Why 91% @runriderandi? Curious! Do you mix your SS sessions between 88 and 94% do you?
Oh! I have just converted to doing them in resistance mode and that was what I averaged when aiming for 90%.
After reading all the posts here and KM FTP thread I tried resistance and playing with the percent sooooooo much more than ERG.
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Ahhh makes sense. You may have just converted me to doing the same! I do most in ERG mode but since doing the KM progression 1 FTP test, perhaps itās best to do the intervals in resistance mode.
I did my KM test in ERG, but have since switched over to resistance after learning more about the fine tuning you can do via the percent bar versus shifting gears. Iāll definitely be doing my next test in resistance.
Did 1x45 mins today and felt good. HR averged 80-85%. At what stage do you need to re assess your FTP?
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In my personal project to achieve 3x30 min at 280 watt, I ticked off today the 3x18 min. I felt significantly worse than for the previous workout (2x25min), I achieved 84 rpm for the first interval, 75 rpm for the second and 65 rpm. I felt my muscles just turned off and would not contract towards the end, the only way to meet the power was for me to grind.
Hopefully just a bad day and plenty of carbs and protein for recovery will do the thing.
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Did you attempt to ride at a certain percentage of FTP or did you target HR?
The ride was solely aimed at 90% of FTP and my HR just ended up at that number.
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Good question, to be honest I do not really have an answer, but if I had to guess when you feel progress or at the end of a training block. I would then retest FTP or bump up a bit the target watts if I feel I can.
At the end of the day increasing power depends on the training adaptations you derive from the training and progression, not because you ride one random day lets say 3x30 min at 90% of ftp at whatever HR means necessarily your FTP has budged.
How much sweet spot are you guys doing per week? I started last week and did 2 x (3x12) and Carillion +2 (3 x (2 x 10)) for a total of 132 min. Granted the Carillion was between 88-92% so not all at 90%. I normally do a 1.5 hr trainer ride on Saturday and an endurance ride on Sunday, in addition to the weekly trainers rides. Due to family constraints I couldnāt ride outside on Sunday. This will happen more in the future since my oldest daughter, aka the babysitter, is at college. I was thinking when I canāt ride on Sunday of adding in 1.5-2 hrs of sweet spot. Is this too much? I guess I could always scale it back if I feel like crap on Mondays.
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Thatās a lot of SS, do you do the workouts on the trainer or outside?
All done in the trainer. Iām on the east coast, meaning past September, no more outdoor riding for me.
Last week I did 5 SS workouts. Unlike, many folks here, my rides are shorter, so that may be the reason I can manage more workouts. Heck, I didnāt even hit 6 hours of ride time! So @SDooley, if your legs can manage it, you can do it!
My SS progressions have extended beyond what I can do on a weekday, so my new plan on weekdays is to do threshold workouts Tue and Wed, sustained SS on Thu. This Saturday Iāll hit my goal of 90 minutes of SS. Iāll ride Sunday just not sure what Iāll doāmaybe another sustained SS workout since Iām really growing to love them.
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Yeah at some point I will hit time constraints during the week too. Threshold workouts might be an option or increasing the % from 90.
I think the general consensus is time trumps intensity, so much so that even lowering the intensity a few percent to go much longer is more ideal than a shorter length at a few watts higher.
But when you run out of time, then intensity is next I guess! Or thatās what Iām doing anyway 
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Iām on a progression with two weekly SS sessions. Right now Iām at around 150-160 SS minutes/week. Transitioning to longer intervals, 2x40, 2x50, 3x30 and so on should get me to 180/week. Iād give the extra-long SS session a try!
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Just finished 1x120min@90% and I have learned more about myself in that time than with one year of doing low volume training with Trainerroad. Since I donāt have anyone to ride with I always feared of pushing too longā¦now I know I can push much longer than I used to do.
I need to replace my Wahoo Tickr, the first minutes are always like this. What is a good alternative to Wahoo product?
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This is a one very underrated aspect of these long intervals (especially for newer cyclists like myself) - knowing that you can do it. It is the same with long FTP test. Congrats BTW.
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I use the polar heart rate monitor.
I think a lot of HRMs have this problem, weak signal before thereās sufficient sweat to help with the electrical signal transmission. Iāve been recommended to lick your palm and wipe it on the strap and your chest to pre-moisten, works well for me. Some people lick the strap directlyā¦ugh, no thanks.