Due to life, I’m quite often “forced” to do my weekend works close to each other. Like this weekend, I finished Monadnock+6 around 8pm Saturday, then I started Tray mountain at 8am Sunday.
I realize that it’s not optimal and my legs felt like tree trunks during the Sunday session, but I manage to complete the workout according to plan. My heart rate was about 10bpm higher then it would’ve been if I had been properly rested.
Are there are specific effects of stacking workouts like this? Negative or positive?
Well eventually if your FTP is set correctly you will start to fail workouts - especially near the end of a training block where there is plenty of residual fatigue and the workouts are at their hardest. If you don’t find this then your FTP is set to low and you are not getting maximum benefit.
If you get your recovery later I see no problem doing so. It is not uncommon to do a morning session and later in the day another session, which is basically what you are describing.
There shouldn’t be major physiological differences in doing your workouts like this.
The primary difference, in my experience, is one you’re already experiencing which is that the second session will be harder due to its proximity to the first session
To mitigate this I’d suggest recovery mix and a decent amount of calories immediately after the first session. Usually I find this unnecessary as with 24 hours between workouts you don’t ‘need’ it, but in your case it might make an appreciable difference in your RPE the next day
It will obviously make the second one tougher but if you can complete it and it doesn’t dig you into a hole that you can’t recover from before the next week then I wouldn’t worry about it. Like someone else said though. Eat lots of carbs before, during, and after the first workout and I guarantee that you’ll feel better for the second one.
I have the same issue, late Saturday training then Sunday group or training ride the next morning. So long as I’m SS and not VO2 training then I find I can cope.
Starting to realise fueling is key, so ensure you manage to fuel after your Saturday ride and an hour or so before Sunday’s ride.
To answer your question though, I have heard from some CX riders that stacking rides is a great way to get results as long as you do allow some recovery afterwards.
I’ve gotten some nice gains from stacking workouts. Just make sure your recovery day following the stack is truly recovery - no cross training, leg work in the gym, long walks - etc. Put the harder ride on the first day of the stack.
Less than ideal maybe, but I don’t think it’s madness. I have done Rad am Ring a couple of times., that was basically 7 x 1h all out efforts with a 3h rest in between; that was borderline madness.
I have a similar question and could not find the answer (possibly my own incompentence) in this forum (which, BTW is EXCELLENT!). Due to the desire to get fit as quickly as I can and having a somewhat unpredictable work schedule (seems like that’s a common issue here), I was considering “compressing”. For example, doing SSBLV1 as a session 6 days a week, so the 6 weeks are more like 3 weeks. That would not be exact and I think there would be some stretches of greater rest, but my gestalt from the forum is that my main worry is getting into a deep fatigue hole. However, SSBHV1 looks basically like what I plan if I make sure there are some endurance/recovery rides in there also. So anything I’m missing by doing SSBLV1 quickly and then going right to SSBLV2? Or should I just switch to SSBHV1 and accept the fact that it will take 6 weeks? thanks!
Actually, let me clarify: I would do SSBLV1 5-6 days a week, with each workout being an hour (so not a lot more TSS than the recommended, since I don’t have time to do 1.25 or 1.5 hr workouts)
What’s the rush? “Get fit as quickly as I can” could put you in a hole going into a more demanding training block - that’s the risk.
The issue I see is that’s five or six days of intensity with one day off. Depending on age, experience, etc., that could be a problem.
There are three differences that matter between SSB1HV and SSB1LV compressed:
SSB1HV splits harder days with moderate and easy days. The last few Tuesdays are scaled back tempo workouts because most are probably pretty thrashed by week 4. Every Thursday is a zone 2 ride throughout. Mashing SSB1LV into three weeks won’t do that for you: intensity stacks on intensity.
SSB1LV ends with over-unders included. These take a toll. If you go this route, make sure the Warlow - Palisade progression is on seperate weeks.
How are you going to manage the recovery week? By mashing SSB1LV into three weeks, you’re doing a lot of work, and then you’re only giving yourself four days (three of which you’ll ride in z2) to recover entering SSB2.
It’s not impossible, especially because it’s only for three weeks, but I think you’re going to be pretty cooked by the end of it and will likely need a bit more recovery to start SSB2 fresh - SSB2 is much more demanding no matter how you cut it.
I’d feel better about this if you’d do customize it over the course of four weeks, splitting those 18 workouts across that 28 day period, giving a bit more recovery between harder sessions and taking five or so days to recover from the block. My $0.02.
Thank you for being the voice of reason, I think that’s what I needed to hear. I will aim for a four week block and make sure I’m fresh before starting SSB2