Long time user with success in using tr when I follow the plan. Go figure. Two years ago I committed and reaped the results. Last year I rediscovered beer and the predictable crater occurred.
I have been doing my winter Ai tr program on zwift since September and things are going well. As always I start thinking “ hey maybe if I just do more/less it will get even better. But I have resisted the urge to deviate.
There are however some things I think I have noticed that others may be able to confirm or deny
never do an Ai ftp detection at the end of a rest week as it always sets it low
Ignore the yellow lights that may appear a few workouts into the week following the rest week
Ai is pretty cool but it does not seem to be briefed on a rider following a plan and every fourth week being a reduced to intensity and volume not sure how to compensate for this because if you inject more volume or intensity into the week following the rest week I imagine the Ai will have a meltdown and turn my calendar red and yellow
I will however try to follow my plan with the hope of achieving the level I had two years ago After all the Ai must be smarter than me
The plans do a good job at progressively overloading. 3 week build, 1 week recover, repeat.
To your point - adding non planned rides typically throw this out of wack. I’ve struggled with adherence and the resulting funny business AI does to try and get my weekly TSS back in its range.
You can choose to ignore all adaptations and just manage your fatigue on your own.
Never have I seen my AIFPT detection go down due to a rest week - I think that is a myth
I think yellow lights are just there to make you think about what you are going to do… they are just a simple awareness warning, guardrail to a cliff, but you can choose to ignore them. If you are on a yellow day and are thinking of joining the spirted group ride, or going out for a huge climbing day, it might suck, also your future workouts for the next few days or more might suck. I think you are safe to ignore them if you have easier workouts planned. At least you are know.
Just to clarify, we look at all of your training history when using the FTP detection tool, so running it after a rest week won’t negatively affect your results.
If you were ever disappointed by an FTP detection after a rest week, there was likely another reason for that.
