Hopefully a quick one to answer. I’m in the build phase of a masters / polarised plan. I’ve been noticing that the key intense workouts that I’m being served appear to be progressing lower in intensity level instead of increasing. This is contra to my expectation where I thought that they should be building in terms of intensity.
As an example, here are next three weeks, after a deload week just completed.
Does it look ok or off? If it’s ok, how is my understanding or expectation off?
Hi Sten, I wouldn’t worry about it but progression levels are no longer how progression is determined, neither is TSS, and nor are the plans static.
You only need to know the specifics of your next workout, as the following one wil change depending on your execution.
Consequently progression is no longer enforced as it was in static plans, your progressive overload comes from how you execute, not from assumed perfect completion of workouts. Which is better for fitness gains.
What does it mean when you say ‘progressive load comes from how you execute’? If I execute “as expected” will I not be served the workouts currently in my plan? Or is everything in the plan beyond the next workout just a placeholder?
It means the next rides will adjust based on the results of completed workouts. RPE, HR, if you took extra breaks or if you exceeded power targets, etc.
if you’re completing workouts well, it’ll give you slightly harder next time. If you’re not, it’ll dial it back.
I agree with all of the feedback here.
Workout levels aren’t what we use to prescribe workouts anymore. We look at the power curve of your recent training history and then look through the workout library to find what’s best for you based on your recent performances.
