I am doing my second planned/scheduled WO series on Indoor TR. My current FTP is 149 having increased my FTP by 12% since mid-February 2025 (when I started indoor training).
I can handle VO2 max WO like Anticosti (level = 4.8) with shorter peak intervals. However, when doing Threshold WO with longer intervals of 4+ minutes at/above FTP, I feel a need to take a break (and pause the clock by clicking on the top-right button) when I am in my second/third Recovery Zone in order to be refreshed/charged-up to successfully do my Threshold/VO2 Max levels.
FYI,
I declare post-ride rating as âhardâ if I feel so. The ones that are Endurance WO, I often declare them as âmoderate.â
My average cadence is around around 90 RPM and I try my best to sustain cadence of around 100 rpm as much as I can (âŚespecially when in challenging intervals like Threshold/VO2 Max). My average HR is 130-140 (over the duration) with with max between 150-160.
I am mentally preparing myself for my Antelope-4 WO next week (Sweet Spot 4.5; 4x10-minute Sweet Spot intervals) and Diamond-1 WO in 2 weeks (Threshold 4.6; 4x9-minute sets of varied VO2max/Anaerobic )
Questions:
Is it OK to take short breaks of 1 minute of less when in Recovery Zone (so that I may successfully complete the complete WO)?
Does TR account for the fact that I took breaks (paused the clock) when it gives/calculates my final performance levels, my adaptations and my adjusted FTP? (I hope so!!!)
I am asking these questions since I do not wish to âfool the TR systemâ into believing that I am a better bike-rider than I actually am. Context: 1) TR bumped up my FTP last week by 3 when I was least expecting so 2) Yesterday, after completing Taftan and calling it âhardâ since I took 3 short breaks in 3 recovery zones when doing Taftan I got TSS of 78/78 and IF of .89/.88.
Honest Question: Is it OK to successfully complete my (challenging) WOs with a few short breaks of ~ 1 minute (i.e., timeout pause) when in Recovery Zone or am I playing/fooling/rigging the TR system to get a higher than honest score? Would appreciate honest response (from experienced TR users) so that I may adapt/plan/progress appropriately rather than fool myself with a "quick-high but meaningless FTP.
My feeling is that the workouts are structured in such a way (including the level of the ârecoveryâ intervals) that if you feel the need to take a break the workout might be too hard for you (or should be rated as âvery hardâ or âmaximum effortâ).
are you sure that your trainer is providing the correct resistance in ERG mode when the workout step is for example 40% of 149 watt, as this is âonlyâ (not trying to be rude) 60 watts. You might need to change to a larger gear in order for your trainer to be able to set the resistance to match the power target of 60 watts
Joining the others to say if I had to take multiple breaks in order to complete the workout, I would mark it as âall outâ.
Also, if I had to struggle to complete 4 minutes at FTP, I would not consider that my FTP. I recognize youâre new to training, but I would want to be able to hold my FTP for AT LEAST 20 minutes without a break. It sounds like your FTP is set too high, which is causing you to do those intervals in what is likely your VO2 (Zone 5+) and not your Zone 4. That would also make your SS workouts be at TH, etc., so theyâre all going to feel much harder than they should.
I checked and confirmed with TR and Wahoo Kickr (Core) that the trainer works as expected. I also conduct âspin downâ calibration before every WO.
To the best of my knowledge, gear-selection does not really matter when you are working in ERG mode. This is because the resistance only targets âpowerâ and not gear-selection. And based on the advice that I received earlier from at TR coach, the it is (may be) better to be in a lower gear in order to smooth out choppiness in the output-graph (i.e. - no impact on power; if in lower gear, you only need to spin faster).
Also, 40% of 149 Watts is supposed to be my âRecovery Zone.â This is NOT my Target Zone. I did Taftan WO where my real-target was between 95%-112%. (Taftan Description: Taftan consists of 4 sets of short efforts lasting between 1-4 minutes at 90-115% FTP with very short, 30-second recoveries between intervals. Recoveries between sets of intervals last 5 minutes each.
Thanks for your suggestion â â⌠I would want to be able to hold my FTP for AT LEAST 20 minutes without a break âŚâ Iâll take that constructive advice ⌠especially since Iâll soon be getting into longer WO targets (which was the focus of my question).
The real reason I asked this (serious) question is because TR documentation does not mention anything about taking (stretch/water-drink) short breaks. In fact, (I believe) TR factors in such short-breaks and makes appropriate TSS/IF adjustments. And if it determines that you took a longer than normal break (because of physical breakdown), it pops up a âstruggle surveyâ (which I did not get). In fact, after my short (less than 1 minute break), I am able to resume at SS/Threshold target quick at cadence of 100 rpm.
Like other replies, I would say that if you need to stop during a recovery break to extend the recovery, then the work out is possibly too hard or is not a threshold sessionâŚ
However, it depends on the how the work out is structured, if itâs long intervals at threshold and you need a slightly longer break, I think that wouldnât matter as much as if the recoveries are a deliberate length to make the work out more challenging and perhaps reduce over the weeks so that you gradually extend the time in [threshold] zone by bridging the gap between what were originally two very separate intervals.
Also note that keeping pedalling during recoveries helps clear lactate more effectively than doing absolutely nothing, so really you should be better set up for the next interval if you keep pedalling. Even if you really just want to stop and lie on the floor for a minute or two
On the one hand, no, I donât see an issue extending breaks. I do almost all of my workouts outdoors, Iâm not losing out on the workout if I extend my break out a few minutes, which I do all the time to get to a better location to start my next intervals.
On the other hand, if you canât hold your FTP for 20-30 minutes, then that isnât your FTP.
I have not read all the responses. Workouts often have recovery/easy intervals interspersed between hard intervals. The power levels and durations of breaks are specifically designed to set up the level of stress for the next hard interval. With repeating hard easy hard easy intervals, itâs usual for the hard ones to feel progressively harder. If a break is taken during a recovery interval, or that interval extended or the target power lowered, then the next hard interval wonât generate the training stress it is supposed to. So taking a break or otherwise reducing the stress of a recovery interval has a similar effect to reducing the power or duration of a subsequent hard interval. Either way, the workout wonât result in itâs intended effect.
His point is that some trainers, in certain gears are unable to provide a low enough resistance. They call this a âpower floorâ. So itâs possible that even though TR is commanding 60W and the trainer is trying to deliver 60W, it may be unable to go that low if youâre in too easy of a gear.
Itâs something that other people have found to be an issue when they have lower FTPs and the recovery intervals donât seem to be giving them enough recovery.
Typically using a âharderâ gear to give more flywheel speed is the easiest way to fix that issue if it occurs.
Typically gears donât matter much in ERG mode but at the extremes it can because you run into hardware and physics limitations. Itâs different trainer to trainer but usually it starts to happen around 50W or so.
Excellent point â ââŚkeeping pedalling during recoveries helps clear lactate more effectively than doing absolutely nothing, so really you should be better set up for the next interval if you keep pedalling. Even if you really just want to stop and lie on the floor for a minute or two âŚâ I will keep pedaling to enable effective lactation and still keep rolling on trainer. Perhaps Iâll drop my cadence to 70 rpm and (still) keep at required Recovery power level.
Thanks for the constructive suggestion. Appreciate.
Personally, I wouldnât overthink this. An extra 1 minute rest during your recovery period is not a huge deal.
For a workout like this, you should figure out the intensity at which you can complete the whole set without getting off. If you need to take a 1 minute break during the 30-second recovery period then you were going too hard. 90-115% is a huge range with 90% below threshold and 115% well above. Taking an extra 1 minute during the 5 minute recovery window is no big deal.
I would look at my workout not just in training me to get through intervals or the start and finish of a workout, but a way to manage yourself and your time on the bike for as few/no stops as possible. You should never have to stop and stretch. Maybe someone can think of a reason, but I canât. Occasionally maybe stand up to stretch the calves or hamstrings a bit (on the bike).
For your water, have enough with you to get through the workout. You want to make sure you can drink while youâre riding. If youâre outside, you arenât going to want to stop and take a drink.
By avoiding stopping, youâre building up your ability to manage the other activities that take place during a bike ride - drinking water, eating/fueling, possibly some adjustments in the bike.
The more you practice, the easier itâll get and better off youâll be. One of my biggest pet peeve with local group rides is they might do 100 miles in 5 hrs, but they have 45 mins of stops. Maybe from a leisure/socialization perspective this is nice, but if thatâs all your long rides, youâre missing out on a MAJOR component of becoming a better rider/racer.
Of course, this all dependent on someoneâs goals. Someone who is targeting to become a better endurance rider in general, or better racer, this is very important. For someone on the bike looking to just get some exercise in, it may not be as important of a thing to continue to improve.
You hit the nail on the head about long social rides with frequent signal/social stops. I am hence breaking away from it and moving to TR method. Also, trying to improve on drinking, stretching etc. when on bike.
Itâs OK to take short breaks. These are included in the workout data by TrainerRoad on the backend when it recommends adaptations. So youâre not cheating the system, haha, the data is right there for the system to read.
I took a look at your Progression Levels history, and it looks like, for example, on your Threshold Level you struggled with Ochiltree on April 1st, and received adaptations to lower Threshold Workout Levels. So this is a good indicator that the system is reading your abilities and suggesting the appropriate workouts for your current fitness level.
As far as the post-workout survey goes, it sounds like you fall between Hard and Very Hard answers. But just answer without overthinking it too much!
