Polarized Training Discussion (Fast Talk podcast & Flo Cycling podcast)

Training
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Woah, this is a long thread! I skimmed it but here are my thoughts.

  1. You can get fit in many different ways. I think one podcast seemed to say you can’t get fast on sweet spot. That’s crazy sauce. I went from 275 to 345 on almost only sweet spot.

  2. We’ve got a TON of data that shows that you can get faster with the periodized/Coggan approach…like a lot a lot.

  3. Seiler is not prescribing a training system, he’s describing what he’s seen in pro athletes (as far as I can tell). In a 90/10 time in zone split at 20 hours per week with intensity at 120% of FTP (for the intense stuff) you’d be doing 40x3 mins at 120%. Put that over three workouts and you’ve got about 13x3 @ 120% three times a week. If that was ALL you were doing that would be crazy. You can see how you could only do easy stuff for the rest of the time.

  4. Take this with a grain of salt because the analysis is not done: Our data shows that the main difference between 2-3 watt/kg riders and 4-5 watt/kg riders are that the 4-5 watt/kg riders do more 2-hour rides, and those rides are mostly between .80-.85 IF (aka sweet spot work). They don’t do longer rides on average compared to 2-3 watt/kg riders.

  5. Anecdotally, I don’t know anyone who’s stuck with a polarized approach. Justin Rossi tried it for a season, got slower, and switched back to periodized. We know of a pro who just left polarized and is having a breakthrough season. He’s actually adding more tempo GASP work! Other pro’s we’ve seen don’t follow the periodized approach.

  6. More anecdotal “evidence”; I’ve never ridden or seen Strava files of pros were they totally go easy for 90 percent of their stuff. They are always picking it up on the climbs (even if you take into account their superior fitness).

  • I can defend points 1 and 2.
  • I hope I’m understanding point 3 correctly.
  • I hope to defend point 4 in the future.
  • I can’t defend points 5 and 6 since they are anecdotal.

In summary, I’m sure polarized training works (as most approaches do as long as there is added volume), but maybe a little too much is being made out of the recent polarized craze because a couple podcasts are pushing it?

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