Polarised plan progression


i’ve started a polarised build, and i’m raising an eyebrow at the progression. this isn’t my first rodeo, and gainz don’t come easily, so i’m thinking going from 4 x 8 mins @ 102% (very hard last night, week 1) to 4 x 16 @ 104% by week 5 looks unrealistic. i’m not one to shirk hard work but really?

Yes it is a load of… well lets just say its badly designed.

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Looking at the “All Rides” tab, doesn’t seem anyone has attempted it.

Yeah, I think this hits the nail on the head. I don’t know that TR intentionally made a bad plan, or maybe rushed to get something out after the Dylan Thomas video. I don’t know how anyone could do that progression.

That’s not to say a polarized approach is a bad idea in general, but I think these plans need some personal tweaking to make them work.

Agreed as well. I went through the polarized plans and it was fun to smash myself, but I was not completing the final workout progressions. It’s something that I probably could have done during my first year of structure when I was grabbing significant fitness gains every week, but with a few seasons under my belt, these progressions are not possible.

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yes i’ll probably tweak the plan, effectively doing my personal version of AT. i get that the hard days are to be hard, and i don’t mind if i have to take an odd dab, i might just repeat the 4 x 8 and drop that week 4 and 5 progression.

its a shame that actual AT wasn’t involved.

I have been doing 4x8 with reduced time between intervals for 4-6 weeks at a time. The plan is to get to 2-mins between intervals, so there is a 4:1 ratio of work:recovery at the end of the 4-6 weeks.

Intensity varies anywhere between 90-105% depending on how I feel. Good days will be slightly closer to 105% and bad leg days will be closer to 90%. HR doesn’t go above LTHR and all 4 intervals need to be the same, i.e. average power, and minimal cardiac drift.

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Hmm, I did the mid volume plans and went from San Pedro (4x8min with 5min rest) to Bartlett Peak (4x16 with 2min rest) and it wasn’t a problem. Similar situation to you, I’d been doing the Sweet Spot Base and Build plans for nearly eighteen months and wasn’t really seeing any progress. The Polarised plans gave me the required kick, with it being fine weather in the UK I did them all outdoors.

I did a full post on the plans in the experiences with PP thread - https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/my-experience-with-tr-pol-plans/56258/85.

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