Sweet Spot or Traditional Base - not racing, want to be fit in March/April

This.
I’m also doing a couple of months of Trad Base with some occasional VO2 work. Just did a TTE FTP test but will be using mostly breath and HR (and a bit of RPE) to guide all workouts. Probably no FTP test until 2021.

Also, a big reason for “loss of fitness” during TB is that there’s no anaerobic work, so doing an anaerobic based FTP test like the ramp is going to give you a false return. Ramp test is not applicable for Trad Base training.

I have similar goals as well; I just want to be able to do big days on the bike and have a long term healthy hobby. SSB always seems to build me up but the moment I have some inconsistency (life gets in the way) in workouts or start going outside for fun rides, my fitness goes down significantly. I felt like despite doing a lot of SSB workouts, at the end of the season my base was shattered.

One of my goals over the next winter season is cycling consistency, and since there are no races on the calendar I figured this is a great time to to invest in 12 weeks of Traditional Base. The nice part is these workouts aren’t particularly taxing so I have time and energy to pursue my fun activities (skiing, fat biking outside) while remaining consistent on the bike.

I had success several years ago doing MAF style workouts by having a lot of low intensity volume. I’m going to try to recreate this and see where I land.

I really like your approach…hope you don’t mind if I steal it! I love the idea of TB but the long workouts are just too much to manage with my schedule during the work week. Maybe it’s a saddle or fit issue too, but the idea of more than 2 hours on the trainer is dreadful to me. I think I’m going to try the SSB LV plan during the week then add TB-stle rides on the weekend.

That looks better.

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