Yep, similar problem to what I have.
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Thank you, clears the cloudiness a little.
Found this article that also pushes Z2 sessions to be minimum 2 hours, and up to 5 hours, stating that time shorter than proposed should be seen as maintenance rides.
Seems the fruitful Z2 IDT ride is going to be a 3 hour session, that anything less seems wasted/not as beneficial. and doing it at least twice a week, still fitting in 2 interval/MAP/AC type workouts and allowing for the group ride on Saturday which is around 4-7hours, mixed in various zones and cafe stops. Is this about right?
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Not everyone, including Iñigo San-Millán, agrees that they have to be hours long rides to get the benefits of Zone 2 rides. Also, there is disagreement over how to define Zone 2.
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I am one of those people that is fairly new to structured training and was also looking for a fixed training plan that incorporates more zone 2. I am not sure the plan I should be choosing, I don’t have enough knowledge on training as what workouts to drop and replace with zone 2. Thanks for mentioned this topic!
In case it helps anyone, a link to a Twitter thread (no account needed) by a recognized running coach, Steve Magness, and his opinion on zone training
https://twitter.com/stevemagness/status/1509541376001720325?s=20&t=j-o7A9RXD86xxsBFt1Gd0A
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@Coach.Andy.T - I’ve been a Sufferlandrian since the days when you downloaded videos that were linked to TrainerRoad and I’ve done every ToS so clearly The Sufferfest, now Wahoo SYSTM, has been an important part of my cycling life. You, Neal Henderson and the entire Wahoo Sports Science team have refined and continued to build training plans that work but…the “junk miles” discussion makes me wonder if I should modify a training plan to avoid anything above Zone 2 except in the 2-3 hard days each week. Week 5 of my century training plan, for example, included AVDP, G.O.A.T, Revolver is Easy and FTP/MAP Builds 2 sets 4 x 4. Two other workouts were about 2 hours in zone 2.
Now, none of the 4 moderately hard to hard workouts qualified as “junk” miles but neither did they allow time for my ANS to recover that Dylan Johnson and Inigo San Milan say I need by keeping my power and heart rate below LT1 and avoiding anything over that not only 80% of my total ride time but avoiding it completely 2-3 days a week. Even a workout like Standing Starts, with an IF of only 0.66, puts rider well over zone 2 for 6 different intervals during the workout. I recognize the need to go hard to get stronger but wonder if I should plan my workouts differently in order to allow more time to recover.
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I’m a filthy casual as they say in pc gaming. And like that with my running, I follow 80/20 endurance plans. I also am in it for general fitness and fun. So for cycling, I’ve really gravitated strongly towards Polarized plans of various sorts. The Train Now feature of TR is something I use a lot picking endurance for an hour or two. I’ve also done their experimental low volume Polarized plan. I’ve enjoyed it a lot and hence I decided not to renew SYSTM. Just personal feedback on how I train.
Sean
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That pretty similar to what many recreational athletes I work with do. Ideally the club ride has no stops till the end and remains the same intensity, but that’s less fun and reduces the chance of people sticking to a plan. Fun is an important part of training too, happy head often helps with happy legs!
So this will depend a lot on training status, work commitments, rest time available and age. Personally I am a big fan of the cadence work as there are often pedalling efficiency elements that people can improve dramatically and these help a lot. If you have less time to train, but still have good rest time, then more higher intensity work is alright. If you have minimal time to rest or a busy/physically taxing job, then more Z2 may be more beneficial overall. The older you get, generally recovery reduces so fewer efforts and more sub-LT1 work is good. But equally power work is vital as your endurance capacity will be less limited as you age but higher capacity efforts suffer most, so maintaining those through training is important.
In terms of planning for recovery, how well recovered do you feel after rest day or after a reload week?
I appreciate your comments on cadence because that’s probably the weakest element of my training and performance. I have a lot of time to train but find myself using a low cadence until the torque demand is so high I have to either stop or try to increase cadence but that’s hard to do when starting from a low cadence. Since today’s workout is cadence drills, it’s a good time to be honest about cadence work.
My recovery from a hard interval day or hard week is pretty good, I think. I follow a 3:1 work:recovery week schedule that seems to work and I feel good after rest or recovery days.
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A bit odd maybe to respond to this old thread but I find the ‘Cycling Essentials’ plan perfect for polarized training. Having these as the intensive training sessions and adding zone 2 and strength training and there I go for 24 weeks.
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