All things being equal, will increasing volume increase fitness gains? All of my FasCat plans are intermediate plans, but if I have the time, would adding an extra 2 hours a week (for example) help me to see a bigger gain in FTP over the plan duration ? If I were to increase volume, should I just add more Zone 2 to some of the weekday rides, or extend of my weekend rides by an hour (more Zone 2)? Or should I add an extra interval on my hardest week day structured ride? Another way to ask might be, how do I turn my intermediate plan into an advanced plan?
I have second question as well. Iām 50 and Iām tired when my CTL is up in the mid to high 80ās. For a 100 mile mountain bike race, what would my ideal CTL be on race day? I have the expert 100 mile mountain bike race plan and I might need to do some trimming to get my CTL right for race day. I didnāt know that the expert plans are not designed for old people like myself.
Hi Frank and Jackson,
Iām a cxāer that has completed the Weights + Base and Iām about to finish CX Summer Sweet Spot. I usually would go to Six Weeks till Cyclocross, but with the uncertainty around actually having a CX season, Iām thinking about starting the new Sweet Spot 4 plan instead. I would follow that with either a shortened 6 Weeks till CX, or go right into CX Intervals. Does that plan make sense? I like the idea of working on VO2 during the week, and going on long SS rides on the weekend. Still structured training, but not quite as rigid as the CX training plan.
Thanks for your input and the great podcast!
Mike
Hey Frank & Jackson,
I got a bunch of your plans last November, and I like the structure those plans. I got the 16 week resistance sweet spot, crits, road, and cx plans and I definitely will get a few more on the 14th for advanced plans. Since this year is a wash for road racing, hopefully CX might be possible, but unlikely due to likely ongoing social distancing restrictions, Iām pretty much taking this year as a mental break year, just taking training easy until racing will be allowed in Ontario, Canada (hopefully next year).
Anyways, hereās are my question, If gyms stay closed or if they open up and then close in the fall or winter because of an uptake in the virus, how do we adapt weight training and we all donāt have the ability have the necessary equipment to train at home?
Iāve always self coached but at the beginning of this year I got myself a coach, didnāt really bring anything different to my training but got my CTL up to the 90s (Iām 47) but with COVID and the lack of any real plans I have eased off and my CTL is dropping which Iām okay with. Iāve decided to go back to self coaching and using your plans. Iāve mainly been Zwift racing at the moment but that has lead to detraining as they tend to be short. I was thinking of using the new Sweetspot 4 or Crit intervals to get a little intensity into my training for now. My longtime plan is to use the 18 week sweetspot into sweetspot 4 and the Crit intervals to get me ready for next spring. Does this sound like a good longterm plan and the correct way to use your plans? Cheers Jamie
Question 3ā¦sorry just read the Cycling News article on Victor Campenaerts sleeping in an altitude tent while only riding 8 hours/week yet in āsuper strongāā¦Your general take on altitude tents especially for those of us living at sea level.
Alright everyone, thank you for your questions and look for the podcast to hit the airwaves tomorrow after lunch.
Recovery and TSS seem to be big themes as well as next weekās podcast on Masterās Recovery.
Thanks again for your submissions and weāll post the podcast here once its live. Weāll also announce the t-shirt winners on the pod an here in this post
Here is the podcast with ALL your questions answered - thank you for asking ! And we awarded Steve Wegner with the best question: What are some example Coachable Traits - be on the lookout for a FasCat T-Shirt!
Thanks again everyone for the submissions - please listen, like and leave us a review on iTunes and have a great weekend! Remember to have fun, ride fast, work hard and always FtFP!
Thanks for answering my question @FRANK! I have wondered about my cadence question for a while. Iāll definitely start doing some low cadence work. For the record, Iām in Ohio and am a ācrosser. We get some nice mudders up here () hence the low cadence question!
Aha - cx mudders: now THAT is a different consideration entirely.
Best way to practice that is racing mudders (fun) and also practicing on terrain thatās super boggy, tractor pull style. But also - this is super old skool Rocky Balboa style - tie a sled to your seatpost, fill up the sled with dirt, rock, anything heavy and pedal around. Propaā
) hence the low cadence question!