i check from FFT “Time in Zone” Training Optimizer, if i ride 15 hours per week then this breakdown zone have to do for polarized training, correct ? @2DollarLegs @dangardiner @A_Menace @OreoCookie @
You spent 40+ hours coasting. Hours.
In the same time period I did less total time than you but spent 44 minutes coasting.
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haha correct, you choose polarized training too for the training plan ?
Nope. I just go hard twice a week and then do what I feel like outside of that. Usually, low-end Z2 rides with an occasional sprint. There’s also a “15 Zwift races in 16” days block in there as well.
Choosing an intensity distribution and adjusting your training to it seems wrong to me. Better to do the training you need and let the intensity distribution be a byproduct of that.
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You spent way too much time in Z1, when you should have I’m Z2. As for the rest, it depends on what kind of hard efforts you did. 4 x 5 minutes at 120 % are different than 7 x 3 minutes at 110 %.
So here is what I would change:
- On endurance rides, make sure you are in Z2 and that you minimize coasting (when riding outdoors). You can trade intensity for duration, e. g. spend 3 hours at 62–65 % FTP rather than 65–75 % FTP for 2 hours.
- Make sure your FTP is set correctly and verify that number. Adjust if necessary. In my experience with polarized blocks, this is crucial to get the most out of threshold workouts.
- Polarized in my experience means that the two workouts with intensity tend to be harder than when on the corresponding non-polarized block. The easy workouts are easier, too, though.
so when polarized training, still 80% stay in zone 2 right ? not zone 1 or we can mix between zone 1 and 2. and for higher intensity is zone 5 more than zone 4. like this formula i got
Zones 1 and 2 are distinct, and you should not mix them.
Z1 is for recovery, to see more fitness gains, you want to be in Z2. It didn’t harm you, but in a sense, you are wasting most of your time on the bike.
Regarding threshold (Z4) vs. VO2max (Z5), you should treat them separately as they yield very different adaptations and time-in-zone scales completely differently. If in a single 1-hour workout, you spend 25 minutes at threshold, that’s easy. 25 minutes at 120 % will be very, very hard.
So just looking at time-in-zone won’t tell you much. You should mix to subject your body to different stimuli.
you rode more than me, but your coasting time is too high. I’d start being more consistent on the pedals. It’s not because it’s downhill you stop pedalling.
Also, you have very little intensity IMO. Being polarized is one thing, not doing intensity is another. You have 56.9% on Z1, which is recovery and produces little to no adaptations. Add to this 42 hours of coasting, and your training isn’t very effective.
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Yes, and if that doesn’t work on your routes, you should think about route choice (which is crucial for outdoor workouts) or do some of the endurance workouts indoors.
Relatively flat routes work best for endurance workouts. But local geography might put limits on that. E. g. in Austria towns were spaced about 5–8 km apart. So intervals that took longer than this had to be interrupted. You shouldn’t pedal through red lights or into oncoming traffic, for instance 
In Japan it was better, but I had to cycle about 20–25 km to get to the boonies and had some space. There was also less traffic, so stops were minimal.
Stopped at the traffic light isn’t coasting.
And there’s nothing wrong with coasting. What I’m saying is that it isn’t effective as a training tool. OP “asked” why he has the same FTP numbers after 3 months with TR. Well, coasting a lot doesn’t help with that.
Yes, geography plays a huge role, and I used to live in a very hilly place, and my coasting time was very small anyway.
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In my opinion, this entire topic is a testament to the fact that all the recent hype about Z2/polarized does more harm than good. Ride/run easy to get faster. Yeah, yeah… I wish. So much bullshit out there that brainwashes folks. I’m only speculating based on what was posted, obviously I don’t know all the details. But it looks like the OP is the typical victim of that narrative. At least based on the fact that they intentionally chose the polarized approach, which is not TR’s default plan.
Put that bias aside, trust TR for 3 months, and see what happens.
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Although I agree, the polarized approach is a high z2 close to tempo. I honestly think that sometimes is tempo. OP rode too much low intensity, very low. You can expect improvements in FTP if that is the goal.
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It is indeed. But that’s not how it is usually presented, and it requires quite some effort to get to those “surprising” nitty gritty details. If you just skim the social media, the emphasis will always be on Z2=easy-peasy.
I mean, screw the intervals, do PL9+ endurance workout and tell me it was easy 
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The OP barely did any zone 2. He coasted around a lot at <50% of ftp. No wonder he got his result.
There can be a time and a place for polarized in a season.
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