I’m about to start Sustained Power Build Mid Vol, but have only time for 4 bike sessions per week (also run 1x/wk, play floorball 1x/wk + some core sessions). I find it easier to cut one session from mid vol plan compared to adding one session to low vol plan.
The structure of each week in the plan is pretty similar, so which exercise type would you drop: Tuesday/anaerobic is probably beneficial to have, but which one of the other four is the “least” important?
This year’s main goals are two Gran Fondos with a lot of climbing (140-170km with 2500-4500m vertical).
I would cut off the one on Wednesday
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Usually there is an lower intensity z2 ride for about 60-90 mins (e.g. pettit) isn’t there ? If so I’d drop this one. Think it is usually wednesday
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Be careful just dropping the easy TR workout, the idea of that is also to help recovery. So instead of doing that you’re doing a hard run session you may carry too much fatigue into the harder workouts.
Only you will know if you can handle it.
The Wed Z2 ride is NOT about recovery. It is about adding stress in the only way possible because there are already 3 hard workouts (Tue, Wed, Sat.)
A true recovery ride is lower intensity. Coach Chad covered this topic in a recent podcast related to the benefits of short & easy rides. Catch that for more details.
That said, I agree that dropping the Wed ride is what I would try.
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Apologies for misdirection there.
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Thanks for all the comments. As you all propose cutting out the “endurance” ride, is it mainly driven by the fact that it is the easiest ride (least TSS) or are there other considerations?
Is there a specific benefit of doing something “different” i.e. all other sessions are ridden near FTP vs the endurance session?
I’m also struggling with latest science that recommends you do around 20% high intensity and 80% low intensity (many top athletes seem to follow this), but I’ve got the impression that this might be applicable only for those with lots of time to train (10-15h+/wk) and for us mere mortals with other life duties more high intensity is best bang for the buck for those weekly 5-7 hours.
To be fair the difference between the low and medium volume is the Wednesday and the Sunday ride, so cutting one of those would be logical, and you get more of a workout on the Sunday ride than the Wednesday, so I’d say drop the Wednesday as well.
I’m also struggling with latest science that recommends you do around 20% high intensity and 80% low intensity (many top athletes seem to follow this), but I’ve got the impression that this might be applicable only for those with lots of time to train (10-15h+/wk) and for us mere mortals with other life duties more high intensity is best bang for the buck for those weekly 5-7 hours.
That’s right.
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the reason why cutting off wednesdays is all in this answer from chad
You can consider keeping Wed and dropping one of the more intense rides, or even the Sunday one. The Wed one was selected by most because it has the lowest impact (stress), but still takes a day from the schedule (which I took as a primary goal, to get a free day).
You need to consider your other work outside of the cycling, and make sure that you have an appropriate stress to recovery ratio.
Only you can determine that. So, take a best guess, drop whatever one you want, and try it for a few weeks to see how it goes.
Pay attention to your body and how it reacts. Make adjustments as needed if it doesn’t go well. If you have too much stress and can’t recover, you may need to drop one of the other days instead.
I’m going to suggest the Thursday session because of the intensity of the two other non-cycling workouts. Coach Chad has mentioned that 3 is top for cycling intensity sessions in a week and that it is not an evenly divided benefit, that is 1/3 benefit each session. The training goal is to have enough stress to drive adaption without driving you into the ground.
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