Iām away on a family trip over Easter weekend, so off the bike for 4 days. Yesterday I managed to do a double day session on the bike which I managed and has now got me thinking should this be a regular thing?? hard days hard, easy days easy etc.
I did Tioga (threshold) 1h 30 mins, quick 10min break/fuel and into 1h Tallic (sweetspot)
I felt pretty good during my 2h 30m session, started hurting during last 30mins but got throught it, hasnāt put me off. 1 more recovery session then 4 days off.
From what I understand there isnāt anything wrong with double days - but you might find itās better to do a session in the morning and the second session later, in the afternoon or evening.
Absolutely nothing wrong with a double day - in fact itās a great way to increase stimulus and add volume.
A 10 min break between 2 rides though is not what I would consider a ādouble dayā, but rather a single long ride - you just happened to swap āworkoutā
That being said itās again good stimulus and will of push your endurance capacity. Adding endurance/z2 onto your existing workouts on a daily basis gradually is a good strategy for increasing volume.
Key here is to increase load with caution. Donāt suddenly add 1hr to every rideā¦start with 30mins a few times and week and build from there. Might be āeasyā but itās still work
I do double days most week days, comes from a history of commuting but Iāve kept it up whilst training indoors. As other posters have mentioned above, what works for me is to do the harder session in the morning and then something between 40 and 90 mins easy Z2 in the early evening
Just add the extra volume slowly to ensure you can recovery from the additional work
Bear in mind recovery and overall work load, a gap of at least four hours up to eight imo. Otherwise do a longer workout as itāll make more sense stimulus and for adaptive training.
Iāve thought about doing this but doing something closer to 30 minutes in the evening. Iām guessing thereās really no lower limit and it all adds volume so as long as you can recover more is more.
Iād be careful about doing intensity in the same sport multiple times a day. Totally doable however can definitely fatigue you quickly. You were super fresh for this workout which helps.
Iām not really sure this is a double day, itās more like a longer day split. If worked for you, keep going!
Doubles being 1 early in the morning and 1 late afternoon are great. Did a few (a lot!?) during the hard of the winter. Usually, a 45m short sweat spot first, fasting, then the scheduled workout later. Quite nice.
This is great. Will it still be great six weeks later when both workouts have been progressed to be more challenging?
I do ābonus endurance milesā after almost all workouts (and Zwift races) for extra volume and to get full value out of the time I have that day, but Iām definitely not pushing too hard while getting that extra mileage in. Anything btwn 1hr and 2hr at 65%ish, depending on how I feel. I might ramp it up a bit for the last little bit if the next day is off or recovery.
I definitely wouldnāt label it a double day. Itās just 2 workouts separated by a somewhat longer break. If I have a 5 hour ride I likely end up with a 10 minute break using the rest room, refilling my bottles, and eating a snack.
5 hours indoor is not even in my plans, my limit is 3 with 1 break each 1 hour. Usually, these 3-hour rides are the BMTR flat on Saturday morning. So each 1 hour I use a coffee stop (3 min) to have a mental/physical break.
Typo. I meant āto 5 hour ridesā not ā2 5 hour ridesā
I did have a 10 hour outdoor ride training for unbound last year.
And a few years back training for unbound where weekend weather was downpours and lightning I had to do 6 hour indoor rides inside on Saturday. But my coach set it up as every hour take a 10 minute break. I think it was all just zone 2 but inside that long is mentally draining.
Double days can be great. Iād say you wanna split them up by a couple hours at least. I did doubles a bunch when I swam in college and then again when I started triathlon. You wouldnāt want to do doubles of two truly intense workouts on the same day (i.e. 2 VO2s or a VO2 and threshold/SS). Not sure if youāre a morning/evening person but you wanna schedule the one āquality/intensity/etcā session at the time that works best for you then add an easier ride on the other side of the day.
As others have said, nothing wrong with double days!
I might suggest keeping one session āhardā/structured and the other one āeasyā/unstructured, though. Stacking a Threshold and Sweet Spot workout together in one day could really get tough in the long run!
I also love the advice @ojtCycling gave you ā adding Z2/Endurance to your rides/schedule can be a great way to increase volume. Just make sure to ease into it rather than making a big jump suddenly. Increasing your volume/training stress too quickly might lead to burnout down the line.
Thanks for all replysā¦I understand what your saying about a double dayāsā¦I didnāt mean to offend anyone by not using the term correctly.
Also I should have mentioned I am not looking to add anymore TSS to my weekly schedule ATM, I just wanted to know other opinions about doing 2 intervals sessions on a hard day then having the extra rest day, as I understand majority are saying do session in am then if feeling fruity, session in pm
Did double days in my youthā¦ well 20ās. One thing to considerā¦ you are tired ALL THE TIME. And, just my opinion here, if you are sacrificing sleep it might be better to just go a bit longer for a single workout.
They do work and are great, especially if you have time to do them. Just know what you are getting into.
