How to extend training to 20-25 hrs pw

Training
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I am lucky enough to have close to unlimited amount of time to train.

I’ve been riding for 2 years and training seriously for about 1.5. I’ve gone from 2.7 to 5.2wpkg in this time following - ssbmv- spbmv- ssbmv- ssbmv- break for 2 months w pneumonia- ssbmv - ssbhv and for the past month I have been doing ssbmv as follows:
M: reco 1-2hrs / rest (normally rest)
T: 1hr ss wo + 2 hrs z2 if I get the chance/not too lazy
W: 1hr ss wo + 2hrs z2 as above
T: 5hrs z1/2
F: under overs
S: easy long w the wife or hike
S: 5 hrs z1 w ss wo

Anyone got any recommendations? Am I on the right track w something like this?

I think I’ll increase my ftp again at the end of this block as a lot of my workouts (w the exception of the over jnders) often completed about 5% higher.

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Take up triathlon :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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you’re not doing a ton of high intensity so it should be pretty safe to just keep adding to the z1/2 volume, enough to make you tired, and just keep building from there.

If it were me, I know that i personally would get better quality out of the over / unders if I didn’t do 5 hours the day before. Then again, you might be in better aerobic shape than I am, but if it were me, i would swap things around so that i had something easier the day before.

Also, my guess is that an hour of sweetspot doesn’t tax you that much anymore. I would consider combining those days into one longer SS day with more time in zone, building up from an hour and gradually extending the TiZ.

Or better yet. Make the over unders Tuesday, make Wednesday the long SS day, add zone 1/2 after each of those as you’re able, and the rest of the days can be z1/2 days where you build up the volume.

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what are your training goals? do you have any events?

I’m not a coach but I have been riding ~20hr weeks (1000+ hrs every year the last 3-4 years) training and racing for road races. initial observations:

  • you’re doing a lot of intensity. 4 days of sweetspot or over unders is overkill imo. should be more like 2-3. I know it’s not over threshold but still elevating the HR a fair bit and they do increase fatigue. big hours = big tss, so be careful with how much intensity you do
  • are tuesday and wednesday workouts split up into double-days? or all one ride? If you have the luxury do them as 1x3hr ride. Personally I never ride less than 3hrs, unless I am doing something awful like anaerobic capacity (e.g. 1 minute all out efforts)
  • you could do with a second rest day in there. I’d rest friday if you’re doing something fairly long on saturday. may not be intense but real recovery is time with your feet up

apart from that it looks pretty good in terms of building just general aerobic fitness.
You may benefit from doing a block of vo2 work to pull your ftp up. tempo and SS can only take you so far before vo2 becomes a limiter.
Also, adding volume becomes exponentially less beneficial. you may be better off doing a strength training session (off-the bike) than any more cycling. this is especially true if you are a masters athlete

that being said, if you are still improving I wouldn’t change much. the time to change is when it’s stopped working

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I recently asked a similar question although I was only looking into increasing weekly hours to 10-15 hpw

With this amount of hours I would think the advice would be quite similar: less intensity, more Z2? or extending your workouts with Z1/Z2 aerobic rides.

That being said, that’s a massive amount of hours. How much hours are you already devoting to training? And does that include cross training as well?

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Umm, Im going to say: Don’t change anything, watch the medals roll in and post pictures here👍

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Haha I came from high level short course tri until I got hooked on crits! Now Im obsessed with road racing!

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Hahaha JoeX, in Europe you need an additional watt per kg for that!

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Not if hes in M45-49 no way, I can do without that!

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I am currently doing around 16-20. But due to my life situation thats about to become endless :slight_smile: I have built it up over the past 6 months from 10-> that. I am kind of just making it up and wanted some others opinions…

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haha Im 35 :stuck_out_tongue:

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devolikewhoa83 I must also say that I adapt my week as to my life demands. I always put my under overs on the day that I will be freshest. The schedule was just a rough idea of what I do during that week.

I had also thought about increasing the length of one of the ss workouts and changing the other day to a solid z2 ride.

Thanks for the advice!

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jimmytheblade Thanks heaps. My problem is all the variables you listed running through my head…

Goal: Race local equivelant of National Road Series here in Germany / Local P/1 class / 5.5-6(#DREAMZ)+wpkg

Interesting idea about amount of w/o days. I do sometimes drop the tempo or easier ss workout for an endurance ride. Maybe I should stick to this…?..
T+W always single rides.
Second rest day - Saturday is like 80w max + if we do something on the bike or hike I always take the Monday off. Sometimes both. I leave it totally put to feel.

I cycled through some waves of SPB and that definitely helped me with the FTP!
Damned spanner with the strength session…how might you implement this?

Thanks again for all the great advice!

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The more volume goes up the more intensity has to go down. It’s a matter of what your body can recover from. It’s very individual but at that volume you should probably be looking at a polarized approach with 4 days easy/long and 2 days of intervals with easy riding after.

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Ok, if you are racing I think you should include some work on your sprint, ideally on a day when you are fresh. Will help for power production, but mainly just practising the movement. It’s so nueromuscular, you are probably powerful enough to do a 100-200w more than normal if you haven’t been practising it. also just sprinting from a variety of speeds and cadences. unless you win solo these are what decide races, so think they’re vital to include for any kind of rider.

working at a variety of cadences will help in bunch races where you will have to follow surges on the flats/climbs ect. you’re not always in the perfect gear, and when drafting in a bunch, you have to follow at awkward torque ranges sometimes. this won’t affect your TSS but try adding in some blocks of 110+rpm work or 50-60rpm work. can be done in the z3 intervals you have planned or just in z2 over the course of a longer ride.

when you get closer to your race season, including a group “race” style ride (we have “chaingangs” here in the UK), would help get some speed in the legs and get you comfortable moving in a group on the wheels.

I would cycle blocks of vo2 work and tempo/SS, which should help you push your ftp up to goal range.

Honestly you’re doing plenty of work on the bike. The worst thing to do is just add more until you are too tired to train productively. I’d be inclined to drop one of the interval sessions?

If you feel like you don’t need the rest, I’d swap the session for some more z2 riding- if you have been riding for only 2 years you are lacking base compared to other guys in your category. also just really solid benefits to long base training for at least 8 years.

Other than that, strength work off the bike is the obvious gain to be made in terms of changes I think.

Are you happy with the riding you are doing? A happy rider is a fast rider, so looking forward to every ride is a big help. I like the fact you’re spending time with your wife on the saturday for example.

Lastly, with your goals and amount invested in cycling (from just a weekly hrs point of view), a cycling coach would be a worthwhile investment. takes all the planning/thinking out of it for you! just do what you are told and will almost certainly improve at a faster rate. Trainnerroad is a great software but never optimal for a rider doing 20+hr weeks