Though 6x VO2 per week might be tough in terms of compliance. Try a block of 3 weeks with 3 VO2Max workouts per week. Acute overload, then back off. Rest a week. Resume your typical stuff.
My second suggestion is that you take all of your TR-prescribed less-than-SS work (mostly endurance, maaaaaaybe some tempo), and put them into a single day, back to back. One very long ride. The thought is that if you can’t pour in more endurance volume per week, make the endurance volume you have harder. I haven’t found any papers comparing isovolumetric endurance spaced out vs concentrated within a single week, but this is my n=1 experience. Pretty harmless to try out though!
Have you tried just letting TR take the wheel completely on your training and seeing how it goes? I’ve done a lot of “sort of” following a TR plan, but also making enough adjustments where it’s debatable how well I’m following the plan.
This trainer season I’m making a concerted effort to just stick with the plan and follow the adaptations and so far so good. My FTP has gone from 350 to 361 over the last two months since I’ve let TR take the wheel (I’m 86-88 Kgs, so my W/Kg isn’t as impressive!). I’ve still failed a workout or two, but AI adaptations have responded appropriately.
I get a solid response from 3 per week, but these are hard-start KM VO2’s, not the TR VO2s. TR’s VO2 programming tends to be easier and has less cumulative time at VO2max for otherwise identical intervals (eg, 4x4’s).
How long do you take for an off-season? What type of base work are you doing?
Usually I don’t do any break. I like/need training. But when summer ends, my TSS and intensity goes down. This is also because I add running to cycling. I start very slowly, with Z1 runs. Usually I train without a plan for 4-8 weeks. Usually in that period I dont touch higher zones than tempo. This is my “break”. Then I resume proper cycling training with TR plan in December or January. But keep running until Spring. Running is just Z2 stacking. Base work on the bike is for me TR SS base plan. I exend it by adding Z2 rides/runs. Usually do 300-350 TSS weeks in winter. This however gives only around 50 CTL. This might be too low number to be able to improve ftp beyond what I have currently.
Have you tried just letting TR take the wheel completely on your training and seeing how it goes? I’ve done a lot of “sort of” following a TR plan, but also making enough adjustments where it’s debatable how well I’m following the plan.
Usually, in summer I stick to it by doing all intensity exactly as prescribed, and then I am adding Z2 freely (of course preserving proper periodisation).
But actually… maybe my best results were in 2023 becasue in that year I started using TR, was so hyped that I completed every interval during base phase, it was 3 SS intervals per week for 8 or 12 weeks in winter. This perhaps gave me very good base for the rest of the season. Since then I have never been able to stick to my base plan 100% becasue I hate an idea of doing 3 x long SS interval days on the trainer… Not to mention treshold… Today I did 2 x 22 min @SS and it was hell. If I could do it outside it would be another story (outside I can do 60 min constantly at the same watts easily). But until March this is impossible for me.
So yeah, I think your intuition is correct: sticking 100% to TR plan, especially during base in winter, might be very beneficial.
My second suggestion is that you take all of your TR-prescribed less-than-SS work (mostly endurance, maaaaaaybe some tempo), and put them into a single day, back to back. One very long ride. The thought is that if you can’t pour in more endurance volume per week, make the endurance volume you have harder. I haven’t found any papers comparing isovolumetric endurance spaced out vs concentrated within a single week, but this is my n=1 experience. Pretty harmless to try out though!
In a recent Emperical Cycling Podcast, he threw out there that he has seen people he has coached reach their “genetic potential” at roughly 18-20 hours per week, over a long period of time. He was quick to qualify that by saying he doesn’t think that is any sort of rule, guarantee, or scientific finding, it is just something he’s noticed in his coaching.
I forgot the context in the podcast. Not sure they were talking about FTP specifically. It might take a different training load to reach full potential depending on discipline (sprinting vs. multi-day endurance, etc.).
Here is your answer. I believe Hannah Otto called it “perma-fit” on one of the recent podcasts. Always in shape but never hit a peak.
But look, I don’t race. I dont feel like I need a break like a pro and do nothing for 2-3 weeks. Usually when I feel really motivated in winter to start new training plan and pushing that, I think this is a good indicator that I am rested and ready to train. Also, in November and December, I always get sick few times. So this is also part of my break I really don’t push myself in that period.
The endurance and extra volume was done super easy (like 55-60%) so even though the hours were kept high the intensity was very low. It’s cut off just cause of the size of the screen but the 15th I did the Morning VO2 (of a planned double day) and was just so beat that we called it. I tried again on the 21st but was still way too tired.
I’m not a coach so I can’t say for sure it’ll be what does it but it worked for me and is definitely a major stimulus. Just remember that you need to recover equally hard afterward. I basically then did 2.5 weeks of recovery with some endurance before testing with an easy FTP workout and even then it took another week or so for my legs (and new, higher FTP) to come around. I’ve heard some people can kinda screw it up by getting back to too much work too quickly and fatiguing themselves.
Thanks for your tips! I will definitely try some pure vo2 block in summer. Although it will definitely not be 6 x vo2 per week. That’s crazy
Yeah, I agree with this take. There are physiological mechanisms that make it easier to regain fitness than it was to gain it in the first place. You get more bang for your buck resting hard so you can work hard and hit new highs. Gotta embrace the rebuilding of old fitness as part of the process.
Nothing wrong with maintaining year round fitness if that’s what you prefer. I was just responding on why you might be stuck at 4.5 w/kg. You may not be racing but it sounds like you want to try to raise that number. A season break where you can fully recover and rebuild may be the springboard you need.
As for taking it easy when you are sick… those aren’t breaks from training. Your body is stressed fighting off the illness. Not the same.
A season break where you can fully recover and rebuild may be the springboard you need.
How such a break should look like in your opinion? 2-3 weeks with ZERO cycling? Or ZERO activity in general, no running, no lifting? What about one week?
Zero cycling but you can do other stuff. You want stuff that is more dissimilar. Lifting is great. Like you could hit the gym 4x a week for a month and set a yourself up for gains if you continued lifting during your base phase. Consider throwing in some PT or prehab for nagging issues. Running isn’t terrible (I think we have evidence that indicates running helps with cycling more than the other way around). XC skiing or skating for lateral movement (lacking in cycling). A very “out there” rec: if you live near a coast you could take a free diving course. They have these “learn to hold your breath for 5 mins in a month” courses. Low stress on muscles/joints, more mental game, and apnea training is great for VO2max, in theory. (It does improve VO2, but the literature about whether apnea training translates to increased cycling performance, specifically, is sparse/weak/mixed.) Anyhow, I would pick one thing to really focus on and make gains in.
My n=1. I take huge amounts of time off the bike completely. Like I once did a whole year of serious lifting (was a strength athlete before cycling). Built a bunch of muscle and had squat/DL PR’s. The next cycling season I built my FTP past to my previous high and then added 20% on top. I am an outlier case (most here would not take a year off the bike), but I definitely got better gains in both by alternating than I would had I done the two years concurrently (mixing lifting with cycling). One might say it was an extreme form of periodization.
One week is a good place to start I’d say. I think it’s good to have at least one one week break and one 2 week break each year. Since you don’t race you can put these in whenever is convenient or around holiday, vacations, etc.
I’d say for the one week break (kind of a mid-season break) taking it like a super easy recover week is ideal. No riding for the first 3 days or so and then short recovery and maybe an endurance ride.
For the longer break (usually at the end of the race season) I usually go no bike at all for at least a week and keeping the other activity lower. You don’t have to sit on the couch that week but don’t go do 2 marathons either. Shorter runs, walks, or hikes, start to ramp up a bit of lifting (for me at least because it tends to get neglected at the end of race season), or anything else that gets you outside and moving but it’s fatiguing. Then in the second week you can pick up your bike but keeping it short and ONLY for fun. No intervals, no long endurance rides, no riding in bad weather, etc. It’s both a mental break and a physical one. For example, I just rode my bike to the store, through the forest paths, I did one hard group ride that I would usually have skipped during the training or race season, but the rest was puttering around and ‘smelling the flowers’.
Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you need these breaks but the rest is super good and can spring board you to another level because if you’re someone who feels compelled to exercise a lot you can sometimes either ignore the feeling of fatigue or you misinterpret it as a good feeling. So by forcing yourself to not train for a short period you give your body the chance to recover completely and not just what happens in your one day off a week.
And I know you’re not a pro and you’re not racing so you might not have all that travel fatigue and stuff but 5w/kg (and even 4.5) is a pretty high level and you have to be training pretty intensely to get there. It might not feel like a lot relative to some people but for the average human body it’s a huge physiological strain and we all can benefit from a little more rest and recovery.
I really don’t push myself in that period.
