And to add to that. You don’t really need that many workouts to have a effective training plan. While i must admit that all the different variants of TrainerRoad workouts, worked really well for me in terms of keeping things interesting. A basic training plan with a handful of workouts works just as well.
I’m now on week 10 of the criterium plan i started to get me ready for Zwift season. Last 5 weeks i’ve been doing the Zwift Racing League races and i’ve broken about every all-time record i can track. Done a 20min FTP test and had my highest ever 20min power. Of course it’s hard to directly compare it to TR, because i might also have done that staying with TR. But so far i’m feeling good about how Join handles things.
My next big goal will probably be the 3 Rides UCI Gran Fondo in Aachen to try and qualify for the Gran Fondo World Championship. Crit plan is almost done and thinking of just doing the FTP builder plan next and then switch to a plan that’s focused on the GF (140K, about 2500m climbing in the Eifel).
I’m doing 3-5 more hours a week with join which I really like. I like the simplicity, but it’s not perfect.
I used TR for 4 years and tried different roads that all led to the same FTP. I also felt I peaked during build and specialty was then too much intensity.
I’ve been on a maintenance plan, but I’m also kind of tired of chasing little bits of FTP gains every month. I really like how Join has been keeping me more consistent.
I also feel having good endurance helps my repeatability more than smashing intervals 3x a week.
Join does have three or so days of intensity, but not nearly as many intervals.
I started out worrying a bit that my FTP would drop, but what I’ve found is that the extra volume, even in low Z2, has given me far more overall fitness. My CTL is way up. Higher volume and lower intensity, plus the feeling that I can take a day off without feeling guilty, is keeping me from burning out and taking unplanned days or weeks off. My consistency is through the roof. Long rides don’t feel long anymore (unless you want to talk sit bones), and I found a recent FTP test to be far easier because I’m used to longer efforts. My FTP was actually higher than expected, btw.
I like not having to many different workouts because this way I know what to expect, once JOIN has given you 5x4min @120% you sort of know it doesn’t have much worse on offer except maybe under-overs and 10 min threshold + sprints or 15 min threshold + sprints (although I don’t know if they are in any plan, eg on the dutch podcast they said 5x5min @115% is in the library but disabled for any plan)
Sometimes. Today, for example, I had a shorter commute so increased my available time and JOIN changed the suggested workout from VO2 to threshold. (I did the VO2 anyway, just more of it!)
Yes, this!! I’ve burned out twice, both during Specialty. Since I’m not competing for any podium spots, I personally find little value in “sharpening the saw” that much and used to go back to base
I emailed JOIN Support about their “base” plan and received the following response. I found some useful tidbits of info in it, especially the “polarized” comment. Based on the LSRF plan I assume that statement is based on time in zone, not session counts.
With regards to our ‘base plan’, this will be the Stamina builder plan. This program covers everything you need during the ‘base period’, low cadence strength session, endurance rides and some threshold/Vo2max intervals. I have followed this program myself and suggest it to most users during this time of year as it is probably one the best programs to use. It sets you up for any goal or program from here on forward.
The Stamina builder would be the [next] plan, it is 3 months long and builds you through all the different training phases.
Stamina builder: As explained above, the focus is on building your endurance, general fitness and JOIN score. Also setting you up for any other program or race you might want to start training for.
FTP builder: Follows up on the Stamina builder in some ways, with more focus on longer intervals and improving your FTP.
Long climbs: Focus is on 10 min + climbs and preparing you to be able to climb these climbs as best you can. Intervals are mostly around the threshold.
Short Climbs: Focus is on shorter than 10 min, around 3-5 min. This program has many V02max sessions.
All 4 of these programs are based on the polarised method, so they will have a mixture of endurance and HIIT sessions. But focuses more on each individual goal of the program.
@carytb I think your interpretation is correct. As of right now, this is what I plan to do:
Jul-Oct: JOIN LSRF
Oct-Dec: FasCat 10-week weight lifting plan
(I will run the JOIN Stamina Builder alongside to see what it looks like)
Jan-Mar: JOIN FTP Builder
Apr-Jun: JOIN Long Climbs or event-specific plan
This schedule loosely follows what I did the last two years - FasCat for the off season, TR Polarized Base & Build, Sustained Power Build, etc. Sometimes I went to Specialty, other times I went back to base/build. I don’t race and on the rare occasion my schedule lets me participate in an event, it is to explore new roads and to finish, so I don’t tie my plans to a specific event, and just do them when I can.
This is encouraging. I’ve been doing fastcats 10 week weightlifting plan while taking a bit of offseason and occasionally noodling around. I’ll probably start the LSDF plan in a few weeks myself…probably for november 1 I’ll start properly training again.
For the record, the last few weeks ramped up quite a bit. I know you won’t get there with your plan, but if anyone reads this later, I don’t want to give a false impression.
I also do 90-180 minutes every ride, so my workouts tend to start and end with 20-30 mins Z2, which lessens the “damn that was hard” from the spicy 45 in the middle. I love that Join allows me to do that. It might be the exact same ride someone who had 60 minutes would get…it just adds a bunch of volume at my request.
