Caveat, I switched to low volume for more flexibility but I still ride 5-6 days a week and about the same mileage. Is this more a product of being better rested than anything else?
I observed kind of the same thing with my training after a high volume period. Short break and lower volume: Had a 5% FTP increase. Still doing PRs (powerwise) three weeks later.
Awesome!!
Sounds like you made the right call with the LV plan and that’s why we love to recommend them.
More recovery + more flexibility in your training schedule = GAINS!
Keep up the great work!
I’m curious, how do your legs feel the following days after a TR workout compared to when you ride outside?
I usually only ride 60-90 minutes on TR, and my outdoor rides are typically 2.5-4 hrs, so my legs are definitely more worked after an outdoor ride.
@TexanDad are your outdoor rides:
1 - Additional TR WOs, self selected from Train Now, or other.
2 - Decently hard self-selected efforts: Long times in SS or Thresh, Tempo - SS cruises with some strong hill climbs or sprints mixed in, or other?
3 - Mostly Z2, w some fun “cheating” into Z3 or 4, and / or a few sprints or pushing climbs, but really very much in the fun zone.
4 - Purist Z2.
Edit: Missed it: Congratulations! That’s great!
My outdoor rides are 20-30 miles in tempo-sweet spot during the week and a long high endurance/tempo ride on the weekend.
IE Saturday morning 40-60 mile gravel spin usually somewhere between 180-200 watts. Not a purist at all, I’ll punch it up a climb when I feel up for it and chill when I don’t, I’m just out to enjoy the bike.
Is there any chance that TR will actually develop plans that reflect what many/most are doing when they say they are doing “LV” plans, that is, LV plus a lot of endurance rides added in?
Without doing that, how can TR actually assess the benefit of their LV plans?
@PWeber while many are doing additional Z2 or more intense riding for volume, tons of us are not. No clue on what the split is in actual numbers, but yeah, there’s tons of TR users with crammed lives that really struggle to get more than 3 - 4 hrs / wk on the trainer. That’s the whole point of TR!! Isn’t the slogan something like “Optimized Training for Time Crunched Athletes” ?
Your post would be more useful with some background on what you were doing before you dropped the volume.
Also what specific LV plan did you switch to?
Understand that, but the TR LV plan is actually only a plan for people like yourself who following it as designed.
For others who are doing a load of endurance or other rides/workouts on top of it, then it is actually not a TR plan - it is a just a starting point of 3 workouts per week that you add to and each person will be different in what they add, so how do you measure the value of the plan? My point is i think TR should consider developing more plans in this area with their expertise.
I recall an article about optimal workouts for time crunched athletes, but i don’t recall it as a slogan for TR, but i might be wrong on that.
@PWeber like said above I’m guessing there are enough folks pressed for time that they truly do stick to LV.
Changing the plan names and increasing customization in terms of volume/time available to train per day is something we’re working on for future updates!
One benefit we like with the LV plans at the moment is the flexibility afforded to athletes, especially during the outdoor season when many are balancing structured training with group rides, races, and often a general increase in overall volume when the weather is nicer.
LV plans are great in that they easily allow athletes to do more if they have enough time and sufficient recovery, but they still help athletes get faster through the structure they offer, even if athletes are time-crunched.
Thank you…every one of these questions in this forum chat I have asked as well… and some again today for the Podcast. You guys are so amazing!!!
I did a mid volume plan leading up to a big race in May, then took it easy for a bit, in August I started another mod volume plan for a race in October (all gravel races, fwiw)… I was getting burnt out already a couple weeks in so I dropped to low volume in mid August.
So, to answer your first question - the power gains were likely already there, but the MV intensity work was too much, so you couldn’t see them. Now that you’ve backed off the intensity, your legs are fresh enough to actually do the power they are capable off.