Choosing plan volume with additional commuting

Hello, new to TrainerRoad :wave:. I commute 50 miles round trip to work 1-2 days/week on a bike without a power meter. I’m trying to decide between a lower volume plan with some additional rides vs a higher volume plan where I sub out which workouts seem to most align with the ride efforts.

Anyone have experience on how each option worked for them?

Lots of commuting discussion to review:

my searching skills are weak today :man_facepalming:

Effect of a longer commute with my training plan - #3 looks to answer my question by suggesting Low Volume for more focused workouts that will pair nicely with base commuting rides

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No problem.

  1. One of my tricks is to start with minimal, but very carefully chosen terms. Often, people use several terms and prematurely filter out worthy search results.
  2. Also using the category filter can cut the amount of results well.

I do low-volume plans, prioritizing the Tuesday and Thursday high-intensity workouts, while adding 1 or 2 commutes (28 miles round trip) at a recovery/just-above-recovery pace. I frequently swap my Sunday workout on Trainer Road for a fast group ride or longer solo ramble because I just really need at least one ride a week where I’m not staring at a graph or already thinking about my work day. But if it rains, I’ll do the Sunday ride on Trainer Road as well.

The effect, overall, has been pretty close to the training stress of a mid-volume plan and it’s been working out great for me.

If you are new to Trainer Road, it’s worth knowing that TR’s brain trust generally recommend low volume plans, especially to start. There is a very small subset of riders who are best served by high volume.