Hoping to get some top-tips from those athletes on the forum who have experienced a transition from moderate to longer hours / higher volume training.
Background
averaged between 8 to 10 hours a week of training (indoors) over the last 3 months
Prior to this similar volume based on indoor training, supplemented with longer outdoor sessions during the warmer (UK ) spring and summer months
2024 was a really good year for me - w/kg went up a good chunk and I recognised that I respond well to increased volume so long as I moderate the intensity
Also was able to stick to a plan and execute which was pleasing
Sleep and nutrition are pretty much on point - Iāve learnt a lot about how my physiology responds to training and have over time been able to find what works well for me
Had a good ābaseā so far this winter and transitioning into build at the end of January
Had success on polarised / masters approach with 2 hard āintensityā workouts a week and the rest at Z2 with some Z1 recovery as well.
Relative strength is shorter power (if I do a ramp test IRL I always over-score) however AI ramp test is much more accurate and realistic as it takes account of my relative lack of ability to hold and maintain longer duration power numbers
Staring this year in a stronger place than I was last year and looking to build on this and get myself to a higher level of overall fitness for the year ahead
Plan for year ahead
maintaining the 2 hard sessions of intervals a week
Increasing the Z2 volume - initially indoors but transitioning to outdoors when the weather allows (Iām now pretty much a fair-weather cyclist )
Aim is to gradually increase overall time in the saddle - moving from current 8-10 hour envelope to a 12-14 hour envelope - extra volume / hours will all be in the Z2 range - but where able to, I will be aiming to keep most of it at the slightly harder end of Z2 (still relatively easy)
strategy to achieve the extra time is to tag more time onto the end of all TR sessions to accumulate an increase and then as this builds, swap one of the Z2 indoor rides for a longer outdoor weekend ride to further bump up the overall time.
Goals
Fitness outcome goal underpinning this change in process goal - significantly improve my fatigue resistance and overall general endurance
Current AI FTP is 308 - aiming to see in the ballpark of 320 by end of May - but more importantly aiming to see significant improvement in TTE at higher % of whatever my FTP happens to be
Exceeding 4W/lg would be nice, but Iām not obsessed with the numbers, focus for the first half of the year is more on improving ability to hold higher power for longer
practical application of theses fitness goals is twofold:
to perform as well as I can in climbing some big climbs in the Pyrenees in early June (bucket list stuff) - I have some intermediate steps to this with a trip to Girona in March
create a bigger endurance base on which to build a stronger power curve for the 2nd half of the year when my goal is to pivot back to crit racing and switch up my training accordingly (probably will be my last year of racing as I will be 52 in March) so I want to give it one last go and feel like I can say I gave it my best shot
Questions
what should I ālook out forā when increasing my volume ostensibly by 40% in terms of time - I intend to ramp up gradually
any tips on what to expect / pitfalls / benefits and strategies to cope
Any tips on how to adapt my training and / or how I approach the Z2 rides as I transition more to outdoor riding as the weather improves
Mixing outdoor and indoor TSS seems to misrepresent overall TSS (for me) - any tips on how to monitor overall stress (apart from how I feel) to avoid over-cooking things
Go easy on the progression levels of the hard days as you ramp up the volume.
Maybe even hold them at their current level for a few weeks as the overall volume increases.
Pushing up both overall volume and the hardness of the hard days simultaneously is a big ask of your body.
Once you are at the new volume level and have got used to it, then start building the hardness of the hard days again.
Donāt be shy about adding the lower intensity volume. If you are well settled at 8-10 hours per week, then adding another 2 - 4 hours of Z2 per week can be done quite aggressively. Certainly in less than a month.
I would approach it other way around ā keep hard days as prescribed and do additional Z2 at low intensity.
Adding volume is sneaky business, it can eat your motivation in a way you donāt notice until it is too late. It is better start at 60% of FTP and push it higher only if you see no bad side-effects in month or so.
When looking for advice on a forum, being concise can go a long way, lol. That being said, I did read your biography and recently went through a large volume increase the second half of 2023 and all of 2024 after a few years of plateauing and frustration. I am of similar FTP and w/kg and peaked in 2024 for my āAā race around 4.25 w/kg.
I increased my volume 38% in 2023 over 2022 and another 32% in 2024 over 2023. I did this solely focusing on raising my CTL since prior to these volume increases it never got over 80. YMMV, but my results were a breakthrough season in 2024 beyond my expectations and what I thought was possible for me in my late 40s. Though my FTP stayed about the same, my TTE and ability to express my FTP in races was amazing.
I used TrainingPeaks to guide my volume (and fatigue) by gradually increasing it up to my A race. I ensured my ramp rates were not excessive during work and recovery weeks. I adjusted intensity and z2 workouts depending on my fatigue and RPE. More when I could handle it and less when I couldnāt, but I always got the volume in no matter what. I experimented at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 with how volume and fatigue would affect my races and made adjustments as the year went on. Also, Iāll be making some changes in 2025 as I plan to raise my volume again by 11%. My problem in 2024 was I never had a true Build period in 2024 to raise my FTP, because I was too focused on volume. Then race season started and when I tried to Build and race that left me too fatigued. So in 2025 Iāll get my Build in before race season starts and my volume builds to consistent 1,000+ tss weeks. My biggest advise is of course fuel the rides, focus on recovery and realize there are no special workouts or intervals. Just get the work done.
Iāve ramped volume quite a bit over the last 2 years and saw the same thing (with some pretty decent race results). My focus is on longer gravel and marathon MTB events (5-10+ hours). I do OK in shorter stuff, but Iām not often fighting for podiums in ~3 hour races.
A critical part of this for me was just getting in better tune with my body and make sure I wasnāt over doing it. But I found out that I can really pile on the volume as long as it wasnāt too much intensity. A huge amount of high Z2 hours in training, but no problems pushing intensity in B/C races leading up to my events.
Probably my biggest challenge with the increased volume was figuring out the best way to taper for my A races. Iām still figuring that out, but I err on the side of really backing off volume for about a month prior to my event. Iāll do a final āpushā week about a month out (like 25+ hours and ~1500 tss) and then cut volume in half while keeping some intensity. Ideally, do a 5+ hour prep race about 2 weeks out. Itās really hard to back off that much for a month when I feel like Iām flying, but Iāve forced myself to do it and Iāve felt super strong with great endurance on race day. Last year, I peaked my CTL around 130 a month before Unbound and Leadville and was sitting around 110 CTL the day before each race. I may play with the taper a little this year, but it worked so well last year that Iām a little scared to change.
Same. Iām not sure I have it dialed yet but Iām the opposite of you, I canāt be too fresh on race day and do better with some fatigue in the legs. I do a āvolume blockā, recover week, then a 2 week build back into a taper. This is what I have planned for this yearās A race (Lumberjack 100) which is similar to last years. The race week TSS includes the actual race which will be 400-450 TSS:
) spring and summer months
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