When to increase % for workouts?

Training
1

I did my 2nd full frontal 21st March at the end of the 12 week all purpose intermediate. Smashed it. Huge increases everywhere.

Then signed up for 12 weeks of 100 mile training plan. The new 4dp numbers killed me. I failed almost every session for the first few weeks, but then did a session and discovered that I’d set a new 1 min PB that was 19w higher than my full frontal only a few weeks ago.

Today was Attacker on tired legs from 7 hours of endurance rides over the weekend and a day off yesterday. I hit all the targets and made it to the end. My HR was at the top end of zone 3, and never made it into zone 4 when it was supposed to. (all ridden in erg mode).

I never increase recovery rides, nor the rest periods in the interval sessions.

There is no mid plan half monty scheduled in the plan.

After two days of relatively easy/recovery rides, I have Defender on Friday. Should I increase it by a few % to get me into the right HR zone?

Martin

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2

I had this with a plan a while ago.
Be careful, but so long as it feels achievable then why not knock it up by a percent or two? If it starts to feel too hard or you notice an accumulation of fatigue then you can knock it back down.
Just go slowly, but if you’re feeling good even if only for a day then why not up your targets just a little?

There was a chart, I’m sure someone will link it, with recommendations as to how to treat each video if you felt good/bad on a given day. In the interim, though, just enjoy it and up it a touch… (In my, amateur, opinion)

3

Here is the link that @jon mentioned:

It has a column that suggest what you should do for each workout if you are feeling good.

2 Likes
4

Thank you. So as long as I’m gradually increasing it, and I’m able to complete it, I’m not doing myself any harm.

That’s the main thing and is good to know.

Martin

5

So long as you are not introducing sufficient fatigue as to impact your recovery and adaptation too, but yes.

The safest place to start, however, is the link @Heretic has posted.

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6

Just keep in mind that not evety workout is designed to push you to your limit. If it feels hard but manageable, that might be on purpose. Just because you can increase your settings doesn’t mean you should.

7

Yes, fully agree. I think sessions like Attacker, Defender, Team Scream etc. are meant to be pretty tough. I’d like to at least be in the right zone but still finishing.

1 Like
8

Martin,

Congrats on having a very SUF problem. Not enough suffering. I’m (gratefully) having the same issue.
My most recent 4DP was 3/28. Big gains from 3/2 FF (2nd day back after long layoff - that test had big drops) but FTP jumped from 160-208. For below my LTHR: 171.

Right after 3/28, those first few workouts were very challenging, but now, my diet is better, fitness improving and just in the last week, I feel much stronger. Definitely feel like the last few days HR isn’t reaching target zones.

Today I did Attacker twice**. With Dogs Life recovery in between. **Full disclosure yesterday was a total rest day, and I slept for 11:30. But still.

Round 1
Max HR 155/157/159/159/163
AVG Pwr 197/195/196/193/196

Round 2 (FTP +10%)
Max HR 163/167/170/171/174
AVG Pwr 216/214/215/212/214

I would encourage you to test yourself by trying things 5% at a time. Bump it up, 5 for ur next workout - HR #s still look too low/feels easy? Go to 10. You’ll know when you’ve gone too far. Or just knock out a FF tomorrow.

Cheers!

Brian