I can see how your potential CTL gains are influenced by both your current CTL and your current FTP. As both get higher, more physical work is required to raise your CTL further. But in the end, if you do 100 TSS per day indefinitely, your CTL will eventually converge on 100, which is good base fitness. If you’re getting that 100 TSS per day by doing ~2 hours of 0.70-0.75 IF training per day, then you’re probably safe from overtraining. But if that’s all you’re doing, you’ll get dropped pretty quick at hammer time. On the other hand, if you’re trying to get up to 100 CTL from an untrained state by smashing 100 TSS worth of HIIT every day, you’re going to break down before you get halfway there.
SUF tends to de-emphasize base training. But I like to have a good base if for no other reason than that when my base fitness is low, doing HIIT really feels horrendous, while when my base is good, it’s actually almost enjoyable.
I have noticed this as well. I have switched from the All Purpose road plan to some of the longer endurance plans simply so I could get more endurance rides. Those endurance rides have made all the difference. While HIIT workouts do provide some endurance benefits with less time on the bike, there are definitely some physical endurance benefits that can only be gained by spending more time on the bike.
The argument for HIT is often made that for people who have limited time, you get the most return for your effort.
On the other hand, I am not a racer, so most of my fun, outdoor rides require endurance.
The only time I really need to make a NM effort is when I want to get through the traffic intersection before the light turns red.
It often isn’t realistic for me, either. But when it is, I enjoy taking advantage of the opportunity. I also love the way my form on the bike really smooths out when I spend 15-18 hours per week riding. The more you ride, the better it feels to ride, and then you want to ride even more–it’s a virtuous circle!
The only reason I do HIIT (and The Sufferfest) is to get ready for racing. Particularly the VO2 work is just extremely painful and unpleasant. So other than racing, I’m happiest out doing “spirited” longer rides, preferably in the 80-160 kilometer (50-100 mile) range, with a few longer “all day” ones thrown in on holiday weekends.
Weekends are better for me, where I can get a longer endurance ride knocked out on a typical Saturday morning. During the week, it’s an hour or less a day. My total availability averages about 8 hours a week. With those constraints, HIIT is a critical part of my training.
Yes, it’s very clear that if you don’t have much time, you get the most benefit to your speed within the time available by focusing mainly on HIIT sessions.
Sticking to the plan save for moving days around to fit them in. The inspiration vids are a bit strange for me but that’s probably cos they’re new. Anyway back to the thread, Team Scream, usually a fave , had me dialling it back (to 70%) with 10mins to go. As an extra yesterday, Half Monty (as Deb had hers to do), FTP +5, MAP also +5, LTHR -6, last FF was 2 Jan. So for me, something’s working. On the downside, went out this morning and felt decidedly ‘off’ after about an hour so called it a draw. Glad Sir Mac gave the reasoning behind the ‘easing’ of the plan. ‘Live to fight another day’
