High Volume Training Plan Mega-Thread

yeah if on the trainer I’ve taken TR workouts and dialed down intensity to lower-end of aerobic endurance (56% to 60% FTP). Here is the plan for next week, based on lessons learned over last couple months:

Absolutely felt great on a recent 10.5 hour week. “Mesa Aerobic” is Lazy Mountain -1 extended to 90 minutes and then power is either 56% FTP (Mesa Aerobic 56) or 60% FTP. Similar changes to the standard Bays workout.

For outside rides I simply remember target power (65% at current FTP is ~150W).

I’ve been listening for many years. You can definitely find some nuggets. The ATC episodes are the good ones, also some interviews with Phil Maffetone himself.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/endurance-planet/id73330188

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I am on my 2nd last week of SSBHVII - I know I need my sleep but stay at home Dad with twins, it isn’t easy to find another 30min. My wife lets me sleep in (630-7) of a morning. Week Towards the end of SSBHVI I needed more sleep I was burnt, tired all the time and dragging myself through a day. Putting all my energy into training, some days my twins took some of my tiredness. That’s when I took a step back and dialled it back to Brass Town. I had adjusted my nutrition now to include more carbs, I was training fasted every morning, 12-16hrs, and not eating enough carbs to sustain my workload.

I listen to TR , Velonews, CyclingTips podcasts, and watching new CX races. Near the end of a session when I have to focus and get rid of the ear buds.

Now that I’m doing 12 hour weeks indoors I can say that its much more controlled, and I’m getting 2-3 more hours in Z2 for the same total time spent.

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I’m naturally a diesel (slow twitch), and at my age will lose fast twitch and anaerobic capacity unless some intensity is included. So I’m doing concurrent strength training and endurance training. Going to try two mild vo2 workouts per week for the next three weeks and see how it goes (and adjust plan if necessary). Even with an outside Saturday ride the plan will give me about 8 hours of z2.

If more volume doesn’t necessarily equal going faster (according to the guys on the podcast) what’s the advantage of doing high volume over low or mid?

Just riding a lot will not make you faster, I knew someone who rode 300mi a week and was extremely slow, but if you can do the right work, do a lot of it, and recover/adapt you will be faster.

Well yeah, but they probably had great fitness! Like all the 65 year-old guys with massive tree trunk legs who just toodle around aaaallll daaaay long for 8-10 hours…cuz that’s what they enjoy doing. I’m sure if they threw in a few VO2max intervals they’d be flyin’.

This is epic trolling or you are Froome waiting to be discovered except your secret is backwards training vs just drugs​:joy::joy:
Keep at it, loving it!!

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I just finished SS HV1 and after a look at HV2, I’m going to go with medium volume 2.
The hourly increase is what I think I’ll have a problem with. That extra time will definitely cut into my sleep and I don’t think that’ll be beneficial.
I figure if I’m looking for time in between the 2 (HV VS MV) I can always just do an increased workout variant. This is one of the things I love about Trainer Road - the flexibility it gives you is awesome.

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that’s why I try to throw in some speed on every ride except recovery days – and by “speed” I mean :10-:30 efforts, not all out sprints but more like what runners would call strides.

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I “finished” my first week of SSHV1 on Friday. I’d been riding fairly consistently for 3 weeks prior to discovering TR. Ramp test set my FTP at 304. The sessions absolutely kicked my ass, and after 2 hours of grinding Hunter on Friday I made the decision to rest both Saturday and today. I felt bad about skipping the final workout of the week, but I think it was the right choice.

I have eaten so much more than I normally do this week and have still lost weight. I have also been sleeping great. One night this week I slept for 11 hours and felt amazing afterwards.

Nervous about this coming week, but looking forward to it and hopeful I’ll be able to finish all 6 workouts.

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I’ve focused on HV for all phases this year (General Build, Rolling Road Race. Late summer half of Sustained Power Build and a few 40k TT workouts).
Would have felt weird to drop to MV or LV.

Worked out fine for me. After a winter of 2h sessions on Base, more intense sessions were a welcome change, but since I enjoy training, I was happy to see 1:30-2:00h sessions at least in Build.

As I place importance on going to the gym 3x/week, I routinely skip Friday’s TR sessions (always endurance rides). Commute 2x9km daily all year.

During the summer, I maintained the sessions on the working days, but was less structured on the weekends - doing group rides or Gran Fondos. I’m not a racer and rarely do very short crit-like rides. At one point I have to divert from a 100% adherence to actually reap the benefits and enjoy riding outside.

Did my FTP increase much? No (but I’m right around 4W/kg now, ~82kg). Was at 310W end of 2018, after two big weeks on Mallorca tested 285 (no top end at that time anymore), got back to 300 quickly during SSB HV and maxed out 335 in summer. 325 now.

Did I get faster? Absolutely. Compared to the previous year where I could hang with groups but suffered, this was much more enjoyable now. Could hold the speed for longer with less perceived effort.
6h rides with some efforts or climbing now feel like 4h used to, with the same speed.
As a rather heavy rider living in a pancake-flat territory, enjoyed a TSS-heavy trip to the Black Forest and Andalusia.

Later in the year, completed 40min at Ramp Test FTP, which I felt was a weakness before (didn’t try to reach maximum TTE).

Could I have had similar success on MV? Maybe. I’ll never know. As long as I enjoy spending much time on the bike and feel like I can recover, I’ll trust in the supposed advantage of higher volume.

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I just finished SSHV1/2 (2 was cut short a week so I could end it on my vacation week. The biggest issue I had with it was mentally. Between Work, sleep, eating, commute I have 3-4 hours of ‘me time’ and when 2 of those are on the trainer its tough mentally.

While I can do that outdoors no problem, that also covers the social aspect so its not as bad.

So on weekdays I’m going to a modified HV and changing the max time on the weekdays to 90 minutes.

Other than that the big thing is get your sleep. 90% of my failed workouts are sleep related, its rarely actually fatigue from workouts. Give me a good nights sleep and I’m solid.

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The host you are referring to from “Endurance Planet” is probably “Lucho” from the Ask the Coach series of that podcast. “Lucho” when he used the name Tim Luchinski DID race as a pro triathlete in the late 90’s early 2000’s. He has alluded to his very large aerobic training over the years on his blog, “jog hard”.

Nowadays, he’s upper 40’s and challenging himself racing 200’s and 400’s in Masters track and field. Plus a serious commitment to his strength training. I have been following him for over 20 years and always enjoy hearing his perspective.

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How exactly do you modify/select the new workout? I could think of various possibilities.

What I do is take the workout scheduled in the plan, and if its a 2 hour workout, I look for the 90 or 60 minute version; if its not there I look for a similar workout.

I’ll also do 2 a days on my lunch break (outdoor) when I work from home.

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Those were my events.

Hopefully his previous training translates better to them than mine the other way around.

back to trying to build late-race stamina through more volume, here is an example of what I’m shifting to in Dec.

an hour of low tempo (77% FTP), five minutes mid-zone 2, then 10-12 x :30 full gas, then 4:30 zone 2. I’m using a 48 x 16 fixed gear on a Kurt Kinetic, so my “full gas” only ends up being about 130% FTP, which yes, is not that hard for a :30 effort, but it’s all at 120rpm+, so it’s hitting some fast-twitch and some snap without cooking too much too early.

In previous years, I would warm up for 20 min, do the :30 pops, then finish with 15-20min of zone 2 for a 1:35-1:45 workout. I’ll see how my legs are during the last hour of the Spring races next year after reversing things this winter. with where FTP is now ( ~350), I could start setting the routine of "get 1000kj, then do the intervals.

https://www.strava.com/activities/2909552296

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1/3 of SSBHV2 finished. Very motivated atm and feeling stronger each day. Wish TR would make harder plans with even higher TSS so i wouldn have to modify so much.
I’m researching on my self doing quite bit more and harder SS than HV.

image
Lines CTL/Fitness right side(Red line 2019 Season, Black 2020 Season YTD, dotted estimated)
Bars TSS/week left side.
Week 1-13 = build (work in progress)
Week 14-22 = Spec/Race/Fun )work in progress)