To get the benefit you’re looking for, IMO you’d be better off doing bursts at low cadence. e.g. ride steady at 75-85% for 60-120 minutes, every 5 minutes put in a 15-30sec burst to your 5-min power and do it at low cadence.
I was just about to start this kind of work in my training until COVID sidetracked me.
Good point Kurt, doing 5-sec bursts every two minutes is also a good way to increase muscle recruitment during sweet spot rides.
FWIW I’ve found a lot of gains doing low cadence work at low to mid tempo (75-85%), mostly by riding in the mountains as us 2.8-3W/kg riders that comes with the territory LOL. Seriously I do most of that work on flat terrain, and beyond the benefit I find from training at different cadences, for me the higher torque work has one of the highest returns on training time investment. N=1 and all that. @kurt.braeckel training derailment is hard for all us Type A athletes, but you’ll be back on track in no time! In September C19 forced me to take almost a month off, and I came back stronger than before!
I’m going bat-shit crazy today. 
I need to get moving around to see if I’m still fatigued. Have been having a solo pity party all morning in bed!
dude i was doing the same, i plugged in a 2x20 FTP ride and just threw it up there as a “i will get this done” workout. Wasnt sure how i was feeling, and motivation was pretty low - i think i ran too large of a calorie deficit the last few days being overly ambitious to start my new years clean eating 60 day a little early.
Surprisingly worked out well and felt like SST. Gave me motivation to go knock out a quick workout in the gym of some heavy deadlifts. Xmas break back on track haha
I did my 12 min foundation workout today. Didn’t feel fatigued after any more than normal. Maybe I’ll try a really easy spin tomorrow. First day without symptoms since booster/positive test this weekend… and I’ve been salty all day… so that’s probably a good indication I’m feeling better!
I’m trying something new this year.
I’ve been off the turbo and off pace since maybe august/September. (Did get to squatting 225kg thougn)
I remember how to do say 2 hours of sweetspot and how it feels. So why not do it from the start and repeat it often until my power starts to plateau.
Thats my plan for base training this month to get back into the swing of things.
Checking in with a progress update.
When I found this thread 2 years ago I SUCKED at SST work, hated intervals longer than 12min and the thought of doing more than 45min of total interval work was just the last thing i wanted to do.
With COVID been chipping away at this weakness and been building into longer and longer intervals, while power has also been going up.
Just knocked a 3x35min out today and felt great.
Really starting to notice the impact on fuelling, basically burned 2000kj in the 2hrs that it took to do the main working sets, been getting that super dialed. HR also stays pan flat and my Pw:HR is 1.85% for each of the intervals which is a massive reduction from the 6-9% I was originally seeing on even 20min SST intervals.
Thought I would chime in with an update on my progression since my last post.
After the 1x60 @ 90% was ticked off I have smashed through the following weeks of 4x20 @ 90% and 2x45 @ 90% without a hitch, adding in an extra 3x30 @ 92% on Saturday which went swimmingly for some extra TiZ which had set me up well going into the 1x90 @ 90% this week.
I use the past tense had, as unfortunately I came off my bike yesterday in some black ice and have cut and bruised up my hip which is now a little painful. Nothing major other than awkward to sleep and pretty stiff this morning. Seems OK to walk around and have full movement etc and no pain under load so all good.
Now just assessing my options for this week to close out the progression. Rest day today then start easy tomorrow for a few days and see if I can get it done later in week. If it is not looking likely this week then I will turn this week into a rest week and then get the 1x90m @ 90% done next week I think.
I completed my longest Sweet Spot progression today - 2x40 @ 90% with 5 minutes rest between intervals - and I had a weird for me experience: my legs for about the first 10 minutes of the second 40 minute interval felt more sluggish / tired then they did for the last 10 minutes of the 1st interval.
For those that have done log intervals like this, is this “normal”? Have you experience this?
Before today, the longest I’ve done is 3x25 @ 90% with 5 minute rest between intervals.
Yes, that is why I do not like 2x40:) It’s hard to come back after first interval. 1x80 is easier for me physically and mentally.
Interesting. After the first 10 minutes, my legs came back and I had no trouble completing the 2nd interval. It was just weird that my legs felt better during the last 10 minutes of the 1st interval, then they did going into the 2nd interval. When I was doing 3x25, I never had this happen.
i experience this as well. not sure the cause.
its akin to a “coffee stop” on an outdoor ride and why the first couple of mins feels on a RPE basis MUCH higher than what the backend feels like.
Not sure the cause, if its CNS related or truly something to do with how your body is shifting around resources to handle the load, but it sucks and can make you want to quit the interval
I do think it’s pretty normal. As a quintessential diesel I often find that it takes me 10min or more for the system to be running hot and firing.
It’s one thing that helps me to mentally push some hard intervals because I know that it’ll get easier (before it gets harder again depending on the goal).
Thanks. Glad to know I’m not tooooooo abnormal 
Always fun when you start questioning your training or HC climbing choices. If one hour+ HC climb is good, why not do three, or five in a single ride! 
it’s funny how as self coached athletes we go through the whole “I need to change everything” mode at least once a season.
i have a piece of tape on the middle of the fan shroud in front of my bike that just has “consistency” written on it. it is the single biggest reminder of what is important
I wonder what holding 90% for 3 hours climbing up to 9000feet would indicate either my FTP is higher than I think or TR has made me brutally decent at SS… I seam to never dip to far from level 10, but struggle with supra threshold workouts at the same FTP… Is there a huge physiological difference between work done at 90% vs 105% ( the threshold workouts I really struggle with) where I can hold one for 3 hours, the other barely at 10 mins…
yes.
