The last really good training block I had was in 2021. Some life changes, stressors, COVID, etc… everyone knows the story.
Things have settled a bit so I’m back at it. The last couple of attempts at SSBLV, I started coming down with cold symptoms during week four. Which knocked me back to square one.
This time I decided to steer clear of intensity and spend a good chunk of the early season just doing Z2. No SS no threshold, just old school volume. So I started up Traditional Base Mid-Volume. My thinking being doing three one hour Z2 sessions a week seems a bit pointless. At the same time Trad Base MVII and MVIII looks like it adds a lot of non-Z2.
Is this a dumb idea? Should I just do a la carte long Train Now Z2 workouts?
Welcome back! A lot has changed since 2021, I would recommend using the custom plan builder and let TR recommend and adapt to you. Perhaps choose a conservative approach.
Right, I think I’m misunderstanding what the various plans and options are. My thinking was:
I want to avoid the previous cycles of low volume SS plans where I end up doing 3 days a week for 1 hour each of SS / Threshold and burn out as I have in the past.
which means I should pick a base plan that focuses entirely on Z2.
but since I’m doing Z2 entirely, it’s pointless to do three hours of Z2 per week.
so I need to bump up the volume.
Meanwhile, when I look into the preview of the custom plan builder plans it looks a bit like the same SS/Threshold “time crunched” stuff? If I choose a plan builder with more volume will it automatically drop the intensity?
It can be a little tricky to find the older plans on the TR sire now. When you go into Training Plans, underneath the Custom Training Plans, click on “View Phases” and you’ll find them.
You can also do the Low Volume option, but as you note above, I don’t think there is a lot of point to just 3-4 hours / 3 days per week of Endurance rides.
Another solid option is to simply find the right Pacer Group in Zwift (or training Peaks Virtual, etc) and just start logging the hours. So if Z2 equates to 2.0 w/kg for you, just select on the “D” pacer groups that matches that. Adjust as necessary for your given ability…could be one of the “C” groups is the right option.
The beauty of Z2 work is that you don’t really need a plan, per se…you just need the hours. The Pacer groups will keep you in the zones you need but is a bit more engaging.
(Note - one of the nice things about Training Peaks Virtual is that the pace of the groups is communicated to you in your wattage, not w/kg. They do the math for you. A small detail, but I like it.)
I’d agree. Unless you’ve never exercised in your life this will not do much for your after a week or two.
How much time are you looking to train?
If for example, you’ve got 7 hours to train. I’d maybe do 4hr Z2 the first week, 5-6Hrs the next, then 7hrs Z2 the next. If you feel some fatigue creeping in maybe take a rest week then (which could just be back down to 4 hr Z2). Then after that first block I’d start adding in one tempo/SS workout a week for the next 3-4 weeks. Then if that feels okay, maybe add another the next block.
It doesn’t sound like you’ve got any hard training goals so I’d lean toward taking the slow ramp approach and maybe rest more than you think you need so you don’t get sick and regress again. Even if it feels too slow you will end up better 12 months from now by taking it slow and steady than trying to hard and getting sick over and over.
TR doesn’t really have a built in slow ramp like that though so it might take some manual plan building but most of the workouts can be copy pasted from one week to the next and shouldn’t take too much time/effort once you get the basic structure down.
Thanks, that was my thinking initially: thought maybe I’d just loop over TBMVI a couple of times and reevaluate. At this point my TR FTP is set to an “historically” low value, but I’ve been using HR as a guide. For these 2 hour Z2 workouts like Eoin, for example, I’ve seen my HRmax stabilizing at the very top of HR Z2 when doing the “high” intervals, and dropping when doing the “recovery” intervals.
Since I’m in no hurry and have nothing on the calendar this year (besides being able to ride on and off-road with in-form friends), I figure if I just iterate on TBMVI once or twice, concentrate on diet and recover, and reevaluate later in the year, I’ll have more data to go on.
(Nice recommendation on Zwift Pacer Groups–it’s been a few years since I loaded up Zwift but I could definitely use a distraction on these longer Z2’s!)
Thanks, this aligns with what I was thinking. TBMVI is ~8 or 9 hours per week of Z2. I’m seeing pretty good HR response over the last week or two. Last workout was Eoin and HR was stable on the “overs” and recovered on the “unders.”
May swallow my pride and drop the intensity by a few percentage points to put myself a bit more solidly in Z2… feel like I’m right at the top of the zone at my current power.
Honestly, this is probably something that most people riding more than like 7 hours a week should do IMO. If it helps, at a 325-335W FTP I ride almost all my endurance rides at an average power of like 190-205W (so <65% FTP). I seem to get all the same gains, I’m less fatigued, endurance rides are enjoyable and not a death march, and I can still hit my hard interval days super hard.
Starting out with some Z2 is a great way to get back into things and get the legs consistently moving. Traditional Base I sounds like the right fit for this.
While Traditional Base II and III have some Tempo, SST, and eventually Threshold and VO2 introduced, I wouldn’t write off those plans completely – I wouldn’t even call those “time-crunched” workouts, either. By the time you get to those points of your Base training, those workouts will build on the aerobic foundation you’ll have laid down from Base I and get you prepped for your future Build phase without overdoing things on the intensity. Even pro riders doing 20+ hours per week add in a lot of Tempo/SST (and above!) to their Base work because of how beneficial it is compared to doing Z2 alone.
It could be worth checking out our Masters Plans if you haven’t already – those plans will cap your intense days to 2x per week.
As @JoeX mentioned above, you could also play around with Adaptive Training’s Training Approach slider and set it to a more conservative approach, which should help with avoiding burnout.
I think it would also be worth checking out our updated Plan Builder just to see what it gives you – it could very well give you the type of plan you’re looking for with all of its different parameters you can edit. After all, if you still prefer, you can scrap it and apply any of the “stock” plans you’d like.
Hope that info helps you out – feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions!
So…by way of a follow up: I completed the “recovery” week at the end of the four week training block, then queued up TBMVI again since the last time around was a bit spotty with holidays and colds and things. Things have been going great, but came across some weird behavior today:
First week, felt good. Did 7:45 of endurance w/ a TSS of 272. Got a minor FTP bump at the end of the day from AI FTP estimator.
Week two, I completed the two mid-week workouts at about 95%. Today I decided to do the scheduled Endurance 4.2 workout exactly as specified. HR was solid on the 22 min “over” and recovery was good during the 22 min “under”. Felt good throughout. Afterwards, I marked the post-ride questionnaire as “moderate”. Once it loaded up the ride, it said I had an adaptation. Figuring it was going to adjust tomorrow’s workout workout level +/- .2 points one way or the other, I clicked on “Preview Adaptations” and was surprised to see it cancelled tomorrow’s workout as a “Rest Day” due to overtraining.
Is that normal? Is it spotting something I’m not seeing?
Edit: Ah, looking like intervals.icu has a similar take on it. Presumably TR AI is just doing a straight fitness/fatigue calculation and since I’m coming off the couch, that’s in the basement.
