Going from Sweestpot to Traditional base

[GlennBigLegs]

Hi

I know this is gonna sound really stupid but I was planning to go from SSB > TB. Reason being for this is that I’m trying to bridge the cold winter months without having to do long indoor workouts. And than transitioning from inside to outside workouts when I’m starting TB.

At first I thought this was a great idea because my ftp would be higher and so will my Z2 (as a low kg rider a higher Z2 is always nice).

But ofcourse what I’m actually doing here is going from high intensity to low intensity.

Will I just lose all my fitness if I do this? And what would be a better alternative

[mcalista]

My current season ends in a few weeks time, and am contemplating TB> SSB> SusPB, but sprinkling in a few minus variants of SS and VO2Max workouts into TB (LV) just to maintain my higher end fitness without adding huge amounts of TSS.

[rentagreement]

Hi,

Many of us discuss this step intensively, have a look:

Any benefit to Traditional Base vs Sweet Spot?

Good luck! I hope it works out well for you. For me it is a lot easier now with less spikes overall. Sure, during the work out blood sugar is slowly going down and sometimes I need some carbs to top up, but then unless I ate my own weight in carbs I get off the bike and it will level out and stay where it happens to be (blood sugar).

[Jowen989]

I finished SSB LV just at the start of January and now doing traditional LV2 I also add in a SS workout Half Dome which Im increasing the intensity each week from lower to upper sweetspot and move the 2Hr session to the weekend so it’s pretty much two sweetspot and two endurance sessions.

[Captain_Doughnutman]

@GlennBigLegs

Will I just lose all my fitness if I do this?

If you keep the hours relatively the same, yes, you will unfortunately loose fitness, but not all of it. Also depends how long your block is.

If you are going to do a traditional “Trad Base” — 100% Endurance rides — then you’ll have to significantly up your hours. If you are doing a TR Trad Base, I wouldn’t worry about it because their plan adds a lot of tempo and SS which should keep you in relatively good shape.

I’ve read other users who considered this route, SS intervals during the winter then moving to long Z2 outdoor rides in the spring. Might be good to sprinkle some VO2 efforts into those outdoor rides to maintain fitness.

[GlennBigLegs]

@Captain_Doughnutman

If you keep the hours relatively the same, yes, you will unfortunately loose fitness, but not all of it. Also depends how long your block is.

Thanks for the tips, the hours will definitely be upped during the spring. I’ll also sprinkle in some V02 efforts and other intervals.
I’d not be unhappy if ftp drops down a little, my aerobic base is really poor and really need to work on it. So thanks for the replies guys

[GlennBigLegs]

Definitely very interesting to read, thanks!

[Captain_Doughnutman]

@GlennBigLegs

my aerobic base is really poor and really need to work on it

Thumbs up. There’s more to bike like than FTP. Considering that almost all of what you do on a bike is aerobic, working to develop your aerobic system (in a low stress manner) is always a great choice.