Would be nice if you could you create a “Over Under” team in TR and put your custom O/U workouts in there.
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I honestly would not wish these workouts on anybody 
Yes, but that’s the nature of an intensive block. The goal is to raise FTP. The general flow of Tim’s FTP training is:
Extend Endurance at high power/FTP (Extensive) → Raise FTP (Intensive) → Raise VO2max → Get faster at FTP → Extend endurance at high power…
So you raise FTP by training more intensely for somewhat shorter durations (and we’re still talking about potentially 45-60 min of FTP work in a single workout here…). As your mFTP goes up, odds are TTE will be somewhat shorter, THEN you go back and extend that TTE.
I think the answer to the question “Which one should I do - raise FTP or extend TTE?” would be “Both.” in most cases. TrainerRoad’s programs err on the side of always raising FTP, which makes marketing sense for them, but many people who strictly follow TR’s plans will have TTEs in the 35-40min range at their FTP, thus they have a lot of room to grow TTE.
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This is what I’m planning. Tuesday will be 4x15at 98% and Thursday will be 4x15 O/U with 2:00@90% and 0:30@120%. then adding 2:30 to each interval every week.
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You are very gentle with the progression. But if works for you, probably nothing wrong with it.
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I was going to do 4x15>3x20>4x20. Then I did the first 4x15 last night and felt like there was no way I could go for another 5 minutes at the end of the 3rd set. Cooling very well could have been an issue though, as the 4th interval felt much better than the 3rd after I opened the patio door and moved the fan… I’m also pushing 10 hours of Z2 on the weekends so that has me being a bit conservative as well.
Ohs, cooling is extremely important with steady FTP work. I have 3 fans and they work ok for this. In summer my ability to do threshold inside drops hugely (or rather my HR is at 95% during first interval :))
Nice clarifications!
We’ll see what happens tomorrow, gonna add more cooling.
Very well written Kurt, thank you!
Did Phoenix +1 today, so 1x 75 minutes at 85-90% FTP, going to do Spruce Knob +3 for 3x30 @ 85% next, then maybe Echo +5 for 2x50 @80-90% before Gibraltar+1, 1x90 minutes at 85-90%.
I do have a question: Why are all my intervals slightly below the target? I didn’t watch the metrics today, but just rode on feel and endured the effort, kept cadence at 95-100, but all my intervals are a couple of W below the target, eg. 217/219, 224/227. etc. How come? Trainer was calibrated.
My ERG intervals are often 1w out when I review afterwards - think this is due to rounding of FTP/% targets in intervals. Not sure if that would affect it by more than 1w though. Nothing to worry about though
Can I get these workouts.
Going to do them for my next block
What or why should we focus on O/U’s? What is the gain of doing these kind of workouts, instead of ‘normal’ SST/FTP work? If you do a FTP session and a Vo2max session another day, will this give the same effect?
What I understand is that you learn to deal withh lactate clearance
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Your suggestion would work - that’s the composition of most of the TR plans, and they obviously work well for a lot of people. Certainly up to a point anyway.
I do seem to recall there was a study that showed block periodisation was more effective, but obviously is a little more dull doing the same types of workout (types) for a few weeks at a time.
As for why to do O/Us, I think this has been covered in the thread. Works to pull up your FTP, helps with lactate clearance, gets you used to working above your threshold, has specificity to hard riding/racing. Working above FTP is draining, so you can’t just do tons of O/Us all the time though, hence sub-threshold work has a very important place in training FTP.
As a few of you asked, so here are the OUs I’ve made.
Bear in mind…
- The ones with 95%+ unders are horrible - approach with caution
- I don’t claim these to be optimal workouts/interval design - just something I’m trying out
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Thanks man. This is going to be my next block for sure.
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Iam mentaly struggling with long blocks SST on Zwift. Outside i can do long blocks like 50-75min, but indoors i like more to do 3x20 with 2min in between, than 2x45…not physically but mentaly. Do more have this problem?
I’d categorise myself as pretty motivated, but when these SST sessions get past about 1x75 mins, I like to find something to watch on youtube, or stick on a podcast. Like you say, it’s something to do with the constant and not-too-hard nature of the workouts. By the last 10 mins of a 1x120 is when you start to question your decisions in life.
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By the last 10 mins of a 1x120 is when you start to question your decisions in life.
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