On Sunday I will be taking my 4DP test after a 12 week intermediate road plan, beginner yoga, beginner strength and mental. I’ve really enjoyed getting stuck in with it and have positive feelings about Sundays results.
Here’s the question. On December 20 I will be attempting the Knighthood and the 4 weeks prior to that completing the sufferfest Knighthood plan with strength & yoga. Now next week for me will be a basic week just doing as I feel for a week to recover some after Sunday.
That leaves me with a 6 week window to fit a plan in. What do you guy’s think would be a suitable plan to fit in this block? Should I up yoga and strength to intermediate through it also.
I’m been scratching my chin about all this really and don’t know the best course of action to take.
Thanks Eric. Interesting choices. In your opinion which of those would give the best bang for the buck. If I make that block a tough one before going into the Knighthood plan which has more long duration rides through it?
I’m currently doing (week 1) of the 3 week FTP building block. Looks like the weekend workouts are short, so you could add on something like Endurance+ or Open 120 after doing the whatever is on the docket for that day. The Volcano plan has longer weekend workouts - I know Kitchen Sink is in there (3hours) at reduced intensity to make it an endurance spin.
Well I had a slight miss calculation in my dates and available weeks for blocks.
Deciding not to take recovery weeks allows me to take advantage of 10 weeks before the Knighthood training plan begins.
I’ve chosen the 1st 3 weeks as MAP building blocks with intermediate yoga and strength moving into the volcano plan with the same yoga and strength for 4 weeks and then lastly another round of building blocks focused on FTP, with the same yoga and strength again.
Hopefully this will all work nicely into moving onto the Knighthood plan and I’ll manage ok without any recovery weeks in between blocks.
Stotty82 Wish you all the best with your 4DP test Sunday! Most athletes don’t understand the importance of recovery time and a full recovery week. Training Plans are based on phases and cycles, one building upon the next. To eliminate or skip the recovery phase leaves your body without the adaptation to reach the next level. You may make it through the schedule but without the recovery you won’t see the gains you could. We typically recommend taking a recovery week following the completion of a training plan, at a minimum. This is in addition to the recovery weeks built into the plans.
The below is from a previous article that I wrote for the forum that you might find helpful in explaining the importance of recovery
Recovery weeks are likely the most important week in your training cycle. You must have a significant decrease is training intensity and load in order to trigger the body to start protein synthesis and mitochondrial biogenesis to go through adaptation. The initial process takes 3 days and a bit longer as you age. The total protein channeling and biogeness process for growth takes at least a week. Cutting your recovery week short means cutting your recovery and maximum gains short. If your training is not decreased enough the process is not initiated. Hard days need to be hard and easy days need to be truly EASY! Just as you would not put your car in park and rev the engine on high for days until the oil and fluids are dry you should not rev your “engine” on high all the time until your body is drained not giving it the chance to recover.Training over time without giving your body the chance to go through mitochondrial biogenesis will not give you the gains you desire but rather stress your body out further resulting in a plateau or decrease in power. The hours you have trained will be lost, and your training has become a negative rather than a positive. Make recovery a priority in your training in order to reach your goals!
We want you to be successful and to that end I encourage you to take a second thought about your upcoming schedule.
Fantastic information @Coach.Simon.B , thank you for that. I’ll give the plan a go over a bit later on.
I understand that adding a recovery week after this coming 4DP is necessary so I’ll add that in.
A couple of things I’m not too sure about though are with the shorter block plans. Building blocks and volcano for example 3 & 4 week blocks respective. Would I need a recovery week in between these two? Or could I just merge them together into longer blocks and then maybe take a recovery week before commencing the Knighthood training plan?
Also with regards to strength and yoga, how would I go about adding these into a recovery week? Or would I lay off those also.
Yoga - fill your boots in a recovery week. Every day is good !!
Strength - only do the Recovery strength A/B ones is the theory.
I guess with all things it depends on our levels. If we’re talking pro training then their version of a recovery week would maybe have more strength but I think that’s enough for me
Lol. Real reply followed, but that first one was a complete self-kicking in my inability or take a rest week after 4DP as I end up scheduling it fine for the prep week but I’m rubbish for the following week
I usually end up with some crazy stuff planned that’s fun but not effective.
Brilliant good to know. It’s strange because I almost have this odd feeling I would be slacking off! Living in couchlandria for a week is going to be hell on earth
@Stotty82 It may seem counter intuitive to do the least amount of work to get the most gains but it is the way our bodies work. Without getting too “sciency” you must rest enough to trigger the body to start the adaptation process that will see the new gains and strength. Every day in recovery is a day stronger for the future. View it as a valuable commodity in the bank to be redeemed. Recovery is as much a mental mindset as physical activity. In time you will see the gains and welcome the recovery weeks to come and the subsequent new levels you gain.
As @Martin said above, deload the strength and work on your mobility and flexibility with the addition of yoga!
Pretty pleased with the results from today’s 4DP test. Ftp was 225 at the beginning of the 12 week programme after about 4 months out from training. Coming back up to the old numbers. 5 sec was a personal PR. Weekness sustained.
So from those results next week is a rest week. 21/09 - 18/10 Volcano plan with intermediate yoga and strength. Then a rest week.
26/10 - 15/11 Building blocks FTP focus with intermediate strength and yoga. Then a rest week again.
23/11 - 20/12 knight of Sufferlandria training plan with int strength and yoga.
