Hello,
Recently, I was doing Galena +3 workout and one of the text notes puzzled me.
It was the one about training adaptation and stress accumulation, stating that basically, workouts done today are showing their effect in 4-6 weeks, which seems to stay in contradiction to the fact, that the last FTP test during the complete TrainerRoad cycle takes place at the very beginning of the specialty phase, while it’s just one week after ending of the high-intensity build phase.
If that is true, it seems logical to also do FTP benchmark in the middle of the specialty, since it’s roughly a month after the last week of the build phase.
Did I misunderstand something, or truly the workouts that were done a few weeks ago just starting to contribute to today’s fitness level? If so, then why if you would do 2-3 weeks pause after a hard training block, then you’re fitness will likely slightly drop instead of rising?
The purpose of the ramp test at the start of a plan is to adjust your training levels. Most changes happen early, I don’t think I ever saw much change in the late build/speciality (despite me getting fitter for my event).
My personal experience is that it takes about 6 weeks of consistent training to feel the effects. Consider also the basis of the CTL model (TSS over 6 weeks/42d).
If you take a break after a block (or a season break after a full cycle) you let your body recover from the load and that’s what makes you fresh and fit again.