just finishing my first block of SS focus.
ended with 2x35 and setting all time PR’s for 1:08:00 and up.
Rest week, ramp test and then back at it for another 4 weeks. working up to atleast a 1x90.
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…and if 90 mins is your ceiling then add a ‘burst’ every 5 mins for extra load. 10-15 secs max effort and then back into 90% with no rest will quickly add load in the same overall time.
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I’ve searched o the forum for the More Sweet Spot group but not found a post title that matches this. can you elaborate please?
its a ‘team’ you need to join to access custom workouts - look for how to join a team in your profile
Oh yeah, I’ve been through those and have created my own with a slightly different warm-up! I’ve gotten up to 1x90 on a weekend day.
This is next on my list. I’ve already created the workouts. I’m attempting a little O/U progression at the moment.
My thoughts are more related to the amount of intensity per week. Since I have a little less time my intensity is higher. But I’m wondering if I can change that ratio a bit at about 8ish hours/week.
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I’ve found Ebbetts style workouts
where you do a 5-sec sprint every 2 minutes to provide a really strong stimulus on a short time budget. I’ve got decent 5-sec power and looking back at my outside rides the 5-sec bursts are usually >200% FTP.
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I’m not sure if it’s been posted in here yet (apologies if so). How did each of you change up your sweet spot length after testing a new FTP?
I have been progressing over the past 6 weeks, relatively conservative since it’s early in the season:
Week 1: z2 and 3x20min
Week 2: z2 and 2x30min and 1x60min
Week 3: z2 and 3x25min
Week 4: z2 and 2x35min
Week 5: z2 and 1x75min and 4x20min
Week 6: Rest and recover
I am planning on testing for a new FTP this next week, but was also ready to give 1x90 a try.
Start at a lower time again, or stay with the longer progression?
I have an idea, but want to see what others might have done in a similar scenario
Depends on the FTP change. If it goes up quite a bit, back off your TiZ. If it’s 1-3%, I’d probably press on. I just had 2% change in training FTP (4ish% in mFTP) and I just repeated 3x25 where I had left off from the previous block.
I’ve read and listened to multiple opinions (including TR on Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast) about how doing Sweet Spot intervals should feel - hard but manageable.
But I’m wondering: how should you feel after completing the session? I find myself doing “hard but sustainable” intervals, but after the workout, I don’t feel any serious leg soreness, fatigue etc. Is this normal or am I underperforming?
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Yep - thats pretty much me as well. I did 3x30 with 2 min rests the other week and felt like I’d had a workout but was far from broken. I felt it more a couple of hours later when walking up stairs. Having said that, the goal was 90% of FTP and I know I have gained fitness in the weeks doing this but havent yet bumped up my FTP, so realistically it was probably 87-88%.
I have also heard said by several respected coaches that most people over estimate FTP and hence are doing SST work at far too high a level. If you physically struggle to finish these then I suspect the intensity is too high!
Well I hit my final goal for this progression today - 100mins completed as 4x25 on the rollers. Was actually far easier than I would ever have expected and I even managed the last few minutes flat out and finished with a bit of vo2 work!
There’s no doubt my FTP has gone up as well as a significant improvement in muscular endurance, having started out at 2x20 at the start of Nov. I’m just starting to psych myself up for a ramp test on Tues or Wed to see what impact it’s all had? Plan is then the Rapha 500 for a mini-block of outdoor z2/3 riding and then I’m going to do the intensive endurance progression starting from 3 or 4x10m at about 96-97% and build up to 60m or so over a block, before a switch to pure vo2 for a few weeks.
A few learnings from the last 12 weeks:
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don’t over-think it - just progress TiZ each week however you can manage it
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you need less rest than you think - 3mins is plenty to recover from SST intervals and I found it pretty easy to reduce that to 1 min and max out TiZ
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don’t be tempted to increase the intensity for a while - just keep pushing out the duration until you’re hitting 90/100+ mins.
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2 quality sessions of SST per week has been enough to drive a lot of improvement when combined with 1 or 2 tempo (85%) sessions and 1 or 2 3-4hr outdoor z2 rides.
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SST is really enjoyable training as you feel steady improvement quickly and get fast feedback on the adaptions. You’ll be surprised how quickly 3x25 starts to feel like a warmup!
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By the end of my longest stuff this season so far (4x20, 3x25), I’ve felt like I had to really fight to turn the pedals. About an hour later, my legs feel great. I get a bit more fatigued if I do my strength work after those long intervals, but I can still manage to do it.
Most threshold and lower workouts shouldn’t leave you feeling wrecked. Save that for your races and stuff done above threshold.
Also when you have the fortitude to knock out long sweetspot intervals, suddenly an hour of threshold doesn’t seem so daunting anymore. Sure it’s 5-10% higher intensity, but 33-50% less TiZ
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What happens when you reach your max progression? 
Do you just keep going? How much is too much?
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Coggan/Allen suggest that a Cat 3 type rider needs to be able to do 2x20, and those with higher aspirations do more. If you want to extrapolate that out, go ahead. For me, 90min TiZ is plenty for now, so that’s the goal. Eventually push the curve up rather than out.
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Cmon man, just do 6x120min SS in a week, i’ll wait you post the workouts… 
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Until (just before) you stagnate… 2-3 blocks going as far as you can and then change stimulus so you don’t just stall and plateau. Where you end up will depend on your start point, then test, reset FTP as needed and try something different.
Don’t over think it…just ride 2 blocks of increasing TiZ in SST and then do something else.
I think the issue for most people is just the time needed for longer and longer time in zone. I longest period of time I get to train 99% of the time is about 90-100 mins max so i can just about squeeze in 80ish mins in zone with brief WU and CD.
My progression is more limited by that than anything else. However as all my races (Sprint duathalons, 10mile TT, 25mile TT) are hour or less, think 80-90mins in zone is enough. I’m currently at about that level (4 week build from 2x25mins upto 1x75 and 2x40 this week). Will have few days off over Xmas, then continue will these length intervals but increase stimulus/adaptation with 10 sec sprints every 5 mins or so and/or rising power to 95ish %. Will likely re-test ftp (kolie moore procedure) after Xmas- if significant change then will drop TIZ back down a bit and rebuild. If change more minor then plan is as described about (bursts and raise power).
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I guess that’s the ultimate end game. Figure out your personal progression, incl max TiZ; once completed, repeat at higher power.
For comparison, fascat has this example chart of what different levels should be doing per SS workout (2-3x/wk); his coaching service has a 15min-3hr min/max prescription.
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