Hi,
I am training for an event and have found that 3 x interval sessions per week are too much for me to recover from. I would like to use plan builder and it’s progressive load and intelligence, is there anyway to tell it to just do 2 sessions per week? I want to fill in the rest with easier endurance rides.
I know I can just do low volume (2/week) and randomly delete one session per week but that seems like it’s do plan builder a disservice.
Thanks for the quick reply.
Disservice maybe not the right word. I meant it’s a bit unnerving for me to be in control of removing 1/3 of the training that the AI has said is optimal for me. It’s difficult to know which one to remove.
Well, don’t just throw a dart if that is what you mean. Within a given training phase, TR will give a basic workout type on a given day. Many Low Vol plans are a mix of stuff like VO2, Threshold, and Sweet Spot.
When choosing to ditch one, it’s on you to consider each workout type and which might be most beneficial to you and your goals. It takes some research on the workout types as well as consideration about your needs. Work to be sure, but that’s what we get with TR and Plan Builder as a “self-coaching” tool more than a “coach”, at least at the more finite level you are dealing with in this question.
I ride a fair bit at weekends and towards the end of last season in addition to the 3 HIIT sessions I think although it was doable it wasn’t optimum for me results wise. My work around has been to add a time off annotation to the middle workout each week (which deletes it too but stops it adapting back in when the plan refreshes). Come what was the middle HIIT workout I use TN and select either an endurance workout or just cycle commute. It seems to be working.
Do you mean that whenever there is a ‘pending adaption’ you need to re-remove some of the workouts unless you add time off?
I’m wondering if the easiest thing is just to use TrainNow and an excel spreadsheet.
Use the spreadsheet to graduate a steady increase in intensity (sweetspot → threshold → VO2) as I move toward my event. Then when I train I’ll just check excel, see which week I am in and choose a TrainNow workout targetting a particular energy system.
Though perhaps this isn’t optimal as there are clear ‘families’ of workouts even within the main energy system groupings.
Have a look at the Polarized Plans. You can look at them under training plans
The low volume plans have 1 interval day a week and the mid volume have 2. While you cannot choose the plans setting up your plan builder you can once create your plan.
I cant remember what triggered it, it might have been ‘adaption pending’ but when I tried deleting every Wednesday workout it was fine on the day but at some point the adaption inserted one back in again for the future workouts.
Using Train Now like you are saying would work to some degree too. I just prefer the simplicity of letting AT do the thinking for me
I’ve done as suggested above and actually added the polarized high volume plan, i’ll hit the 2 interval days and then just do as much Endurance as I can fit around life. Probably not ideal but at least it’s a plan.
This is the way.
Just delete the workout you don’t want… It’s a machine so you don’t need to worry about hurting its feelings. 
Polarised mid volume has 2 intensity workouts per week
