Hi All,
I spend most of my time on the indoor trainer training and currently doing the all purpose road plan, anyone recommend substituting the 3hr base rides for and hour half or two sub threshold efforts ?Would I receive same or better results with this method ?
Thanks
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Good subject! Looking forward to following this discussion.
I’m pretty sure the answer is that sweet spot isn’t an exact drop-in replacement for pure, “Z2” aerobic endurance work, but so many of the SST proponents on the Internet seem to argue that it is. Not to mention that this time-crunched cyclist would love for it to be true. 
Hope the coaches can chime in on this one … It seems like @Coach.Simon.B is on forum duty this week. 
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It depends on what your goals are and what the remainder of your training week looks like! But sorry to disappoint you… Base/Z2 can bolster your Sub Threshold/Z4 but Base/Z2 and Sub Threshold/Z4 are working different energy systems and therefore are not interchangeable! Base/Z2 is the foundation upon what your fitness is built. Therefore substituting it in a higher zone will leave you with an unstable foundation. If you only have 1.5 hrs you only have 1.5 hrs but keep it within your Base/Z2. By substituting higher zone work than the prescribed Base/Z2 you will see less than desired metabolic and cardiovascular responses over time. All training should be purposed training and should be a piece of the puzzle to reaching the goal.
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Thanks for the clarification!
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