I agree with @DaveWh - try and it and see. Seiler proposes high volume / low intensity training can be scaled down below 10 hours/week but I still haven’t seen solid evidence of a) how far down you can push it, and b) with 6-8 hours a week the relative effectiveness of polarized to SSB.
Last week my sister sent me her copy of “Base Building for Cyclists” (2006) and I’m about 25% thru the book. Joe Friel in the foreword states the book expands on his chapter length coverage of base in “The Cyclists Training Bible.”
The case being made in this book is very similar to what I’ve heard from Seiler. The key point is that by focusing on traditional base training at intensities below LT1, you will:
- increase use of fat as fuel (“wider aerobic base”)
- and upon returning to higher intensity training you will raise “fitness ceiling” to all time highs
Examples of athletes reaching new highs are given. Instead of posting a picture from the book showing before/after fat burning preference, here is a recent thread showing exactly that:
So the key point in my mind, the same thing I’ve heard from Friel, Coach Chad, and others, is that you need to build a stronger aerobic base ( = preference for fat as fuel) to later on raise your fitness ceiling ( = LT2) to new highs.
How you do it is a different question. Before TR I did semi-structured sweet spot training with intervals going from 10 minutes to 30-40 minutes and built a bigger base. And I did it with TR SSB1-HV. With enough time I’d do traditional base outside, and by riding outside naturally throw in some higher intensities for a 90/10 or 80/20 split. The higher intensity stuff would prevent the minor loss in ftp that I just experienced with TR’s Traditional Base 1 (no higher intensity in phase1 of TR TB).