More time available to train, but should you add it?

Training
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Question/discussion. If you have more time to train, should you fill that available time, beyond the suggested TR Custom Training Plan volume?

My example here (and where this stems from) is I have a big chunk of time available to roll on the indoor trainer a few days a week. The suggested training plan is saying ~1 hour per-intense workout (3x + 1) or ~300 TSS per-week.

Now, I want to fill that time, but should I? Should you just “trust the plan” instead? Historically been completing the workouts the last few months, only failed one recently (possibly due to other factors). Historical volume the last 2 months has ranged from 300 to 350. No Red days, Yellows after hard days (expected).

What have others done in the past? I’ve not been able to find a good thread that also digs into this discussion either, not that one doesn’t exist (link it if so!)

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Personally, I wouldn’t add more intensity. I would proceed as follows:

  • Are your nutrition and recovery already perfectly optimized?
    • No > fill the extra free time with meal-prep / functional body weight exercise / recovery strategies
    • Yes > Increase volume with Z1/Z2 as long as tolerated. If performance drops, sleep becomes sheet, life becomes sheet, then step back and try again
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Agree with dangotr to not add more intensity, I’d check workout alternates on those days and see if there’s anything around the same PL but longer in duration. I’d imagine those will have similar TIZ for your threshold/SST/VO2 session but supplement with more Z1/Z2 time.

What I’ve done on Zwift is just free-ride after completing the workout, trying to stay below tempo. If it’s a hard interval day then I naturally fall around low to mid Z2 for the added duration.

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Great ideas here. I do wish you could say “1 hour interval + z2” on the longer workouts, but i guess that just is doing a second one afterwards.

Always a good remind to get the nutrition dialed a little more, especially post Christmas! Thanks for the feedback!

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It’s been a while since I’ve used the TR app itself for a workout, but I remember you could just extend the cooldown period, and then increase the intensity until you’re at a comfortable Z2 wattage.

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What are your goals?

Personally, for me, if I have an extra couple hours I spend it with friends, usually on the mountain bike.

Adding fun to the training plan helps keeps the spark burning.

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Just wait about one or two weeks and the new TrainerRoad release will be made public, which will answer those questions for you. You will have a four week window in your calendar in the future with an AIFTP prediction for that time which gets updated with every calendar manipulation so you can see for yourself what different training arrangements will yield which outcome prediction for you.

Additionally, there will be something like dynamic endurance workouts, where you set a maximum duration and the AI will probably start shorter and progress you in duration as it thinks it’s best for you.

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Except the CEO says it’s not your FTP but rather a “training number” to assist the AI in picking the best workout. So increasing this number presumably increases your fitness, but not necessarily your FTP.

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Isn’t the goal of potentially adding more volume to increase fitness? You can believe the model or not, but if the watts you can produce go up, you are getting fitter and, I think, that’s why most of us are here. :man_shrugging:

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Yes, but only if you can recover from it. There is always a balance to be struck.

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Maybe that’s your goal, but volume is not an issue for me as I’ve maxed that out. With 20+ hours a week and a CTL during race season in 115 range I’m focusing on limiters.

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TR adjusted the AI FTP algorithm 2 days ago to be more in line with FTP and not give us that high “potential number” any longer. Also TR will probably give us 20 and 60 min estimates as Nate did in the beta thread when correcting users with those high values from the previous AI FTP. So you have enough values to pick :wink: . Either way I’m over the FTP debates.

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+1

@CodyS You have the right mind set, the new features will help navigate that question.

If you are already comfortable and consistent on the recommended plan, try adding some thirty minute easy rides or something, see if it still feels comfortable and you’re consistent still. Or if you want more interesting workouts, at some for zones you aren’t currently working eg anaerobic sprints.

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Hey @CodyS :slight_smile:

I would recommend adding more volume by extending your warm up and cool down instead of adding another ride. While you are not going into the Red, you are going into the Yellow after interval days, so adding to your warm up and cool down is a safe way to add without overdoing it!

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Follow up question. Given that my Wednesday 1:30 is triggering a yellow, should that be a sign it should be reduced to get fewer/no yellow days?

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Don’t get to hang up on this. Go by feel and keep in mind that you need some form of overreach to progress and some yellow days here and there is not much to worry about. In contrary, I see them as necessary sometimes just to keep progressing.

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Nope :slight_smile: You’re on the clear on the clear to train on Wednesday’s and you’re not riding on Thursdays, so what you have schedule wise right now it’s working rather nicely for recovery to then be on the clear to train on Fridays.

Hope that makes sense! In a nut shell, it’s showing your train/recover pattern is spot on. Say, if you were to stack two interval days back to back (Wednesday-Thursday) that may trigger a Red day Friday and cause a snowball effect.

Adding volume through warm up and cool down can be a great way to keep your training day’s vs. recovery days balanced so you can keep hitting your workouts with high quality + while adding more volume.

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