Pushing intensity in SSB

Hi all,

I restarted SSBLV a few weeks ago and have been regularly bumping up the intensity by 5% and drawing out the durations for 30 minutes each workout. Given that this should be my base phase, am I shooting myself in the foot by bumping these up to threshold-level workouts? Should I just keep the workouts at the prescribed intensities even if they feel “easy”?

Thanks!

If your workouts are feeling too easy, there is no harm bumping up the intensity :slight_smile:

That being said, this does seem to indicate that your FTP may be set too low. If you have not done a Ramp Test for a few weeks, it may be worthwhile to test your threshold again. Often times your threshold will respond rapidly as you become accustomed to structured training, which means you may need a reassessment more quickly than originally planned.

Cheers, and good luck!

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if your ftp is set correctly, instead of increasing power you might want to consider increasing the length of each interval (increase Time-in-Zone). The longest intervals in SSB-1 LV are 3x20 at the end of week 3. Look at Wright Peak and other workouts that have longer intervals. Really build that muscular endurance.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve been doing that with things like Eclipse +3 which is 4x20. However, I’m worried that this is setting me up for burnout before the base period is over. Is that more of a possibility with increasing intensity or duration?

Thanks @Bryce. I did a ramp test a couple weeks ago but I don’t think it went well, ended up losing a couple watts after finishing LV general build. I ended up bumping it up manually from 273 to 280 and it seems to be OK, though I’m still bumping up intensity on SS workouts. My main concern is burning out due to the increased intensity.

well that is something you need to figure out for yourself. Burnout for me is doing too many interval sessions per week, and not enough outside riding.

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So you’re obviously the only one who can gauge how hard you’re working and decide whether it’s acceptable or excessive (Cyclist Pod? anybody else?), but keep in mind that SSB1 workouts aren’t supposed to be shattering. Anybody who can complete workouts like Tunnabora and Ericsson and Carson and the rest probably can do equivalent workouts at threshold, by definition. SSB is all about getting roughly the same physical adaptations you’d get putting in way more hours in zone 2, while maintaining your ability to recover well. When you work at a higher intensity, you start getting different adaptations. Personally, if I was confident that my FTP was set accurately, I’d leave the intensity alone in sweet spot sessions. (On the other hand, if I’m nose-breathing, my FTP is probably wrong.)

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