5 hours of sweetspot. Jesus christ WT is just Inhuman
Thatās āin seasonā.
Race Flanders on the weekend then a 5 hour SS workout on Tuesday. And Thursday. 
2x20 doesnāt seem all that terrible now, does it!
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Yeah, to me those prescriptions get out of handā¦ but thatās just me. And obviously it depends on the types of races the athlete is doing. I think most everyone I deal with could probably top off at 2hr TiZ and do just fine across the board, but I donāt coach any Cat1s yet.
Allen/Coggan also talk about doing 6-8 of those workouts in a block before progressing to other work. So you could surmise your average weekend cat 3 guy should do ~45min SST sessions 6-8 times before FTP work. Iād personally go a little higher for a serious racer but wouldnāt go crazy, especially in December!
So, whoās going to make some more workouts between 120 - 180 mins? 
Not sure if the team admin has to do it, but I canāt make one for myself as Iām only on mobile at the moment.
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I was actually thinking about this. 150m (1x150m 2x75 and 3x50)
I might try a 150m in January if I manage 1x120 next week!
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I might make some more in the 75-180 rangeā¦ maybeā¦ time is not something I have a ton of these days.
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ā¦if somebody really wants to do them Iāll happily make them and put them in the team - just takes seconds to alter an existing workout.
Deal is that I make it and you DO IT though!!! Strava screenshot or it didnāt happen 
Seriously though, post up what you want and Iāll sort it 
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Thanks!
Iāll definitely try them! Iām probably going to do a bit of VO2 work after a break, so give me a few weeks! 
for 150 mins probably this progression:
1x150, 2x75 and 3x50
And for 180 mins:
1x180, 2x90 and 3x60
Assume RBI will stay 3 mins just for consistency. To be honest the thought of having to stop and get going again after such long intervals sounds pretty unappealing!
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Exactly my first thought. If you made me stop after 70 min there is no way I would go again
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I think people could start with longer intervals/more TiZ, and do less SS work overall than is suggested.
In the last 10 weeks Iāve done 5 hours of SS ā Carson, Carillon, etc. ā so no crazy long intervals. The rest has been almost all long Z2 rides. Today I did a 5x20 with no problem (sure, it was entry level intensity, but stillā¦).
Looking at the SSHV planā¦12 weeks to go from 36min to only 90min TiZ? Yikes. Thatās waaay too long! No wonder people burn out/plateau doing that (myself included).
The trade-off/cost, of course, is Z2 time vs SS fatigue.
(edit: The TR plans state SS is aimed at āimproved muscle endurance and higher fatigue resistanceā, both of which can largely be gained via long endurance rides ā but without the accumulation of fatigue. For example, this past summer I did 2 months of polarized training ā a lot of long Z2s. After which I did a 2-week SS block. By the end of the block I had smashed out my longest ever SS interval ā 1x150min. Do we really need to be doing 3 MONTHS of SS work just to get to 90min?!)
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Did 3x35 today, although I did backpedal for a few seconds in the final interval. Looking back at my power curve from the summer, Iāve put 40 watts on my 2 hour power since I started doing these long SS workouts. Pretty cool
This will be my last SS workout for a bit - Iām eager to do a block of VO2max work now
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I think people burn out on SSBHV because itās four interval days per week. Success rate would probably be higher if they subbed the Z2 ride for the Sunday ride.
I also think TR is written entirely to avoid riding the trainer for more than 2hrs except for a couple of the triathlon plans and traditional base. For all the good things TR is, it is a business first and foremost. Plan compliance isnāt just desirable to Make People Faster; itās a necessity to retain subscriptions long term. Many/most people wonāt tolerate the trainer for more than two hours.
Some people do need three months to get up to 3x30. In fact, Iād say most people do. You are not most people. A few of my athletes are spending a few months to get to 1x60 - theyāve never done any sweet spot, so even 4x10 is challenging for them. And thatās the issue with TR: itās one size fits mostā¦ written for the crowd where 32 min of SST is soul crushing as well as the ones who can come off the couch for three weeks and nail a 3x30. Thatās the problem with the āFTP is all that mattersā model.
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Iām undecided whether I want to do a vo2max block in January or more sweetspot, but if I see off 1x120 this week, Iām definitely going for a 150m progression so make the workouts. They will be done
Iāve done a u-turn on my approach over the weekendā¦
I was going to do the Rapha500 as a change of scenery and then start FTP work, but Covid lockdown changes mean the 500 is not really on the cards now, so have planned a 2 week vo2 block starting today with my ramp test. Iāve planned 5-6 sessions and will see how many I manage to get through and then rest a few days and start FTP work.
WKO told me my mFTP was 86% of vo2 so I decided it might be time to switch it up a little. I hate vo2 work so donāt do much and hence am probably underperforming in that area.
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We are thinking very similarly. BC has some crits posted in February and I can already start to feel my gains stalling a little. Maybe a ramp test and some VO2max work might be good for 2-3 weeks.
Iām trying to avoid starting a proper build before April though
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Did an hour power ātestā today in the middle of my SST progression block. Felt really tired coming in and legs carrying some fatigue, so I didnāt expect this to go very well. And then i didnāt pace it spectacularly well, even though that graph looks pretty goodā¦ I was definitely fading at the end.
Butā¦ even in spite of all that, I set an hour power PR of 272Wā¦ my mFTP is 273 and Iām training at 275. I broke every all time power record from 58:00 to 1:15, so Iād never really done this type of effort before.
Iād say this extensive focus is working pretty well for building a really strong base to build on in 2021. Iām excited that Iām basically back to where I was this past summer in December aerobically, and can work on pushing higher before racing starts.
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I second that. Iāve never been this āfitā before at this time of year. Iām very near my peak 2020 FTPā¦and Iām still in Base! Hard to be motivated by a maybe/maybe not race calendar ahead but I am excited to see where I can take my form. And yes, there is a SS block or two on the horizon.
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Likewise with fitness highs for this time of year: following on from 2 months of one SST progression, and one threshold session a week, with a good bit of Z2 thrown around it, thought Iād see where my 20 minute power was. Had been interested given Iād done no training above threshold at all.
Paced conservatively, and added 5w to my best set during peak summer form this year. Felt as though the effort had a far higher āaerobicā contribution - in past tests Iāve felt way deeper in lactate than I did yesterday.
Know thatās in part pacing, and the fact that I probably had another 5-10w in the tank, but really do feel that focus on aerobic training, and long SST intervals, has helped with this. If anything, the fact I could take 1 minute easy, and then do a few minutes near threshold comfortably after the test (to finish the zwift TT) maybe evidence for this.
Anyway, guess my point is just to back up that these long SST intervals work, and can bump up your shorter power even without focusing on it! Not being ill for 12 months also helpsā¦
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Nice to see that the hard work in those SST progressions pay off! :-). I am looking forward to start mine half of January. Still have to finish my strength work nowā¦
Have still some weeks left to think which approach to take. Starting the SST progression or first do 2-3 weeks vo2max to raise the ceiling. One question I have is that I did not do any specific SST work yet, so will vo2max for me already be benefitial (83% mftp Vo2max).
First thing I will do is some new testing (unstructered and 20min test). My mFTP will be around 275-285 I guess. At 90%, my SST value will be around 250-260w. If I choose to start with SST progression? Should I start with 1x25? Because I think I definitely can do that because my PD curve at 1h is already 265W (mmp 270). So would this mean I start with 1x60min, or higher?
No advice on the intervals, just pointing out that SS work may be just as much mental as it is physical. My recent 5x20 after very little SS work in the past 3 monthsā¦I went into it fully expecting to eventually crash & burn, but it never happened. Not to mentioned when I started TR I had never done structured SS work and was terrified of some of those Blue Blocks of Doom! Nowā¦not so much.
So if you think you can do it, give it a shot! 