Structured Plans for Time-Constrained Hybrid Athletes

Training
1

What are the best structured and effective cardiovascular endurance training plans for time-constrained recreational athletes that have worked well for you personally?

I have 7–8+ hours to train per week: one hour on weekdays and 2+ hours on a weekend day. I will dedicate two days to lifting, leaving 5–6 days for cardio. I will use an air bike (assault bike) for most of my endurance training. The rest will be running.

I mostly come from resistence training background. My cardiovascular endurance is rather low. I’ve only been doing 3–4 hours of cardio (running, air bike, and occasional cycling, trail running, rollerskiing) per week, in recent years.

I am now finishing a 21-week lifting block (5/3/1 and SBS Hypertrophy, ~4+ days/week) and want to start a dedicated evidence-based cardio block with a clear built-in progression.

Wish list:

  1. Built-in progressive overload—but ideally not exclusively/predominantly volume-based*

  2. Evidence-based

  3. Optimized for general aerobic fitness and broad carry-over—from trail running to skiing

  4. Ideally, some sort of auto-regulation

Stats:

  • Air bike MAP: 450W

  • Air bike MAP-based FTP: 337W

  • Air bike 20-min test-based FTP: 286W

  • Air bike average “easy” Z1/Z2 watts: ~180W

  • VO2 max (based on the lab test + Cooper tests): ~48–50

  • Weight: 176 lbs

  • Body fat (DEXA): 12%

Goals:

  • Maximize and maintain general cardiovascular fitness long-term (I am 41).

  • Improve physiological markers: capillary and mitochondrial density, mitochondrial respiration, fat oxidation, VO2 max, etc.

Non-goals:

  • I do not care about racing. I will gladly sacrifice race prep for better overall results.

Success metrics

  • FTP and pace during HIIT at the same HR

  • FTP and pace during Z1/Z2 training at the same HR (~67% of MaxHR)

Tentative weekly structure (7–8 days):

  • Lift: A, full-body

  • Easy*

  • Moderate (e.g., sweet spot @ 95% FTP) OR Easy

  • Lift: B, full-body

  • Easy

  • HIIT (Z5 or Z4; usually 4 x 4.5 min with 3.5 min rest + hard start)

  • Active recovery (or rest or easy)

and repeat.

Easy = Z1/Z2, ~68% of MaxHR (measured with a HRM). This should correspond to 1.5–1.9 lactate, based on previous measurements.

* P.S. I know most structured plans rely on volume increases. Hence the question.

2

I will attempt a limited answer with obvious constraints but first, I’m impressed with the level of detail provided and your fitness level and, second, my answer will refer to TrainerRoad capabilities (as I understand them) and features.

Do you have a TrainerRoad subscription? Asking because TrainerRoad provides structured workout plans that appear to support your goals (e.g., there are ‘General Fitness’ and ‘Increase FTP’ goals that do not assume a race/event as and end goal of the plan). TrainerRoad’s structured workout library supports choosing workouts with increasing intensity without increasing workout duration - to a point. For each training zone, progress will be limited by the time spent in zone during a workout. For example, the highest threshold workout level under 45 minutes is 6.1. To progress past that point requires increasing volume.

Another benefit of a TR subscription is TR plan builder can create a custom plan that will adapt to your capacity for endurance training given your resistance training remains a key part of your fitness plan.

3

Any of the TR plans would be suitable but I’d suggest looking at “Faster for Group Rides” which I’ve recently done and enjoyed, includes VO2 and Anaerobic workouts.

4

I haven’t yet tried TR, but it’s on my list. Are there any particular plans/programs you would recommend I consider starting with? Thank you!

5

Thank you!