As the plans are in beta and polarized training is not exactly a well defined methodology my guess is they are being conservative about it. No good comes from burning people out before plans are finalized.
Also consider once AT rolls out the base plan won’t be as significant as it is now
There’s no solution to that question that doesn’t upset a camp. Either you add lots more Z1 to bump up TSS and people complain they don’t have time, or you add more intensity days, which deviates from the POL study…
Either this works for people or it won’t, but it’s what people have been asking for.
Looking forward to the summer once people have had time to complete these plans and see if there’s any FTP gains.
Personally either way I think these are the perfect platform to build on. Keep adding Z1 for a more base phase. Then start adding tempo on one day and progressing on long blocks there too. Current thinking anyway. Maybe one week super long Z1 Sunday ride, next week mega tempo effort. Will see!
Having been off a plan for a while, and just doing lots of rides at LT1 (ie easy rides), I’ve found I’m able to handle crazy amounts of TSS, in the 600-800/week range, and I feel fine. I definitely could not handle that with higher intensity. I think adding TSS with easy rides ends up being not that fatiguing, which I think is the point. 2 hours at 60%ish FTP is pretty easy (boredom is likely the hard part.)
Yeah, the hard part is definitely avoiding putting in an effort on a climb or something because the legs feel good and you’re just riding comfortably.
I have just finished a Sweet Spot Base MidVolume 2…should I follow with a Build plan or a Polarized plan? No race ahead, just to improve a lot and crush weekend friends 
You can use the polarized build plan, get TrainerRoad more data, get faster in the process
Indeed. The only time I can sustain near-FTP levels for lengthy periods is on hill climbs (real or simulated).
Looking at the polarised plans (e.g. mid volume) it strikes me that many will swap the Sunday ride for outdoors, and I really can’t imagine myself being able to stick to Z1 for that length of time, particularly if there are hills involved.
Yeah, I don’t think long trainer rides are really that bad once you get your entertainment dialed. It’s actually sort of a peaceful time for me where I can just zone out, play some games, and burn three thousand calories before Sunday lunch.
And the rest of the house knows it’s “me time”, so I can actually watch a race or a movie in peace.
Are you playing video games? If yes I am interested in your setup to hold you position on bike while holding a controler 
Just realised my POL plans look different on calendar to the plans now on the app. Did they get changed again recently?
After the update and official release I added the HV POL plan, and it gave me a lot of 2min type intervals. Now I looked again and it’s the 4x8 4x4 workouts again early in the week (which I prefer by the way). Just wondering what happened.
Mine looks like this in the second half
Maybe they’re AB testing.
Yeah, I mean it seems like it would vary so wildly based on terrain that I always thought zone 2 rides (I guess we’re calling them Z1 now) were a silly application of the outside workout feature. Outside workouts are great because some interval workouts are too long for my stem (I’m short!), but when it’s zone 2 time, I just make sure my Garmin has Z2 time on display and I go and ride until that’s showing the right time. Great motivation for staying on target on climbs and descends, too, because you don’t want that timer to stop ticking away.
Noticed this today as well. Should I remove my just started POL plan and replace it with the new one? Or whats the reason for the change?
Just had both versions on my calendar there side by side to compare. Really is mostly just the intensity days that changed. I’ve deleted the older one with 2min intervals and went with the new one.
I’ve the 6 week mid volume POL plan in my calendar and that’s now completely different when you look at it via the Plans page on the website. Gone are the really hard 2min intervals at 130% to be replaced by 4min intervals just over threshold. The other hard interval day has seen the 16min @102% become 8min@102%
Which is crazy and they are now addressing.
I’ve checked about 20 outdoor rides and everyone is less time and higher TSS than than the indoor ride.
Why?
Because
Basically its a big assumption to make Inside 1 hr= 1.5 hr outside.
For me without fail 2hr inside only requires about 1hr 50 outside.
Just goes to show you can’t make assumptions, and in this case IF and TSS are a better measure to compare.
BTW, I normal have <1% coasting time, if your have the roads its just about learning how to maximise your time outside.
I am. I mostly play “slay the spire” which is a rogue like card game so I can just hold a wireless controller in one hand. It sounds pretty clunky, but it’s not actually a problem. I’ve also spent a lot of time playing switch and being able to play with the split joycons makes things a lot easier.
I do think playing an FPS or similar game that requires quick inputs would be quite a bit more difficult.
Interestingly it looks like they’ve done away with the 2 minute intervals in the 8 week HV plan but not in the 6 week HV plan
6 week progression still has the 2 minutes - they progress from 6 at 124%, 9 at 124%, and 12 at 126%.
I also do better with the longer intervals like currently exist in the 8 week plan, but am willing to give it a shot
I thought about playing “football manager” on the trainer but it requires some accurate clicking to navigate in the game. I still haven’t find a game which is engaging to me but also easy in the inputs required.
