Mixing/alternating between low & mid plans?

Hi
Some weeks I have more time than others and I was thinking of maybe alternating by going off the low vol plan 1 week then mid vol the next week etc etc.
What are your thoughts on this please??

I messed around with this some and it works. Most of the LV and MV plans overlap well, with an additional ride(s) and/or duration. Usually I would do it ad hoc – peak at what was in the MV or HV plan that week (+/- a week) and adjust to taste. I experimented with putting both LV and MV of the same plans in the calendar. It certainly works, but would take more active management to keep from getting confusing.

What I would recommend doing is sticking to the Low Volume plan and when you do have those weeks with more time, just add in workouts. Generally, the extra workouts in the mid volume plan compared to the low volume are endurance workouts, but that can vary. When you do have a day to ride, you can always just go look at the mid volume plan to see what workout is in there and do that one! This way, you won’t have to skip any workouts in your calendar and you are fully flexible on what you can do. :slight_smile:

5 Likes

I’ve been doing a 4 rides per week plan by taking ssblv1 and taking the last ride of the week and using its -1 variation as the extra. Fits into my schedule perfectly. It is just enough TSS for me to handle without doing mid volume.

It’s not just number of rides that vary though - duration of the Tuesday and Thursday workouts on mid volume are normally a bit longer.

I build a plan from the various volumes. Base follows:

Monday: rest

Tuesday: 60 mins Higher intensity (from low volume)

Wednesday: 90 mins sweet spot (from mid volume)

Thursday: gym – heavy compound lifts

Friday: gym - core

Saturday: 120 mins sweet spot (from high volume)

Sunday: 4 hours soul ride (similar to high volume traditional base) if poor weather repeat Saturday.

For me, it works really well. Did a pre-season 4 week block of the above and saw a 12% FTP. Admittedly, I am recovering from a rough couple of seasons and could be regaining fitness. Lets me focus on work during the week.

edit: not sure about volumes from week to week. I think big swings in volume might kill me off without building into it.