# High or Med Volume **URL:** \ **Category:** Training\ **Tags:** choosing-a-plan, plan-modification, calendar\ **Created:** [August 28, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457 "2023-08-28T08:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cpramsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@cpramsdale](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/cpramsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/1 "2023-08-28T08:34:44Z")
Hi all I’ve started trainer road, and I usually get around 10+ hours a week on my bike as I work from home. However, that often includes a midweek group ride and at least 1 long social group ride at the weekend. Would it be better for me to select a high volume adaptive training plan as I can afford to spend a lot of time on the bike? And will the adaptive training plan take into consideration my non-structured grouprides and adapt accordingly? Or should I select a medium volume training plan and treat my social rides (even though they can often be difficult) as bonus training? ---
**Author:** ![Dubadai](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/dubadai/32/82683_2.png) [@Dubadai](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Dubadai)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 8:47am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/2 "2023-08-28T08:47:12Z")
Do Low Volume, and then do the group rides as well 🙂 That’ll probably end up being enough intensity, and also wont force you to do structure when you might wanna go out and have fun with your buddies on the weekend and weekday group rides. ---
**Author:** ![nvalphen](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/nvalphen/32/86975_2.png) [@nvalphen](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/nvalphen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/3 "2023-08-28T11:49:25Z")
if you need to ask go low or mid, not high 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Power13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/power13/32/92171_2.png) [@Power13](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Power13)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/4 "2023-08-28T12:31:00Z")
TR has emphasized many times that most users should not go with a HV plan. Based on your time allotment, I would do the MV plan and augment with your group rides. ---
**Author:** ![cpramsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@cpramsdale](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/cpramsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/5 "2023-08-28T12:34:49Z")
Thanks for the replies all The volume isn’t the issue. I do a lot of miles & many hours every week. It’s structure I’m after though. Maybe my question should have been, does adaptive training take into consideration my social rides? i.e. if I had a sweet spot effort tomorrow, but I replaced my Z2 ride today with a group ride that ended up being tempo with intervals, will adaptive training recognise that and modify my sweet spot tomorrow to something more suitable? ---
**Author:** ![Power13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/power13/32/92171_2.png) [@Power13](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Power13)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/6 "2023-08-28T12:35:34Z")
> [@cpramsdale](#): > > Maybe my question should have been, does adaptive training take into consideration my social rides Not yet. ---
**Author:** ![FrankTuna](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/franktuna/32/135629_2.png) [@FrankTuna](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/FrankTuna)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/7 "2023-08-28T12:36:49Z")
> [@cpramsdale](#): > > The volume isn’t the issue. I do a lot of miles & many hours every week. High volume for TR means lots of intensity. Most folks would likely do best with 2-3 hard rides/workouts and then fill in endurance to hit your volume goal. ---
**Author:** ![slowmart](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/slowmart/32/148777_2.png) [@slowmart](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/slowmart)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/8 "2023-08-28T12:38:37Z")
Even MV will put your body under immense stress, even more so if you’re supplementing outside rides as well. It’s the accumulation of fatigue which does for most rides If you are after structure it is easier to add rides to the low volume plan rather than swap out or miss workouts from the MV. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Froman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Abe\_Froman](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Abe_Froman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:39pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/9 "2023-08-28T12:39:51Z")
Low and mid volume have the same structured rides. It’s literally just an hour of zone 2 added on wednsday, and a zone 2 ride on sunday. Or sweet spot sunday, but trainerroad has said the only reason sunday is sweet spot is because they thought people wouldnt do zone 2… ---
**Author:** ![cpramsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e5b9ba/32.png) [@cpramsdale](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/cpramsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/10 "2023-08-28T12:55:50Z")
Thanks for the input everyone. It seems pretty clear from the comments that the med intensity plan would be best. Appreciate the advice and expertise. ---
**Author:** ![mwglow15](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/mwglow15/32/28576_2.png) [@mwglow15](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/mwglow15)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 1:33pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/11 "2023-08-28T13:33:48Z")
I would personally lean toward a Mid Volume plan and replace 2 of the workouts with 2 of the planned intensity days. This way you have 3-4 ‘harder’ days and the rest keep easy. IMO doing a LV plan and then adding these rides on top would just be too much intensity. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Froman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Abe\_Froman](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Abe_Froman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 1:45pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/12 "2023-08-28T13:45:13Z")
I dont disagree with this. But it’s also one of the reasons I dont think trainerroad works outside of dead of winter trainer season. If you replace 2 hard TR workouts in low or mid volume…you’re left with essentially a single TR interval session a week…at that stage what’s the point of clinging to TR structure at all? ---
**Author:** ![Power13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/power13/32/92171_2.png) [@Power13](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Power13)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/13 "2023-08-28T13:47:37Z")
> [@Abe\_Froman](#): > > But it’s also one of the reasons I dont think trainerroad works outside of dead of winter trainer seaso TR has years of evidence and data to show that it is effective year round, not just in the “trainer season”. Is it universal and perfect for everyone? Of course not…no training system / plan is. but to say it doesn’t work “outside of winter trainer season” is to simply ignore mounds of data. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Froman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Abe\_Froman](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Abe_Froman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/14 "2023-08-28T13:52:48Z")
Well, I can certainly elaborate… I mean obviously there is nothing special about riding a trainer in the winter vs riding one in the summer. If you do the same rides in july on the trainer as you do in January, you’ll get the same results. The question is - why would you? Group rides start up in spring/summer, there’s racing, beautiful days to go on long rides. And all of these conflict with the TR plan… And…if one chooses to swear off all of those things in the summer…I’d ask what the goal is behind following a structured training plan like trainerroad? ---
**Author:** ![mwglow15](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/mwglow15/32/28576_2.png) [@mwglow15](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/mwglow15)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/15 "2023-08-28T13:54:51Z")
Well yeah, that’s the trade off you make with harder group rides. They still add bunch of fatigue so you can’t just add them on top of a plan. But they won’t be a physiologically focused as a workout so you won’t get the same targeted adaptations as the workout you replaced with it. That’s why most people I know who are seriously training and racing at a high level don’t regularly do 2 group rides a week. And if they do sometimes then they frequently get a ‘real’ workout in before or after. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Froman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Abe\_Froman](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Abe_Froman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/16 "2023-08-28T14:00:31Z")
Yea. That’s one of the reasons I’m leaning towards hopping in some of the more social type rides to get some bigger hours of zone 2 in, rather than thrash myself for 3 hrs… Going to try and maintain a more serious level of moderation next year lol. Social ride during the week…hard ride on the weekend, but might even just go hard for one hour, then just drop myself and sit in with the chasers. ---
**Author:** ![Power13](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/power13/32/92171_2.png) [@Power13](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Power13)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/17 "2023-08-28T14:01:47Z")
> [@Abe\_Froman](#): > > The question is - why would you? Group rides start up in spring/summer, there’s racing, beautiful days to go on long rides. And all of these conflict with the TR plan… Time, safety, avoiding traffic, general preference for structured rides, etc. No reason you can’t simply choose a LV plan and augment with whatever rides you want. And let me be clear…come April or May, I rarely do the workouts on my plan. I am outside riding in my preferred groups rides or doing long trail rides. But that is me and my preferences. I am certainly not making universal statements that fly in the face of data based on \* my preferences\*. ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Froman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Abe\_Froman](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Abe_Froman)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/18 "2023-08-28T14:09:04Z")
Well, I would say then that it all comes down to how many people really will not do ling rides/group rides in nice weather. I would guess if’s a minority…but it’s obviously just a guess. Regardless…the same question still stands…does TR make any sense if one wants to make use of summer riding months and get in longer group/trail rides? ---
**Author:** ![Macy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/macy/32/6458_2.png) [@Macy](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/Macy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/19 "2023-08-28T14:21:18Z")
The main difference between mv and lv, is that mv has longer workout’s, plus an “easy” endurance workout and a “moderate” sunday workout (as mentioned, this was originally longer endurance, but TR found people were swapping it for something more intense). fwiw outside of race season, I do my 3 key TR workouts during the week and then do a club road spin or a social gravel spin at the weekend. I don’t go with my club race group, as that’s effectively making 4 hard workouts a week. This race season, I’ve done 2 workouts a week, plus the weekend race. Both I’d supplement with commuting once or twice a week. ---
**Author:** ![hubcyclist](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/trainerroad/forum/user_avatar/www.trainerroad.com/hubcyclist/32/14363_2.png) [@hubcyclist](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/u/hubcyclist)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 4:07pm UTC](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457/20 "2023-08-28T16:07:14Z")
> [@Abe\_Froman](#): > > The question is - why would you? Group rides start up in spring/summer, there’s racing, beautiful days to go on long rides. And all of these conflict with the TR plan… i disagree, i’m no longer doing TR, but even when I was I’d do outside workouts in conjunction with longer rides, or just do long z2 rides and stick with 2 interval days. I haven’t raced all year and I don’t do group rides, but I am in the best shape of my life, being able to ride how I want and for as long as I want is enough a reward for sticking with structure, my ego doesn’t need to get into measuring contests with others. [Next page](https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/high-or-med-volume/86457.md?page=2)