Do you have a video title so I can search this. Please dont post the video because I dont think we want this devolving into another DJ thread.
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Already did that, and as you have linked, its still not clear which video he was referencing as there are more than a few to choose from.
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The video is titled how to get in the best shape youāve ever been in: block periodization but on the āfirst pageā youāll se it named as āhigh risk high reward trainingā.
He also shows both which high intensity workouts he did during that first week and his training weeks after.
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What Iāve read of this thread has been very insightful, so thanks to people whoāve contributed.
Iām coming to the end of SSBHV2 and Iām thinking about what to do next. The Plan Builder says Sustained Power Build, but I wonder whether I should do something different.
Iām also going to be riding a lot more outside on my TT bike, so itās gonna be a big change from endless SS on the turbo!
Are you planning on racing this summer? If so, when is your A-race? And what is your A-race (TT I presume?)? 
Know that CTT calendar is a bit up in the air, but have you got anything youāre particularly targeting?
Likewise, was there a particular limiting factor you felt at all last season (pacing, āsurgesā, position, comfort, equipment, etc.)?
I think Iāve realised the last couple of years that once your FTP is up to a certain level at the beginning of the season, in terms of performance, thereās probably far more to be gained by dialling in or focusing on other stuff than trying to squeeze out another 5-10w at threshold.
edit, will move the conversation somewhere else if needed, will try to keep on progressing on SS!
@TheFatSagan 100m TT in June; 10m TT in August. Few B races between Apr - Sep, and some Club 10s sprinkled throughout.
@jackkellam Last year I only executed two really good races; a lot of the others were erratic. I definitely didnāt spend enough time outdoors on my TT bike in position. Iām hoping to spend a lot of time on the TT bike in position, like I did in 2019, to really dial in whatās sustainable.
For ~10 hour week that would be around 60 to 90min of intervals. So @RONDAL maybe 2 days of intensity would be enough in your setup.
At least for me my n=1 experience and gut feeling says I would reach the final interval progression with less days of intensity per week (probably 2) and at the same time feeling better (less fatigued).
IMO your lucky to have the 100m TT before the 10m TT!
A race that long doesnĀ“t have the same requirements on being able to perform in your higher zones (read: above FTP). Hence you could continue base training all the way up to that race, focusing on SST progression, really extending that TTE (i.e. building a huge base). Since letĀ“s be honest, itĀ“s probably not the guy with the highest ramp test FTP who will win that race?!
After the race, switch to build phase. Focus on increasing your FTP doing O/Us, 2x20s etc., VO2max. IĀ“ll bet you would be flying come August!
Alternatively, now when SSBHV2 ends, do a 4w build block (raise the curve), and then go back to base (SST prog) until the race in June (extend the curve). ItĀ“s still about 3,5months to June.
There are several races on the same course, but the one in August usually has the fastest conditions, so makes sense to aim for that
What sort of SST progression would be best? Iāve done Phoenix +2, Polar Bear +1, Galena +3, etc. Iāve read a fair amount of this thread but not all of itā¦
I think extending TTE is a good idea, as it dovetails nicely with spending long periods on the bike. In 2019 my bread and butter was a weekly race pace session aiming to hold ~80% max HR. Longest ride was 4-5 hours with 2.5 hours straight at that effort.
Post-race build phase also makes sense.
I think a short block of Build when I finish SSBHV2 would be a good idea. I quite like the look of some of those efforts around 105-110% FTP, as thatās usually where 10m TT effort.
Edit: forgot to say thanks!
This may have been posted in here before, but what portion of your extensive phases are FTP and what portion is SS?
I did a SS extension block a few months ago over the course of 5 weeks:
3x20min ā 2x30min ā 1x60min ā 3x25min ā 2x35min ā 1x75min ā 4x20min ā 1x90min
Now Iām looking to do this again after a Vo2 block, but would like to include some more FTP work than last time. I imagine itās very similar to the SS but some days are Threshold work instead of SS, is that about all there is to it?
This is sort of my path. What was the most difficult? 1x90? What percentage of FTP were you doing these at?
In terms of how to do an FTP phase, I havenāt experimented by adopting a progressive approach so I cannot comment with any certainty. However, if it were me, Iād probably do 2x FTP sessions per week, and progress them at an interval duration that was 25% less than what I was doing SS at. So if Iām starting SS at 3x20 an FTP workout would become 3x15 (at FTP or maybe slightly above). This is just what I would do, w/o any real experience doing an FTP block structured this way.
Last season I did a polarized block that used 6, 7, and 8 min intervals at 105% of FTP and I thought that was pretty awesome.
Yeah - I think some longer sessions outside on the TT bike with time spent at race pace (Z3) and a chance to get better at fuelling, holding position, etc. will be as useful as anything for 100 prep. Training-wise though, really pushing out that TTE is gonna be the primary aid. 100m TTs are exactly the sort of thing the training in this thread will directly help with.
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The hardest thing Iām having with this thread is the length of it and not being able to read it all, and then translating advice like this into an actual plan.
In this case, how many times did you work this per week. Did you do two workouts with a rest week in there? Did you do two workouts repeating the previous workout the following week? What other work did you do?
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Judging by the post looks like 2 workouts every 10 days or so.
Think Iād say that you can potentially progress a bit quicker than this, especially if youāve got familiarity with doing extensive SS work. Doing one SS and one TH session a week, Iāve gone 3x20 // 2x30 // 2x40 // 1x90 in 4 weeks for my SS workouts.
How much you can manage and progress is going to be quite personal and specific.
yeah, thanks for that. Just didnāt want to load 3 of these up a week and blow up or add so much other work in addition to this that I did the same. Iām tolerating mid-500 TSS well right now at about 9-10 hours a week. Sweetspot Sunday is one of my favorite days.
Agreed, Iāve been reading the thread on and off since itās inception, but occasionally I come back to gaps of 50 messages between where I left off so I more than likely miss out on some good stuff. With that being said, I felt the progression I did worked out really well for me based on this thread and some other podcasts and articles around the subject.
I did 2 workouts per week on weeks 1, 3, and 5, and then 1 workout per week on weeks 2 and 4. I also added an extra recovery day on weeks 2 and 4 (this is something I got from the book The Well-Built Triathlete by Matt Dixonā¦ instead of overloading really hard, you progress throughout the entire block and add an extra recovery day every other weekā¦). Week 6 was a recovery week.
I am unable to ride on Sundays, so my weeks start on Monday and my longest ride is on Saturday. I did these workouts on Tuesdays (I like to have a day of endurance 1.5-2hrs before doing harder work rather than jumping in from rest day to intervals), and Friday or Saturday (Friday I would only do the SS work and Saturday I would turn it into a longer endurance ride with the SS work mixed in). I only did endurance apart from theseā¦ All my endurance is RPE based but it ended up being about 70-80% of FTP for the endurance (which is normal). I was around 10hours per week at this time. TSS was around 600ā¦ Hereās what the full block looked like:
Personally, yes the 1x90 was the most difficult for me. Some people thrive with the single intervals, but I really enjoy a rest period in between. All of these were done at 90% of FTP. I thought about mixing things up, but figured there would be some days where I end up at 88% and other days where Iām up at 92-93%. This is exactly what happened, but on average I was 90% for the work period.
If I were to do this again, I would probably progress a little bit faster, or as Iām planning to do now, progress SS and FTP at the same time. In retrospect it felt pretty conservative and that I could probably have done 3 per week and maybe 2 every other weekā¦ Or just do 3 per week for 3 weeks, recovery 1 week, then do it again. This especially might happen if Iām doing SS and FTP at the same timeā¦ I might also do something different instead of the 4x20min. It felt weirdly short after doing some of the longer work (maybe 3 x 30min?).
@anthonylane thatās a good recommendation for starting out with FTP 25% less, Iāll give this some thinking over and see how it looks in my full plan. Thanks for that
@russell.r.sage As a note to the above, if I were progressing faster, I would be doing it within the workday. It seems like this is the best strategyā¦ So instead of adding on another workday, just increase the work on a specific day.
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Pfff increasing FTP to 292w with 66kg is fun, but after that itās hard to do SST again.
Today 1x25min and 1x15min 90%. Would do 2x30 but quit earlierā¦
TTE = 43min
I think the race on tuesday (49min 293w) still in my legs