I am after some advise but I think the answer might simply be rest!
At the end of '18 I followed the plans (SSB and onwards) at mid-volume. Since the beginning of the year I have switched to doing the time crunch 45 Monday - Friday due to new family commitments!
I have just been cycling the time crunch 45 plan since but recently I am finding my legs shattered by Thursday each week and struggling through the last two work outs. The part I find strange is I had been used to doing higher weekly TSS, is this simply a case of these workouts being more intense and I just need to insert a rest week?
Also does anyone else follow this plan and have you seen improvements using it?
You mentioned new family commitments. This is just pure speculation but, depending on what that/those might be, maybe you’re physically or/and mentally fatigued by whatever that/those might be. I think something similar was discussed on a recent Podcast.
I know that I personally need to adapt to changing situations and because of this, I would lean towards taking a few days off the bike and reseting as many things as I can.
I haven’t followed the time crunch plan but I have done a few 45 minute workouts. I think they’re brilliant for the high intensity stuff.
I usually follow the mid volume plans but was short on time other day so did one workout from the 45 min plan. It was SO hard. Make me puke half way through! Not surprised tired!
@RobertSims Yes some of the 45 min sessions are brutal and quite a struggle to get through when fresh!
@PusherMan Perhaps that could be something that I hadn’t accounted for. The mental aspect of a new member of the family combined with the increased intensity too. I just feel (perhaps wrongly) I shouldn’t take too many rest days as I already feel like I am now doing so little training
As the TR guys often say ‘Not all TSS is created equal.’
You might be doing less time but your time AT intensity could be equal to or possibly even higher than it was before. You might also be training different zones.
I started doing the Time-Crunch 30 mid Feb. After a week or two of life adjustments , I switched to the Time Crunch 45. They’re good short workouts. If you compare them (45s) to their 1hr counterparts, often times the rest and/or warmup has been shortened. Sometimes, it’s a minute from each interval. Etc… all in order to get the workout down to 45min. But, the intensity stays relatively high for the 45min.
Suffer through Thursday knowing you have Friday off. If the weekend workouts are killing you, then dial them down a bit. Another option if you feel the T-R intensity is too much, is to do some sweetspot or tempo on the weekends instead. And since you’re getting your butt kicked, it sounds like some aspect of your fitness will definitely improve.
As for improvements, this depends on where you are coming from. If starting from nothing, then this will provide some stimulus and more than likely improvements. In my case, I am looking to maintain some fitness and sanity. Before I even started, I accepted my new reality and the fact that I was going to lose fitness.
