Hi all,
This is not a rant (well that escalated quickly).
I am in the middle of advanced all purposed road plan with strenght training. Despite starting the plan fresh with okay (for me) fitness level (3.6 w/kg FTP with sustained weakness and VO2max strenght), as well as meeteing all requirements for the plan, I cant always hit all the power targets, due to autonomic stress load acumulation and symptoms of overreaching. There is hardly any other stress factors in my life now, except training (really lol).
I question the need of having 6 high intensity days per week. A high intensity session is only valuable if you can perform it at 100%, otherwise its just loading excees fatigue with minimal treining benefit, if any. I am aware I can take a day off/recovery day if I don’t feel like it, but if a plan makes you take a day off/rest day in the same manner every time you approach that spot in a plan its not my bad day but a flaw in plan design (unless I’m ment to fail it, than please explain).
For example, why do I have to do SUF Idol in between Strenght (plus drills), Attacker and Strenght (with drills) again withTool Shed (mash-up) and It seemed like thin air (mash-up) following? Why not easy spin instead of that SUF Idol? What, there isn’t enough intensity in that week already, lol?
Science says that 2 or on occasion 3 high intensity training sesions per week are sufficientt for inducing physiological adaptations and performance gains without inducing excessive stress over
the long term, which is where the balance of evidence seems to lean towards to. Edit: This research (was meta analyssis) seems to supportthat beyond doubt.
Don’t get me wrong, I find Suf highly engaining and in general I understand why turbotrainers workouts are a bit more complicated than regular road workouts (like ftp progressions), its all about keeping you focused (with an exemption of zwift workouts which are complete garbage). However, I don’t have any problems with keeping low intensity if a plan requires it. Bumping intensity to keep a user focused seems like a bad idea at best.
I am not interested in personal experience where you describe how suff plans are optimal for you. Instead I would like to hear the science behind all that intensity in advanced road plans. Is SUF method clearly superior to polarized training plans (80/20) and if yes is there a research I can read on it? I have not tested other plans like grand fondo or cecntury ride, which may lean more towards 80/20 or polarized plans. This question is specific to all purposed advanced road plan.
Cheers all