Seven and Nine Day Week Option for Training Plans (Feature Request)

Suggestion / request for a new feature:

When subscribing to a new plan and configuring the options prior to adding it to your calendar, how about an extra option that allows users to select whether they want to run the plan over a seven day week or a nine day week?

For example, a seven day week is the current, standard option (Monday to Sunday). A nine day week would increase the number of rest days and extend the seven day week to nine days: week 1 would be Monday to the following Tuesday; week 2 Wednesday to the following Thursday; week 3 Friday to the following Saturday; and so on. Joe Friel talks about this in more detail in his excellent book Fast After 50.

The option to select a nine day week would be of benefit to older users who might need more recovery time, those with physically-demanding jobs who may need to factor in more recovery time between work and training, and time-crunched users amongst others. It would also increase the likelihood of such users finishing all the workouts in a plan rather than having to skip some.

I know that users can currently move workouts about in the calendar to suit their individual needs but it’s a bit of a pain moving all the workouts in a six or eight plan individually. Much better if this could be done automatically at the start and then leave users to tweak things as required.

Any thoughts @Nate_Pearson?

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I agree. I use a 9 day week. Currently I load up the plan and then start shifting workouts to do this manually. It’s PIA

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Yes, i have thoughts on this, but I can’t say anything about it right now. :no_mouth:

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And I always thought that Hitchcock was the master of suspense.

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Teasers abound in here. I have numerous comments just like this one, bookmarked and they are interesting when considered together.

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Part of me is hoping this turns in to an argument about how many days are in a week. A la https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=107926751&page=1

It starts on comment #6

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This was an issue for me with a 24 hour day. I’ve since added 2 hours to my day. It is hard to get the watch makers, my employer and essentially anyone else to agree with me but this is the path I’ve chosen. Very liberating having 2 extra hours a day, totally worth it. :+1:

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I don’t mind keeping training organized by week, my approach is either:

  • go with lower volume (e.g. low vol plan instead of mid vol) and add workouts based on feeling
  • insert a recovery week after two hard weeks, park my ego and get some additional low aerobic work done to continue maintaining/developing base fitness

:rofl: back to the future! :crazy_face:

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Yes I dropped To low volume and added in a 4th SS workout on the last 3 weeks of the base plan and on the first few weeks did a 4th workout but it was a Z2 workout. Helped me without feeling to cooked by the last week which is hard. When i did the MV plan last year I was cooked by week 5. I failed 1 workout and almost failed a second in the last week. I was 39 at the time so I am definitely following the thread for any future announcements. :face_with_monocle:

Oh my goodness that bodybuilding forum is hilarious! Who says steroids are harmless!!! :joy::joy::joy::joy:

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Not sure what the demographic of TR users is but the ability to click on something to make the training “week” longer or shorter would be awesome for us older users. I really struggle by the time I get to BUILD. I know I need more recovery but manually moving the workouts sucks. IE A 9 day week would give more recovery albeit slower progression but at my age I will take it. Anybody who is getting burnout would benefit by this option. At some point Coach Chad is gonna be on board with this. Then Nate, then Jonathan. Ha ha.

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Hey @tx246!
Thanks for the suggestion. We appreciate that older athletes have different recovery needs than younger athletes. It is likely something we will focus on in the future. Unfortunately, I can’t say when that will be, given the other major projects we are working on at the moment. However, your voice is heard and I will ensure to remind the team that this is something there is interest in.

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seems like it wouldnt be too hard to do but I guess there needs to be a demand for it. AI backs you off but usually its too late.

I moved your post under an existing Feature Request also interested in 9-day week options.

Hey! Hmm… Adaptive Training is normally very quick to respond to your workout completion and surveys, so I’m trying to look into your calendar to get some more context, but I’m not able to get the full picture based upon your prior plan settings/volume/training approach.

Can you describe what you experienced so we can try and help? DM is great also if you’d rather discuss there, but we’re here to lend a hand and make sure you’re getting the most out of AT! :+1:

hello Ivy. Ive had success over the years with SweetSpot Base Plans. Low volume. I get nice progressions during SSB but when I get to Build or even in the last part of SSB Im cooked. Granted in prior years there was no survey and AT. I would start Base Season in Dec but just hit a wall in April. Last year I was handling the load fine until I wasnt. I was using a Low Volume Rolling Road Race Plan Builder I believe. The A event was a week long bikepack trip parallel to PCH in Oregon. Lots of climbing on gravel. The event was in July but by June I was struggling. Took a week completely off the bike then came back Polarized hoping to get my legs back. Sorta worked but the back half of the trip I was cooked. It was 1100 TSS but I had done similar trips and felt great. After the trip my body was saying nope to everything. Finally caved and have done a 2 month total reset. Starting over. Looking back at fatigue and form, my workload just never let me feel good ever. Even after rest weeks. I could do the prescribed workout but it would wipe me out. Skipped a bunch of interval sessions.

I think it would benefit me and probably others if we started with more built in rest. I realize the progression will take longer. By the time Im telling AT I dont or cant do the workouts as prescribed I should of backed off sooner.

I definitely get performance plateaus and just cant seem to get over em with what I have been doing.

Thank you for that context.
Taking a closer look at your training, I do not think this is an instance where more rest days within your training ‘week’ would improve your training experience. I’ll cover why.

You’re doing really well at complying to your workouts outside; something thats really tricky for athletes to nail and you’re crushing it! It does look like you’re consistently doing 4 or 5 workouts a week, though, where the Low Volume plans only prescribe 3.
That said, I don’t think more rest days will help you really nail those key workouts and tough intervals better than what you’re already achieving. Instead, we would recommend cutting back those non-structured days when the fatigue feels like it’s ramping, and focusing more on making those work days count so that you feel recovered and ready to attack those days AND add more volume when you feel up for it!

If you’re feeling as though Build phases push you, and that even rest weeks aren’t making you feel recovered, that really reinforces that it’s a more effective approach to look critically at the factors that significantly impact how your key workouts feel:
Nutrition, off-the-bike stress, sleep hygiene, fueling on the bike, and making time away from training true recovery (ie just being away from the bike doesn’t equate recovery and rest if you’re under-fueled, stressed, sleep deprived, etc.)
We have heaps of blogs on recovery, nutrition, and managing all those off-the-bike factors. Nailing these will also set you up effectively to add those extra endurance days that you dig, and you’ll feel charged and ready to do so!

Whats more, I do think that using Adaptive Training and its use of surveys and detecting needed changes for workouts based upon your performance will me make a significant difference here to ensure you’re served workouts within the scope of your progression that will challenge you, but not burn you out. However, speaking from personal experience, even the easiest workouts burn me out when I’m not doing all the aforementioned things outside of training that set me up for success and to absolutely crush those workouts.

Let me know if you have any questions about this; adding volume, AT, recovery resources, etc. We’re here to help!

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Thanks for the reply Ivy. Im a podcast listener and really do try and implement the nutritional, sleep and recovery strategies. After all of these years I am beginning to think that there just might be some physiological reasons. I dont appear to be gifted in the aerobic dept. I seem to have to work much harder to maintain pace of the group. Higher FTP makes everything easier is not a joke. When I train, I can get to low resting and recovering heart rate but boy making or improving my sustained power has not been my jam but repeatability for short efforts above my FTP is attainable. Group rides are the attraction. I have no racing in my future. I do have a goal for 2023 and that is RAGBRI. Riding across Iowa 450 to 500mi in July with 20k other people. Its a long way out. Im headed to the weight room and just relying on TrainNow for a bit. I took 2 months off and easing back in. May concentrate on Polarized to keep the system from being overwhelmed. Maybe if the survey had a pre workout survey along with a post survey. I feel crappy but can do the workouts until I cant.

Good luck with the Cross! Really enjoy your perspective on the Pod.

I’ve often thought I could be more productive if the plan was on something other than a 7 day cycle. Basically I only seem to be able to tolerate an intense workout about every 3rd day. On a 7 day cycle, I only get two. On a 9 day cycle I’d get three. I’d been kicking around a 21 days cycle, at every 3rd day, I’d get in 7. On 7 day cycle, I only get in 6 in the same 21 days. 9 gets me the same benefit was 21 does though. Might be nice to have 7, 8, and 9 day options (8 being divisible by both 2 and 4, and 9 being divisible by 3).

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Would love to see this. This concept is all over the Friel stuff, but especially for the older athletes.

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