Hey there…
Long story short, i’m currently using Trainerroad. Already have the SS1 training plan here from Fascat.
My question is:
I won’t take part in any races this year due to covid, so i’m pretty much just looking for a training plan that will cover this whole year.
So looking at what you have for sale, i’m wondering what should be my best bet…
Maybe go with the off season resistance training + sweet spot base?
Followd by the SS4?
And after that i’m lost…
My goal is to get faster, raise FTP and in 2022 take part in Grandfondos.
Any chance you can point me in the right direction please?
Ok so i pulled the trigger on the plans.
Quick question though.
I added the plans to my TP account and i noticed that on the first 3 weeks of the 32 week training plan, on sunday you have Muscle tension intervals. Is it ok if i swap these to Saturday, and have the endurance ride on sunday instead?
Reason i’m asking this, is because on sundays i always ride the bike with the wife, so it’s always Z1/Z2 ride on sundays…
Right on @brunocfeijao - one better idea is that you want your legs to be tired when you do the MTi’s so go ride with your wife on Sundays and then do the MTi’s: win/win
Ufff. Are you trying to kill me Frank?
Guess i can try that.
Another question. I bought the basic version of the plans cause a) i’m not that experience in cycling, so want to start with a lowish training volume, and b) don’t think i can spend like 20h a week on the bike.
And i noticed there’s a few 1h endurance rides during the week. On these days, i can do more than 1h rides. I can do 2h for example. So my question is, Is the ride 1h because it’s the basic plan, and you wanted to keep the overall hours low? Or it has a scientific reason behind it?
Meaning, if i have the time, should i do more than 1h endurance ride during the week? Or should i just stick to what’s in the plan?
Also, i just applied the 32 week training plan into TP, and i don’t see any field test in between blocks. As in between SS1 and SS2 for example… So when exactly should i test my FTP during these 32 weeks?
@brunocfeijao
How many hours per week do you have available to ride? None of our plans will include 20 hour weeks! That amount of time is something we’d prescribe for a pro athlete that does not work a full time job.
Our plans are designed around the everyday cyclist who works and has other adult responsibilities to take care of. Hence, 1 hour rides on weekdays is easily achievable for someone working a 9-5 job if they train in the mornings. The plan level we suggest for athletes will be determined by their fitness level, time available to train and their age (masters athletes need more time to recover).
If you have more time to train, you could simply add 30 minutes of zone 2 to some of your rides (so long as this does not leave you too fatigued for your intervals). You could also opt to bump up to the intermediate plan which would give you 8-12 hours per week of training.
For your FTP tests, you will do one at the beginning of the plan and then during SS part 2. It is not ideal to do one immediately upon completing the weight lifting portion of the plan as your legs are still fatigued. So you will finish SS part 1, get those legs used to harder efforts and then do another FTP test in week 21 which is a regeneration week and the second week of SS part 3.
Hey there Lacey.
First, thank you very much for answering my questions…
Now, i was joking with the 20h a week bit. What i was trying to say, is that since i’m new to cycling training, i prolly should stick to the basic plan so i don’t risk overtraining.
I can train 2h/2h30 a day for example. I have the time. So that’s why i was asking about the 1h endurance rides. Should i just stick to what’s in the plan? Or will i reap more benefits if i add more miles in z2 without the risk of overtraining?
As an example of what i think is overtraining, with the current Training plan i had with TR, i was doing the low volume SS base plan, with is 3h/3h30 each week. (3 workouts per week). But i was adding Z2 rides on off days. So what was supposed to be like 220 TSS weeks, turned into 560 TSS weeks. And now i have an annoying knee pain that i’m pretty positive is due to trying to do too much on the bike…
So i’m taking this week off, or at least take it easy and do maybe 1 or 2 z1 or z2 rides so i can be sure that i’m ready to start with Fastcat plan next week.
And you are right about the FTP test. Totally missed the one during SS2. Haven’t seen one in SS3 though. Maybe i missed that as well?
@brunocfeijao It can be hard to read sarcasm over text, but I am glad you were not thinking 20 hours a week was necessary in order to get faster lol.
It is hard to say whether adding in zone 2 would risk overtraining without looking at your training peaks data (e.g. fatigue, CTL ramp rates, form, etc). That is something we do with our coaching subscription athletes and one-on-one coached athletes. I would doubt it would though, especially if you are sticking to your 2 rest days per week.
It is smart of you to take that rest week and give your body time to recover. I would recommend sticking to your plan as is for a week or two and see how you respond to the training. If by the end of week 2 you are still feeling good, you can go ahead and add in an extra 30 min to a few of your workouts. Again, gauging how you feel as you go. One way you can gauge whether you are going too hard is by looking at your ramp rate (how many points your CTL goes up each week, not including rest weeks). While following your SS plan, you should be seeing a modest ramp rate of about 2-3 and that should never exceed 8. At that point you will very likely be overtrained.
Regarding Field tests: There will only be 2 FTP tests, no need to test between each plan. Once you complete this plan and move into either SS part 4 or one of our interval plans, you will have another FTP test in the first week of it. Typically we don’t have athletes do more than 3-4 FTP test per year.
Thanks a lot for the detailed answer and valuable information.
So i’m just gonna FTFP for now regarding endurace rides duration, with the only exception being on sunday since that’s the day i ride with my wife.
My only concern is if that ride will raise my TSS by a lot. Although i try to keep it Z1/Z2, the fact that it’s a somewhat hilly course, it makes the ride TSS a lot higher than i wanted.
As a reference, here are the numbers for this sunday ride:
2:30h ride
43km
198TSS
NP: 134W
Avg Power:113W
Avg HR: 122
Time spent in zones:
Z1: 41%
Z2: 16%
Z3: 11%
Z4: 7%
Z5: 5%
Z6: 9%
Z7: 10%
Will a ride like this every sunday put me at the risk of overtraining? Just asking due to the high TSS value, cause frankly, this ride is super easy. As you can see i spend most of the time in Z1, so not really sure why i usually have such a high TSS value on this rides with my wife… (again, still new to cycling, so still trying to learn all the stuff related to training, values,etc…)
Regarding the field tests, i guess i’m still in the Trainerroad mentality of doing an FTP test after each training block, and sometimes during a block as well…
Hey Bruno! More than happy to help explain… though this might get a little nerdy. The reason for your high TSS is due to your time spend in zones 4-7. To not impede recovery you will need to back down and stay out of these zones on your endurance rides
Here is a breakdown for TSS you can expect to accumulate per hour & per minute based on time in each zone. Note: these are based on if you rode in that zone for 1 hour straight and 1 min in that zone without stopping.
Training Zones (% of FTP)
Z 1: Recovery: 0-55%
0-30 TSS/hr
~0.25-0.5 TSS per min
Z 2 : Endurance: 56-75%
30-55 TSS/hr
~0.5 - 0.92 TSS per min
Z3: Tempo: 76-90% FTP
60-80 TSS/hr
~1-1.33 TSS per min
SS: 84-97% (typically prescribe 88-97%)
70-95 TSS/hr
~1.17 - 1.58 TSS per min
Z 4: Lactate threshold (LTh) 91-105%
83-110 TSS/hr
~1.38 - 1.83 TSS per min
Z5 :VO2 Max: 106-120%
110-145
~1.83 - 2.42 TSS per min
Z 6: Anaerobic Capacity 121-150%
145-225 TSS/hr
~2.42 - 3.75 TSS per min
Z 7: Neuromuscular: 151% and above
225+ TSS/hr
~3.75+ TSS per min and above
So here is a rough breakdown of that 2:30h ride:
Time spent in zones:
Z1: 41% = 61 min x 0.4 tss/min= 25 TSS
Z2: 16% = 24 min x 0.71 tss/min = 17 TSS
Z3: 11% = 17 min x 1.17 tss/min = 20 TSS Z4: 7% = 11 min x 1.63 tss/min = 18 TSS Z5: 5% = 7.5 min x 2.13 tss/min = 16 TSS Z6: 9% = 13.5 min x 3.1 tss/min = 42 TSS Z7: 10% = 15 min x 4 tss/min = ~60 TSS
Total TSS: 198
Notice how just the time spent riding in zones 4-7 gave you 118 TSS!
So the answer is yes, this is normal and this type of ride could lead to over training if done often. I think though, correct me if I am wrong, that you can eliminate the time you spend in these zones while riding with your wife. If you can do that, then you would #FtFP and hit the TSS that is planned for your ride
@Lacey_Rivette ,
It’s Bruno, not Bryan
And thx a lot once again for the very detailed reply.
I had no idea that i was acumulating so much TSS by spending that time above Z4. I mean, i’m usually riding beside my wife, and all i do is when we come up a little hill, i go all out. But i only do that, cause the efforts are like 2 mins max. I had no idea that on a 2h30 ride, they would mean that much TSS.
Guess i should just stay by her side for the whole ride then.
Really appreciate the time you took to spell it out like that. Really shed some light on this for me. Really had no idea.
So thank you once again.
Ha, I want to say that was autocorrect… But to be honest I don’t think it was. Apologies!
You are very welcome. We qant to make sure all our Fascats understand how to FtFP and at times that means getting nerdy and breaking things down so that it is easy to understand and apply to your training
@Lacey_Rivette while i have your attention,
Got any tips on how i can get more Z2 effort during my sunday rides with my wife?As you can see, it’s mostly Z1 atm. Wondering what can i do to get more Z2 efforts when i’m riding with her. Just pick a harder gear and “stomp” the pedals? Got any advice?
Also,
Is it ok if i do the Field Test while going up the Alp du Zwift for example? i feel like mentally for me, it’s better to perform this kind of efort going up a nasty hill like that, instead of going through a flat road…
@Lacey_Rivette So today is Sunday, which means, outdoor riding with my wife.
So today we rode for 2h7min. This is the summary of the ride:
2h7min ride
35km
117TSS
NP: 119W
Avg Power:78W
Avg HR: 112
Time spent in zones:
Z1: 52.4%
Z2: 21%
Z3: 11%
Z4: 6.2%
Z5: 6%
Z6: 2.6%
Z7: 0.7%
So i just went beside her the whole ride. Even during climbs, which meant i was able to keep the effort down and get a decent TSS for an endurance ride.
But it is hard for me to not try and push everytime i see a climb, i gotta be honest hehe… But at least now i know what i need to do in order to have a decent Z2 ride and be able to FTFP when it comes to that.
And to finish, gonna repeat the question i asked above because i really needed to know this:
“Is it ok if i do the Field Test while going up the Alp du Zwift for example? i feel like mentally for me, it’s better to perform this kind of efort going up a nasty hill like that, instead of going through a flat road…”
I’m gonna start the 32 week plan in 2 weeks time(still taking care of my knee…), and if i can do the Field test up a climb, (which means lower cadence, etc…) i think for me it would be better from a mental perspective. So is this something i can do? Jump up Alp du Zwift, or Mount Ventoux and just grind there for 20mins going uphill?
Bruno I am not a coach but just keep your long term goals in mind. I have learned to enjoy these Z1, low Z2 rides with my wife. If your ftp is correct and you work hard through the structured intervals, you will look forward to keeping it at a lower pace. As a plus, your wife will not be saying to herself that she is “holding you back” from going faster. Win-Win.
@frank.jones thanks for this
My wife says exactly that.
I am going to hone my Sunday rides more to suit her which is only fair.
Oh and thanks again for throwing this on the table @brunocfeijao
