I have absolutely no idea. I have never done any specific training or any structure so this is all
New to me. I Just something I saw something on YouTube
There seems to be many different opinions on the forum on training… but I kind of got the general thought from people was better to spend more time above ftp than below… now
Doing 105% instead of 95% I was doing before.
A few thoughts…
Have a long endurance ride. Make the 30 min a struggle of speed/power, not of endurance. (I think the 2 hours could be sufficient for a 30 min effort but tough after and before intensity).
Have a proper VO2 max workout (as mentioned above). Not just 5 min intervals but of 1 min higher intensity with 1 min rest. Ladders are good here as are hill reps.
The thresholds are good but I would also throw in a 1 x 20 min threshold as well.
Sometimes traini0gn below the bar to push it ups is a good strategy. Don’t be afraid to take a step back to take steps forward.
OOOOOOORRRRR…
don’t do vo2 by fixed percentage and instead just go as hard as you can go for each. I have my ftp set perfectly and I cannot do 120% for 5mins, for me my best this past year was 113%
Out of curiosity - what makes 5x5 not a proper VO2 max workout?
5 x 5 min is a great VO2 workout and definitely should be a part of the training program!
But 1 minute…2 min… 3 min reps (at greater intensity) are great too.
When I was training for the 10k we would do mile reps (5 min). But we also did 400s (1 min reps) & 1k reps (3 min) as well. With shorter reps come high intensity. It’s all good!
Ah gotcha, I definitely misunderstood your earlier post! Thanks for clarifying 
OP has fixed percentages, so I suggested workouts with fixed percentages.
5x5min 120% is hard, but nothing out of the ordinary with a properly set FTP.
perhaps for you, again, i have a properly set FTP with long testing and I could not do 120 for 5. some people can do more than 120 for 5min as well, it just depends.
I can confirm, this was my last year’s attempt at 5x5 and I didn’t ride at a set percentage of FTP, since the goal was to go all out. Clearly the first one was too hard and 120% of FTP across 5 intervals would have been impossible. Nonetheless, it was a very productive workout!
By the way, FTP was 292w with a 60 minute TTE from a long test that I had done two weeks before.
Interesting. You are the definition of a TT’r.
Hopefully I can make sense here. I’ll try to explain how I kind of think about things with several years of figuring out this puzzle and consulting with coaches. So what you have is one way of doing things, and it will show improvement for a little and then it will stop. 2 reasons are that you’ll run out of room to progress because its too tiring and #2 is that its not enough stimulus to improve aerobically.
The intervals you prescribed are kind of a catch all workout; it will improve vo2, anaerobic capacity, and your endurance. But the dose is small for each of them and you’ll get to a point where theres nothing more to adapt to.
Cog has talked frequently throughout this forum about intensity and dosage and more is more…up to your FTP. More watts = more stimulus; However riding above ftp adds so much more fatigue that you tire out before your able to increase the “aerobic dose”. You’re only doing 30minutes total in zone. You could theoretically double or triple that time if ridden under FTP. Think of riding above FTP like riding at ftp but just more tiring.
Vo2 max. These intervals could very well be improving your vo2 max. Depends on your trainedness really. The problem is that the intensity is low enough that you aren’t achieving vo2 peak until very late in the interval, and you’ve already spent so many minutes and so many kilojoules getting there without the added benefit of stressing your aerobic endurance. improving vo2 max is all about going max and it takes a lot of energy. you dont want to be wasting any more energy than you have on half measures.
And finally anaerobic capacity. These intervals will have a little impact on this as well, but like I mentioned wrt vo2max its not a very high stimulus. Now dont get me wrong, you will need to learn how to bevery uncomfortable if you want to maximize time over ftp. With Anaerobic capacitty workouts, you’re really trying to destroy yourself, really dig deep and go hard w/ repeated burst efforts or maximal efforts and long rest convincing your muscle cells that they better develop larger fast access energy stores or else they arent going to have a fun time.
To summarize; What you planned is a good enough place as any to start, (it’s not where I would start) but there are a few things to keep in mind when you plan out how to train.
How will you progress this workout? For key sessions you want to try and progress each session, keeping them static will just lead to stagnation( sometimes you can repeat and find that each gets easier; that is adaptation). Your body says “this is our new normal, lets not use anymore resources making cycling_jono stronger than required to complete this workout”
How will I measure if this intervention lead to improvement? improvement is measured in time and power. “Can I do a thing longer than before” or “Can I do a thing at higher power than before”
If you’re not periodically checking in or completing ad hoc “tests” to measure that improvement then you are flying a little blind.
But like I said, this is a place to start. Ask yourself the questions above, and when you find that improvement has stopped, try another intervention and test that one. Rinse and repeat til you’re dead and buried.
I’m not sure, I think I’m more of an all rounder (also according to intervals.icu). My 1 minute power is 610w and 10s is about 1100w, but for the last two years I’ve been training specifically to improve in long sustained efforts because my goal races include long climbs.
That 60 minute TTE test was after two blocks of mainly sweet spot efforts (the longest being 3x40’) and to be honest I was expecting a bit more TTE at FTP.
I’d say was a hell of a workout. There’s no “written in stone” that 5x5 only works if you achieve 120%. Was it pretty hard? if so, done and dusted.
Thanks for sharing. I believe blocks should be used carefully, mainly to address notorious deficiencies, otherwise ppl’s power curve becomes too biased. I prefer to keep all durations relative strong and only dedicate 6 weeks to race specific intensities.
5x5’s are hard. I prefer to do them outside, hunting for KOM’s and with longer (variable) rest. Last time I tried my hand I did 4 efforts at 117%
To do this you’ll need to improve both your power and possibly reduce weight. With a current 20-min best of 338w and 15 weeks to train, your goal of 350w for 30 mins at 70kg is tough but realistic. Focus on gradually increasing your threshold intervals — for example, progress from 3x15min at 305w to 3x15min closer to 320–330w over time, then move to longer efforts like 2x20min and 1x30min. Keep your 80/20 structure, but make threshold work more specific to your goal. Aim to drop a few kg if you can do it without losing power. Consistency, recovery, and tracking progress every 4–5 weeks with a test will help you stay on track.
The 15 weeks has gone by more than ones since the original post 
But now I need to know - did he achieve his goal?!
The people want to know - me included.
