I’m starting to struggle with fatigue as a result of this as well on SSBMV2 and am strongly considering switching to LV. I did a 75 minute threshold workout on Wednesday and Friday due for a 90 minute threshold workout. A VO2 max workout was also included in this training week and basically it it is too much high intensity for me. I am used to riding 5 days per week and had no issues with SSBMV1 but this phase is a different story. I peeked at the Build phase next and it ups the intensity. Not sure what to do, I am new to structured training though and TR.
strong recommend in this case to start with low volume and supplement with Train Now or other workouts as you’re feeling up for them
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Ive been doing structured training at approximately 6 to 8 hours a week for the last 5 years now and still need to closely monitor how my bodies feeling on a daily basis. Mind you I am quite old now 
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@ddiaz I am 63 and admittedly not a great athlete. I do try hard and look to do a minimum of 6 hours a week of training. I think you will find that there are slow medium and fast responders, and within this people of all ages with different physical histories, recovery protocols, life stress and so on. Ai and adaptive training is meant to address the above, yet it can’t fully. Therefore you have to listen to your own body. Personally I use a low volume plan and choose the to keep the two hardest (key) sessions then supplement these with various Z2 sessions in terms of duration and where they fall in the training cycle so as to not tank my two hard sessions. Ideally z2 are 1.5 hours but tend to be 1-4 hours. Hope this helps. Good luck with your training.
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Depending how you structure it, LV can be more intense than MV. LV has 3 HIIT a week and the last MV plan I did had 2 HIIT working week workouts sandwiching an Endurance one, with 2 longer workouts at the weekend. If like me once you are squeezing the 3 LV HIIT workouts into working week (Say Tu,We,Th) with weekend group riding or TTs, it can be more intense. I found my TTs suffering towards the end of the season. What I’ve ended up doing is dropping the mid week LV HIIT session for an Endurance one so I can comfortably keep my weekend group rides and hopefully my TT performance wont drop this year. If however, you are spreading the 3 HIIT workouts out over the full 7day week and perhaps adding TrainNow Endurance workouts around that you should be fine dropping to LV.
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@SarahLaverty Some sort of chart/matrix showing how many of each workout type, for each week, would be good on the plan builder page, and probably save TR a lot of responses to questions.
Like a high level snapshot of each plan.
The rationale behind the why’s in is another story.
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Is there not some recent study somewhere that found that any more than 3 intense days wasn’t beneficial? (it might even have concluded it was detrimental… and it might even have been 2 days per week)
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I hear ya!
Perhaps this could be added to the last section of Plan Builder, named Plan Overview. Currently, we show the name and graph of each Workout scheduled (without adaptions applied) in your Plan. We could add the zone of these Workouts with the caveat that this could change with adaptations?
If this is what you have in mind, I can pass this on to the team!
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Hi Sarah, I was thinking just like a big page where all the plans can sort of be compared, like this but with accurate info! (or three pages, for Low Mid and High volume comparison)
As someone who came to the forum and was heartened to see I was not alone in having all of these same questions as I make my first attempt at SSBMV2, another part that exacerbates this is the weekly tips. They haven’t really made that much sense since AT came along but particularly for MV2 they make even less sense and simply not having them would probably slightly limit the confusion as well.
I wonder if ChatGPT is smart enough yet to create weekly tips on the fly based on AT adaptations 
Respectfully, you might want to revisit the SSBLV plans. Not including recovery weeks, there are only 2 endurance sessions in SSBLV1 and 2 combined.
SSBLV plans have to have a lot of intensity because they only utilize 3.5 hrs of training per week. I’m a 52 yr old multi sport athlete. I simply cannot do SSBLV and run anymore.
- TR user since 2014.
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Yep SSB LV 1 is sweet spot, sweet spot, threshold
SSB LV 2 is VO2, sweet spot, threshold
For me, I can manage this but any additional riding need to be Z2 down in the 55-65% range.
If I do my Saturday group ride, I skip the threshold.
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Yeah, it’s kinda crazy IMO. I guess if you ONLY ride 3 hrs per week then doing sweet spot, sweet spot, threshold is fine. But like, I am trying to do 2 days gym work during base season and god forbid you throw in any additional riding? I don’t think it’s a very well designed plan.
I hear you. I struggle to squeeze in strength training also.
I recall on the podcast, a discussion about this. The takeaway, I believe is this: if you have the time, do strength training after one of the bike workouts, preferably the easiest of the week.
Happy training!
It is literally designed for someone that has only 3-4 hours to train. They don’t take into account any external factors because hey, we’re all different. They have always said you need to modify as necessary depending on your external stressors and goals.
Plenty of people are having excellent experiences doing LV+additional work. Some people maybe sub or dial down a workout here and there to fit in what they can achieve.
Personally I’m doing LV, gymnastics, trampolining, strength training and a 3-4 hour MTB ride each week. The only change I make is subbing out the 90 min for a 60 min alternative.
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I guess that is where I feel conflicted. I feel like I’m signing onto SSB LV but if I strength train, I cannot handle the workouts. So then I am like do I reduce the workout intensity or skip strength training? My current plan is remove 90 min threshold for 90 min Z2 + strength training after. But then I feel like I’m skimping on the plan.
TR has repeatedly said that the titles of these plans are misleading, but they have also repeatedly chosen not to update the titles.
n literally is 1 here as I wrap up my first trip through SSB MV2. A week or two in I didn’t think there was any way I could finish, but AT and a lot of focus has me wrapping it up feeling actually better in week 5 than weeks 3-4 and also hitting a number of all time power records. That said, I can’t imagine I would repeat this again. The vo2 workouts are of a style that I don’t find particularly challenging, but 2.5 hours of threshold a week is too much physically and mentally I think. Especially this early in the season.
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As a TrainerRoad user since 2014, I can tell you, I do a much slower progression than AT suggests.
For example, I’ll go from SS with a PL of 4.3, to a PL of 4.6 or so…not 5.1.
At 52 years of age, this works for me, and I don’t overcook myself and see progress.
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Gym on your bike days in the evening. Still space for three days of z2 and two full days of rest. The issue is lifting heavy one day and then expecting to be able to do a 90min over under session the next day. I’ve got years of training in me and I can’t get quality on the bike the day after heavy squats (for me about 1.5-1.8xbodyweight).
