I am doing my own progression, but for sure there would be some added stress/ strain for doing workouts back to back ( fatigue dependent training).
Fastcat, Velocious, PCG etc all do Fatigue based training with back to back hard days. You could certainly play around with doing them on consecutive days and reducing the TIZ or %FTP on the 2nd day, etc.
āThis is almost always done without increasing weekly training time, and in fact, often comes with a total reductionā really jives with where I am at the moment. In my last block I smashed my highest ever CTL (reached 97) and my time commitment was stretched to the max. I would like to drop it down to a more sensible level (for me like maybe mid-high 80s), which this type of plan will do. And the shorter and more mentally engaging SST workouts should go by just fine.
Also like you, I think starting lots of threshold feels a little early, and VO2 max is just not appealing at all! Will be interesting to see if it works. Iām temptedā¦
Yesā¦ I am also at the time limit and my CTL is stuck at 88. Doing another 1x120 is not on my mind as it has lost its āfun factorā. So probably stacking SST workouts and maybe some O/U (SST with bursts for muscle mass activation) is our way to go.
I look at SSB HV and tss is lower than I do, and every single workout looks extremely easy. I could do threshold and O/U day by day so SST should be doable. Maybe lower TiZ for every workout is way to go - lets say 60-90 TiZ.
Edit:
And there is also this webinar about aerobic engine and idea of 80% of the workouts to be Tempo or SST: Building and Tracking the Aerobic Engine - YouTube
For my next block, Iām planning to do SSB II with a new FTP as determined by the ramp test. I figure all the threshold work and over-unders will push up my āceilingā and then I can go back to the long SS efforts to build out my TTE again with a higher FTP. However I donāt really know what Iām doing so maybe this is a bad plan?
Thanks - I tend to only add them when it gets hot outside but youāve got me interested. Iāll add some for the next hard intervals.
I bought a 100g bag a few years ago from MyProtein and it uses about 0.1g a serving so after several years I still have about 80g left 
This is basically my plan. I will finish off a GPB in a few weeks and then switch into aerobic base a la SSBHV1/2. As this thread makes clear, long intervals, 90-120min for SS (and 180-240min for tempo?), are key. The trick is building the right progression. Keep us posted, Iām all ears!
I keep toying with thisā¦
I started doing back to back days with less TiZ but as that increased and the more I read about 2 intervals probably being optimal, I decided to space them out and add tempo on Sat.
Right now Iām planning 1 more 4 week block of pure SST before moving to intensive aerobic work after Xmas. Iām not sure if I should keep increasing TiZ >90 mins or maybe add back to back days - perhaps SST/tempo/SST or similar? 2 x SST with more TiZ or 3 x SST with more total weekly TiZ?
Appreciate any thoughts.
Hard to advise without knowing your training history. Also, Iām a pure amateur myself, only been doing structure for a year and experimenting with a few things.
Personally Iād try and work towards hitting the next target in the progression if thatās something youāve already been working on. 60 mins at 90% is a good benchmark to aim for - if you can do that, work up to 75 or 90 mins.
Iād try to keep focus on 1 target at a time. Once youāve hit your TTE target, then maybe switch focus to density if that suits. I keep reading how itās good to hit yourself with different stimuli to keep improving - keeps things fresher and more motivated upstairs too.
Thanks - good points.
Iāve done 75mins so far and initially I was thinking about pushing out to 100mins by the end of this block, before questioning myself againā¦
FTFP 
planning my progression as such:
3x20
2x30
2x35
2x40
2x45
1x90
Would you make the jump from 2x45 to 1x90 or would you continue to work out the 2x duration a bit more before going for 1x90?
Honestly this is almost exactly the same workout in terms of RPE 
the only thing that makes 1x90 harder is mental side.
I think it depends on how hard you find each step, but Iād be tempted to skip some of those and make bigger leaps. I think you can afford to be less cautious with sweetspot compared to threshold - itās a lot more forgiving!
A basic question on progression, sorry if this has been covered before.
I am about to reach my SS90 goal of 75min. I donāt have any races until July next year. So have plenty of time.
Should I keep doing the Sweet Spot Progression ladder, but restart it with a higher FTP, or should I break it up and do a VO2 block, retest, and then restart the progression block?
if you listen to Tim talk about that slide he is clear to say it s NOT what he would prescribe to somebody - it was purely an illustration of what he means by the term progression. He is very clear to point out this is not a recommendation.
that probably depends on lots of things, including your recent training history - how long have you been doing efforts around tempo and SST building up to the 75mins? A lot of coaches will say 2 (max 3) blocks of 4 weeks of any stimulus before you need to change it up and try something different to avoid stagnation.
Iām at 75 mins @90% now after 2 blocks and will push 1 more 4 week block before switching to 98-105% intervals. Iām onl;y doing the 3rd block because I really havenāt done very structured work at all since the start of the year and just rode many thousands of outdoor miles most of the year - I think I can get away with a 3rd block. After that its back to a 2 block max (1 for vo2) and keep mixing it up.
Having said that, if time to your next event is not an issue, you may decide more ābaseā SST work is worth doing - again, your training history and other factors might play into this?
Thanks for replying!
This indoor season:
KM 1 Test
Completed SSB2-LV. Tested SS90/60 1X60min and found that to be easy.
Increased my FTP by 5% and are now working the SS progression ladder back up. My goal is to finish at 75min. Donāt feel like I need more @ 90% then that.
After that I was thinking maybe do another round of the progression with another 5% bump in FTP or do 2 intense weeks of VO2.
Do you do a retest before that one additional 4 week block, or how do you adjust between them?
Iām just considering that very question - should I retest or just carry on and adjust as necessary? Hmmmā¦
At this stage Iām feeling like Iāll just leave my FTP as it is and go on feel. Iām actually doing all these sessions on the rollers so am not locked into a wattage in ERG mode and can easily push a little harder if Iām feeling good. I may have pushed up my FTP a few watts but 1-2w difference on these intervals isnt going to make much difference for these sessions I dont think. I also think my FTP reported on the Kickr is slightly lower than I can achieve on the rollers for some reason - I think I can do pretty much the same on rollers as I can on the road, and slightly above the Kickr anyway.
Iāll retest at Xmas and use those numbers for the FTP block.
Happy cake day
