Hi,
Just did “Carter” today which is 45min og z2. My week typically includes 2 endurance rides. 1 that is 2 hours and another around 1 hour. I can easily hold 2 hours without HR drifting.
Question: is a 45m-1h helping at all with z2 benefits like fat utialization etc?
Would it be better to just do 1 ride instead that is 3 hours per week? (Becides HIIT intervals ofc)
Thanks
This is a good question. I have a 30 minute endurance ride scheduled today and Im wondering what the point is.
If it was 30 mins recovery then I would understand, spinning legs to prevent stiffness and switch me over to parasympathetic is worthwhile.
But the harder 30 min endurance just seems like grey zone training for no point. Not long enough to drive adaptions when I can easily ride at that power for much longer, but high enough power to accumulate more fatigue, or at least not shift what I have.
Ive actually deleted out my SS workout tomorrow and will probably do a group ride tonight which will probably give me a red day tomorrow, but I’m not riding tomorrow anyway.
I don’t see much point either, aside from a recovery ride.
If, emphasis on IF, it’s not a recovery yellow/red day, and I can’t go outside for an easy 2hr spin, I’d do a 1hr achievable SST like Tray Mountain -2
I would say the answer to both parts of your question is yes
Yes, a 45m Z2 ride helps with Z2 benefits and Yes it would be better to have a 3 hour ride in your week.
I have linked to this post before, but it stands repeating
Here is Seiler talking about how “duration is a powerful signal.” Even in an eight hour week, he wants a rider to do a three hour ride: “a lot happens in that third hour.”
There are certainly benefits to shorter endurance rides. 
You can’t make every day a hard workout, and using endurance rides to fill in the time between those harder workouts is still productive. You’re still getting time in at zone 2, and adding TSS to your week without building up a ton of fatigue, which is what most of us who are doing shorter workouts during the week need.
If you have the time to get a three-hour endurance ride in each week, then that could be a good route to go as well, but in that scenario, it sounds like you’d still have time for at least one 45-60-minute recovery ride between your hard workouts if you plan on consolidating your two current endurance workouts into one longer day.
My advice would be to stick with what you’re currently doing. Two-hour endurance rides will do plenty of good, and that extra 1 hour ride will help to keep some stimulus up during another part of the week.
Yes. More volume is more volume. Is the same or as beneficial as a 2 or more hour ride? Likely not.
Maybe? If you’re currently doing 1x2h and 1x1h then it’s likely you have some level of time limitations to your schedule. So I think the most important is to be sure that it makes sense for you life.
From a pure training perspective, the 1x 3hr ride is likely to give benefits that the two shorter rides don’t. But there’s also something to be said for training frequency.
As a general guideline though (if it doesn’t impact your higher intensity training) more endurance volume will be better.
Thanks for all the replies. Really helpful. I guess I’ll try to put in longer 3 hour ride sacrificing the 1 hour z2 ride if necessary from the training plan.
I have 5-6 hours per week, 3-4 days. So a short endurance ride hardly feels to get started before it ends as I’m normally recovered between my HIiT sessions
Frequency REALLY cranks up the signaling. Think longer rides can give a bigger peak signal, but shorter rides done consecutive days gives you a smaller signal but more often, so the net is still surprisingly high as you get deeper into the training without a rest day. I’ll even do 10-12 day “blocks” of 2-3 hours a day (basically no long rides, as long for me is 4-5 hours) and collect 25+ hours without a day off. Even just doing mostly zone 1/2 provides a massive stimulus. If I was only doing 5-6 hours a week now, I would think doing the same thing but sticking with 60-90 minutes a day (8-9 hours a week) would provide a similar overload and response.
You could also just extend it - 45-60-75 minutes. There’s nothing stopping you. I would agree that if you are only going to ride 3-4 days per week, especially 3, then they should all be productive.
Personally, I ride almost every day because I like to. I often put in a 45 minute session (sometimes 30 if I’m short on time) as maintenance between longer, harder interval sessions.
This is where having a bike permanently setup on a trainer helps. That makes it super quick to put on some shorts and bang out less than an hour. I often do double days like this because it’s so convenient.
Thanks for your reply
I would love to have time for riding everyday. And yes, then those short rides perfectly makes sense to me. Unfortunately my life only permits 3-4 days so want to make the most out of them 