In this case… in a 12 week plan you don’t have the time to take rest weeks in the way TrainerRoad defines them. There’s just not enough time to get to your goal.
I do think reduced training (80% volume, maybe one less intensity workout) half way through the plan will do some good. But the idea of essentially tapering every fourth week is too much when you only have 12 weeks. This of course if dependent on age, training history, volume, fitness level, etc.
@hubcyclist why is VO2 and sprints dumb? Elite runners do this all the time. They’ll even mix threshold with sprints. (For example we would do a 40-60 min threshold run then end with 6 x 300). Additionally TR has a whole library of workouts that are listed as VO2 with “Attacks.”
** Again, not advocating for the AI training plan… it is not something I would do. Just talking about training.
generally, i think some “race prep” stuff is great and appropriate, but in an early stage of a plan, if someone wants to work on vo2, just do vo2, or if you just want to focus on sprints, just work on the sprints. Mixing stuff like this ends up having compromises and that might be ok closer to an event, I don’t see the point in doing in during a build period
VO2 work that incorporates sprints could be fine as a workout, yes.
This issues specific to this plan with that workout though are:
The described workout is nonsensical. The build phase says to do 4x30s all-out sprints. Then the peak phase says “ but push the intensity higher on sprints (all-out)….” When you were already going all out previously. It’s just the same workout you were doing before.
It’s not really clear what the role of incorporating 8 weeks of regular sprint work is contributing to the stated goal of the plan - FTP development. That training stress would arguably be better spent elsewhere.
in a 12 week plan you don’t have the time to take rest weeks
I would respectfully disagree with that. In fact, if you can complete this plan as described, with an accurately set FTP, I will buy you a case of beer.
Though, I have a MTB series coming up starting in January. So take your pick… I can do the first 8 weeks as planned and then modify for the races in weeks 9-12 or I can do the whole thing after the conclusion races (starting in late April).
It’s not tapering, supercompensation happens during rest weeks, I. e. you get stronger during rest weeks. I don’t think training plans without rest weeks between training phases makes sense.
Note that this is different from tapering, where you still want to include some intensity, just at dramatically reduced volume.
Write a prompt expanding on the following: You are an experienced cycling coach with a focus on extensive sweet spot workouts progressing time in zone. Design a training plan for a masters athlete riding 12-15 hours a week, with rest days Monday and Friday.
That prompt gave me this, which I tinkered with a bit more. For reason, it kept wanting to make Sundays rest days like the ChatGPT plan above. Seems weird that’d be what it thinks is the norm, but who knows what it thinks is good data there. Then I told it to convert the output to an easy to read table format.
Masters Cycling Coach System
You are an experienced cycling coach who specializes in training masters athletes (35+ years old), with a focus on systematic FTP development. Your coaching philosophy emphasizes:
1. Training Principles
Sweet spot training (86-93% of FTP) as the primary intensity
Progressive overload through increasing time in zone rather than intensity
Strategic use of threshold intervals (95-105% FTP)
Quality over quantity for masters athletes
Emphasis on adequate recovery between hard sessions
Polarized intensity distribution: ~80% Zone 2 and below, ~20% sweet spot and above
2. Assessment Protocol
Initial Testing Week:
Day 1: 20-minute FTP test
Day 2: Recovery
Day 3: Endurance with 2x10min sweet spot
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: 2x8min threshold efforts
Day 6: Long endurance
Day 7: Rest
Regular Monitoring:
FTP reassessment every 4 weeks
Weekly HRV tracking
RPE scores for all workouts
Training Stress Score (TSS) tracking
Monthly performance metrics review
3. 12-Week FTP Development Structure
Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4)
Focus: Sweet spot endurance
Key metrics: Time in sweet spot zone
Weekly TSS: 400-500
Intensity distribution: 85% Z2 and below, 15% sweet spot
Phase 2: Build (Weeks 5-8)
Focus: Mixed sweet spot and threshold
Key metrics: Power at exhaustion
Weekly TSS: 450-550
Intensity distribution: 80% Z2 and below, 20% sweet spot/threshold
Phase 3: Peak (Weeks 9-12)
Focus: Threshold power development
Key metrics: 20min power output
Weekly TSS: 500-600
Intensity distribution: 75% Z2 and below, 25% sweet spot/threshold
4. Weekly Structure By Phase
Phase 1 (Weeks 1-4)
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Sweet Spot Development (2-3 x 20min @ 88-92% FTP)
Wednesday: Mixed (2-3 x 15min SS @ 88-92% FTP)
Thursday: Tempo (45-60min continuous @ 85-88% FTP)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long Endurance (3-5 hours Zone 2)
Sunday: Long Endurance (3-4 hours Zone 2)
Phase 2 (Weeks 5-8)
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Mixed (3-4 x [15min SS + 5min threshold])
Wednesday: Sweet Spot (3-4 x 20min @ 88-92% FTP)
Thursday: Over/Under (3-4 x 12min alternating)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Long Endurance (4-5 hours Zone 2)
Sunday: Long Endurance (3-4 hours Zone 2)
Phase 3 (Weeks 9-12)
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Threshold Development (3-4 x 12min @ 100-105% FTP)
I was referring to the duration of the sessions themselves, not total time in zone.
Again, the math doesn’t math here because the plan states each session is 2h long, but the actual description of the sessions describes much shorter sessions.
I’m glad you could do 15 hours a week with three high intensity sessions each week, without any recovery weeks for several months when you were young.
Again though, not many people are able to do this. If you think you can tackle this plan as given by ChatGPT, then go for it.
As I mentioned I could do the first 8 weeks but then have our MTB race series starting up in January. For weeks nine and eleven I would need to do the race on Sunday instead of a rest day. If you are good with swapping Sunday and Monday (i.e. doing the race on Sunday in place of Monday’s FTP test, rest day Monday instead of Sunday) for weeks 9 & 11, I will start next week. Otherwise we gotta wait til after Sea Otter. I am good either way
** For what it’s worth I think this is stupid… but you know… beer.
