where you’re spending significant time at threshold or above, even if it doesn’t feel that hard because you’re having fun in a group or setting PRs, then you might be in a position of doing 4-5 rides a week which are all high intensity. That’s too much.
I’m no expert on the topic. But simplified I would say Mid volume = Low Volume + one more hard training + one recovery ride.
Personally I find the intensity even of the low volume boarder line too hard. But of course if you want to see results training hard is part of it. I would just be careful with the additional rides - I personally kept them to Zone 2 rides only. That meant not doing certain rides with friends.
But that’s just my opinion. Ask the seasoned master racers on high volume plans here and they will laugh at my statement. It’s all about perspective…
Thank you, that is helpful. I’ve done lots of HV plans on Zwift, maybe these are less intense. But I’m going to cut the additional rides and cruise my way to the Holidays.
Thanks. It starts to make sense now. I did not look into every detail of the MV or HV plans to get a good judgement. Let’s hope some rest will do the trick.
