Looking for some help from @IvyAudrain or anyone equally knowledgable!
I’m about to begin Sustained Power Build after completing SS Base 1 and 2 low volume.
So here is my situation:
The low volume build plan often restricts weekday workouts to 1 hour duration (I know that it bumps up as the plan goes along though). I have the ability to do longer efforts during the week.
SO: is it better to
(1) stick to what I’m doing - abide by the AI overlords, progression levels, and do the assigned low volume plan as written, and then go have fun on sunday.
(2) Adjust the low volume plan, but find workout alternates that have similar progression levels but higher duration. What benefit, if any, is there to doing a longer workout at the same progression level?
(3) Switch to the mid-volume plan, take a full day off instead of the mid week recovery ride , and make my sunday funday ride an endurance ride to replace what is usually a shorter sweet spot ride?
seems like in addition to 1 and 2, using TrainNow on the other days, (or if you’re old like me) adding endurance workouts on the other days. At least, that’s what I have learned from @IvyAudrain on the podcast
I have switched to Low Volume this year with just these strategies, and its working great.
Option 1 is always a solid choice – we generally advise athletes to stay on the conservative side of things rather than overreaching. If you feel like you’ve been making good progress up to this point, it may not be a bad idea to stick to a formula that’s worked.
Option 2 is a good choice as well! If you have the extra time and don’t feel overly taxed by the work you’re currently putting in, some extra volume can be something good to experiment with if you have the time. We’d advise keeping the extra time you tack on easy, though, so you don’t dig yourself into a hole. As you already pointed out in your original post, Workout Alternates will have you covered there. We also have a good blog post on the subject:
Option 3 would be one we’d advise waiting on, at least at first. Going with Option 2 and seeing how you respond to some extra volume through Workout Alternates would be a good call to get a sense of how the extra riding makes you feel. If the extra volume is manageable, then it could be worth bumping up to Mid Volume in the future!
Hope this input helps, and feel free to ping me with any other questions!
This, especially when just starting out. Slowly add in longer mid-week rides to carefully ramp up your overall volume.
