Traning plan - question about adding my own stuff

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So I started a Training plan on Monday, and set the level as beginner for strength, although I do a regular strength workout of my own - I’m an old fart so know I need to take it slow when I add new things to my routine hence my decision to pick beginner level for strength. I know there is science behind these plans, and I don’t want to muck things up, so I have two questions:

Can/should I continue to do my usual strength routine after the scheduled strength routine in the training plan?

Is there any harm to add swimming or walking to the schedule on days when there is no cycling? Just doing a 15 minute yoga routine and a 15 minute mental exercise makes it a very light day, but maybe there’s a good scientific reason for that.

Thanks

Norm

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Hi @NormtheChelseaboy - glad you’re off to a great start with your new plan. Depending on your prior strength training background, and how intense your current routine is, it might be possible to do both the scheduled strength sessions on the plan as well as what you’re used to doing, though keep in mind that the exercises that we have in our plan could well be new for you, and potentially cause enough stress that you won’t need to add your own on top of them. I’d say let how you are recovering for your on-bike sessions help guide whether you are adapting to them or becoming overloaded.
For your second question, while the 15-minute yoga or 15-minute mental exercise sessions aren’t too challenging from a physical perspective, rest can be somewhat relative to what you are used to doing. It’s possible that adding in some swimming or walking on those days will be fine, but for some other folks adding those activities could be an overload. Just like with the strength, assessing whether there are any negative impacts of those added activities on your subsequent days’ training efforts on the bike will be a useful guide to determining whether there’s a neutral, negative, or potentially even a positive benefit for you to include them. Just be sure that you get enough rest and true recovery days.

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Thank you Coach, all makes sense! I appreciate the response,

Norm