Apologies if this has been covered a number of times. I have searched the forum prior!
I’ve been structured training for just over 12 months now and been very consistent and had some incredible FTP gains (50w), and weight losses (32kg).
I’ve been a long time TR subscriber, specifically making use of the plan builder plans. I have religiously not missed workouts. I have however done a lot of additional riding.
Low volume plans typically allow 3-5h riding, I often do 10+. My question is to do with ramp rate and fitness gains.
Going forward, specifically into preparing for next year, should I pay better attention to ramping up my training stress as opposed to just blindly riding what I can? I do want to add, than even so I have not failed workouts when doing my additional work.
Please find a link to my data below. I would be extremely grateful for any insights it may show. I plan to race in 2021 and am always looking to learn, improve and push myself.
That intervals.icu link typically doesn’t work, unless people invite and follow eachother. Your Strava link is https://www.strava.com/athletes/31469240 but that offers less insights.
As to your question: in general, if you’re blindly riding what you can, TSS will increase anyway, if ‘what you can’ means you train hard, without neglecting porper rest, as needed.
Not all TSS is created equal, as you probably know. A low intensity 1 hour ride may generate the same amount of TSS as 20 minutes of all out intervals/sprints.
I think there is a consensus on what ramp rate is sustainable in the long term, but as you near your max (expressed in TSS), your ramp rate will eventually flatten too.
You’d do better by picking a rider type, depending on the type of races you’re planning to ride. Longer stages or crits.
Hi @Cyclopaat thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
I agree, that my ‘planned’ TSS ramps up as expected, but the amount of work I do in addition to this varies week to week, for that reason, often week 1 TSS total may be higher than say week 3 or 4 as an example.
To clarify, the planned/structured workout TSS ramps up but the additional ancillary work often distorts this. Does this additional work undermine the training benefits of the ramp?
I’m very new to all these exciting metrics, I think the main and first thing I need to do is gain a better understanding of that they mean in relation to the training I have done over the past year.
I can clearly see ‘fitness’ gains, but there is obviously a lot more to explore here, particularly my training load over time, and my training readiness (optimal/fresh/gray area).
Not nescessarily - as long as you can handle 'more’it’s fine, but you should maybe aim for more structure by chosing a more demanding training plan.
In itself, fluctuation of TSS from week to week - like it does from ride to ride, even for training plan workouts - is fine.
But, structured training plans make sure you take the appropiate amounts of rest, or easy sessions. If you ride ‘what you can’, adding extra work to your plan, you risk blowing yourself up (over-training or under-resting) ans possibly injury…
Fantastic, again, thank you so much! I am yet to ‘fail’ a workout so its reassuring to know that my body can handle the additional work. What I’ve tended to do is take a relatively low volume approach to my training plan, to allow me to free ride more outside whilst staying consistent with my plan.
One thing I do want to understand better are the zones with regards to recovery. My graph appears to show that I spend a lot of time in the ‘grey area’. I would like to make adjustments to enable me to spend more time in the optimal zone.
I regularly take recovery weeks of low TSS, and adhere to these. I am conscious that over time I may run myself into a rut.
Grey is fine, as it is between optimal and fresh. Optimal is where you want to be just before a racing event, fresh when you take it easy for a week or a few days.
You can stay longer ‘in the red’, if your system can handle it.
I had two cataract surgeries this year - one more complicated than the other - and after my first, I was ramping up training to get my TL as high as possible, to prep for my Giro.
Most of my training is in Z3/Z4, which is the only way to mimic altitude adaptation, coupled with sustained daily efforts - my Giro was 11 days of climbing in the Italian Alps, no rest days.
I am going to Italy next year in September for a friend’s 50th. Planning 2 weeks of cycling holiday first. Not sure I will do the training you did before your trip!
