Due to Covid-19 and the confinement here in Spain, I find myself with a lot of time in my house. So I was thinking about doing some changes to the plan. I’m now finishing base, next week will be the last week, being recovery week.
My thoughts are:
can I increase next week (recovery week) with 2 or 3 more Pettit or Andrews rides in order to keep doing some workouts most days of the next week? The days I don’t do any workout I feel more trapped.
Can I increase the build phase to mid or high (I’d prefer high) volume plan, until the confinement is over? What worries my here is that once the confinement is over I’d have to change the plan to low again, and probably on the middle of a block.
Thank you all for your input.
Best,
PS. Some background, this is my second year in with TR. Last year I completed the mid-volume plan.
This is a tough one. My gut would suggest that you keep the volume the same for your rest week. The reason being that a sudden increase in TSS, even in zone 2, will rob you of some of the benefits of the rest week and possibly not send you in to the build phase with the best balance of fitness/fatigue.
Increasing to mid volume at the beginning of the next phase shouldn’t be a problem but it may take a few weeks to adjust to the workload. You might want to prioritise good eating and sleep alongside the higher volume. If you have to drop down mid-phase, that’s not the end of the world. You obviously won’t get the full benefits of the mid volume plan, but you’ll get all the benefits of the low volume plan, plus the extra rides you did during confinement.
I’m also on the low volume.
I’m currently adjusting to the workload w/ a new FTP, then i’m planning to slowly add one ride, here and there, to increase the volume.
I think “moving up” is probably not recommended quite yet, maybe add a pettit or the likes here and there, or go to an increased version of the workouts?
First add in all the extras that people skip out on. For example, 30-45 minutes a day of general conditioning and core work. This will make you a better cyclist with little extra stress.
I was just about to move my general conditioning and strength work to maintenance phase but I’m redoubling my efforts and will be doing general conditioning every day and weights every other day for the duration of the covid virus. I’m home schooling my 9 year old for the foreseeable future so we have also been playing tennis for an hour per day.