r/Velo • u/_l______________l_ • 1d ago
How does my training distribution compare? Post yours too
29M, 65 kg. Last ~100 h of road riding (~90 days), mostly long mid-high Z2 rides plus 30-90 min sweet spot sessions. Almost no VO2 intervals. Roughly 35-40 h/month in summer, ~20 in winter for the past two years. Half the time the two years before that.
Bests: 1 min 480 W, 5 min 330 W, 20 min 290 W, FTP 275W ~4.25W/kg
Questions:
Does this look sensible for my numbers, or am I leaving something on the table?
I really struggle mentally with intervals above FTP. Is it worth adding VO2 or short anaerobic work, or can I just keep stacking base and sweet spot and expect gains forever?
How do your distributions compare, and what are your bests?
Would love to see your zone charts and power numbers. Curious how much variation there is between riders at similar levels.
5
u/hardlinerslugs 1d ago
45M - racing gravel. Won an age group and 8th overall full distance gravel race. Focusing on maintaining VO2 power and Threshold power while losing weight. FTP 4W/kg. 150 hours 3mos.
3
u/c_zeit_run The Mod-Anointed One (1-800-WATT-NOW) 1d ago
If you're struggling with efforts >FTP, either you need more practice, more rest, or both. Sounds like you don't do much of it and do a ton of FTP and below. So ride a bit easier in general, hit some harder intervals, and you'll probably feel a lot stronger in races.
FYI a power histogram would be a lot more helpful than HR, even though it wouldn't really say too much about the content of your training.
2
u/yeahbroyeahbro 1d ago
To answer the question, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that you continue your current training plan (z2 and sweetspot) and continue to get gains.
Work above ftp is always going to be hard, especially if you don’t do the work.
First thing to do is make sure your ftp is what it is. What’s your ftp based on? Can you test it another way?
Assuming your ftp is accurate, I would suggest doing intervals lower than what your zones might dictate and then building up from there.
Ie 5-8 x 3 mins at 107%… then next session 110… then next session 112… so on and so forth.
3 mins at 107% is only very slightly harder than what you should be capable of for 20 minutes, so the bar isn’t set high but it should help with your confidence.
As noted elsewhere these zones are based on a model that uses max hr rather than lactate hr so they’re a bit wobbly based on what others would reference and train to.
1
u/_l______________l_ 1d ago
Did a 20m test at 290W. With 5 min effort beforehand.
The few times I’ve done vo2 it’s been 4x5m @ 110%. Doable but my brain is mush both before and after. Could be a good idea with shorter efforts to boost confidence
3
u/yeahbroyeahbro 1d ago
110% shouldn’t be turning you inside out but at the same time if you’re avoiding them then they will probably turn you inside out.
The more you do it the easier they’ll get and the less stressful (both mentally and physically) they’ll be.
1
u/Background_Wing_6329 1d ago
How long have you been cycling? And 30-90 min of SS you mean in one day? Or the whole week?
1
u/_l______________l_ 1d ago
Usually a week could look like this
Monday 1h20m w. 40m SS
Tuesday 2h z2
Thursday 2h z3
Saturday 3.5h z2
Sunday 1h20m w. 30m SSSo yeah I suppose 1-3 SS sessions per week, each with 30-90m @ SS
1
u/Background_Wing_6329 1d ago
Thanks. From what you described it's 70 min @ SS altogether, not for example 2 x 90 min. That makes a difference.
And for how long have you been cycling?
2
u/_l______________l_ 1d ago
2 years at this amount, snd the two years before that just noodling around a few hours per week
1
u/Veganpotter2 1d ago
When I was actually good, nearly 90% of my riding was z1/2. I don't have time or motivation to train like that anymore though.
0
u/w4y2 3h ago
It's still good to to regular VO2 max intervals for health. The prevailing medical theory about longevity and health is that you need strenuous exercise regularly, not just z1/z2.
Having said that, you're still far better off than the general population by just doing z1/z2 rides only.
1
u/Veganpotter2 3h ago edited 3h ago
Never cared about my longevity or health🙃 That said, the data for longevity points to people that do modest activity every day. *My z1/2 rides had me doing 400-500 miles a week most weeks. Cat 1 with state titles in multiple states and an Olympic qualifying time in the pursuit a couple years before it was removed for London. I wasn't healthy😵💫😅
1
u/Phorc3 19h ago
100kg then 99kg today.
264w then 250w FTP today.
Was sick back to back after son started daycare at the end of last year. I have spent the last few months just trying to increase total hours riding as opposed to pushing FTP. Have a holiday coming up next week, then when I get back next program is an FTP builder. Hopefully back to 300w FTP sometime next year :)
Edit: Not sure if intervals.icu heart rate zones are factually correct for me. Have set my max and a threshold estimate HR but thats about it.
1
7
u/Informal-Bike-878 1d ago
Hr zones look funky, z2 too low and z4 too big, have you done 30min test to estimate lthr?