When you have 1 hour and already have 2-3 interval workouts for the week

[stevehollx]

What do you guys do when you already have your interval workouts in for the week but don't have time for a 2h+ zone 2 ride? How do you fill a 1h slot meaningfully?

Let's say targeting average of 7 hours a week in kind of a base training period:
* Monday: recovery
* Tues: 2x20' @ 100%
* Wed: ???
* Thurs: 2x30' @ 90%
* Fri: ???
* Sat: 2-4h ride
* Sun: 1-2h mixed ride or a 4-5 mile run

I understand the value of polarization, and being at Zone 2 80% of the time. But I have also have seen that you need longer times (heard 3+) at Zone 2 for meaningful adaptations. So, if you have 1-2 slots in the week to fill where you only have an hour each, what do you do? Is there value in 1 hour of just zone 2? A tempo pace? Sweet spot? Stay in zone 2 the whole time (boring if indoors!)?

What would you fill in on the holes marked with ???

Some considerations:
* 1h @ Z2?
* 1x40m @ 80% (tempo)?
* 2x20 @ 90% (sweet spot)?

[TobinHatesYou]

The answer is to ride that available hour at a pace that won’t hurt your ability to hit the targets on your next higher intensity workout. Track your TSB and make sure you’re not going deeply negative. -20 is fine as a daily snapshot, but I would not hang out there. I usually race at -10 to -5, but that’s me. If your fitness starts to plateau, then consider additional days rest in the short term.

[TheRich]

That 3+ hr number probably has something to do with the fitness of the test subjects and depends on what is considered "meaningful."

In the end, something is always better than nothing.

[tallterry]

This is a hard question that probably doesn't have a great answer. The Coggan school would tell you to do 2x20 sweet spot. The Seiler school would tell you to do 1h of Z2, or maybe even better, move those two Wed and Fri hours to Saturday, turning your 2-4 hr ride into a 4-6 hr ride, and use Wed and Fri as additional rest days.

The best approach is probably the unavailable one: turn 7 weekly hours of training into 9, thus alloweing for Wed and Fri 2h z2 rides.

[AJS914]

I believe there is a value in 1 hour of just zone 2. Doing more intensity on Wednesday won't help your Thursday intervals. Or, maybe two 1 hour yoga classes per week would benefit you?

[Andrew69]

I believe there is a value in 1 hour of just zone 2. Doing more intensity on Wednesday won't help your Thursday intervals.

So do I. It all adds up IMO

[Singular]

When you have booked those "important" quality workouts and you have one more hour to spend - use it for recovery or leisure riding, take an hour on the MTB, practice technical skills, do some gym/bodyweight exercises or some flexibility work (yoga/stretching).

[Lozaen]

Heard of Dylan Johnson?
He is a cycing coach with a good youtube channel. Releases every week a specific 15-20 minute video where all these questions are being answered and sources provided to back up his findings. Discovered it during the festive season and since then enjoy to work me through his channel
There are videos about a 6 hour / week and 10 hour / week plan, that cover your questions quite in detail

Some very quick thoughts on your example.
In order to be efficient, and this really is old and new school, intensive work should be done in a well rested state. So intervall sessions prefereably after a rest day. Otherwise the intervalls will probably not be as hard as they could be.
It doesn't make sense to go saturday long and easy and sunday shorter and harder. Better would be to go for 2 hours on saturday with some higher intensity and leave sunday for the long ride. If you have additional time, you could prolong either saturday or sunday ride.
If you plan just two intervall sessions per week, which is absolutely fine, the preffered days should be in your case (Monday + Friday = Restday) Tuesday and Satruday.

the following link is that before mentioned 6 hours / week training planning video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9SvLGv2c1E

[TobinHatesYou]

The basic gist of it is this... General fitness increases as CTL increases. Sustaining CTL increases without going deeply TSB negative requires a steady ramp rate. How you achieve this is will vary based on your targets/goals, available time and perhaps how ready you are to feel constantly beat up.

On 7 hours a week we're looking at like 400TSS a week or maintaining 57CTL unless you go apeshit on the intensity. 57CTL really isn't much, so if you want to improve on that number, you have to do either more time or more intensity. That's up to you. On top of that, these metrics don't go into specifics. All they really tell you is what kind of load you can handle over time measured in days. So then you need to decide what kind of fitness you're looking for. Are you looking to be able to do a full FRC (functional reserve capacity) over 2-5 minutes? Are you looking for FTP/MLSS gains? Are you looking for stamina gains, ie being able to do close to max aerobic efforts 90-120 minutes into a ride?

So yeah, it all depends. If you can cope with a constant negative TSB, then start hunting down TSS. Fill the in-between time you have with work in whatever training zone doesn't hurt your ability to complete HIIT workouts the next day. This might be low Z3, this might be high Z2. As others mentioned, another possibility is finding an hour more free time on those ??? days to do more Z2. If it were me, I would find a way to do 2 hours of Z2 on Wednesday and do something like a 2x3x3 workout at 110-112% FT on Saturday + extra time you have to ride at whatever pace you feel like.

[raggedtrousers]

The basic gist of it is this... General fitness increases as CTL increases. Sustaining CTL increases without going deeply TSB negative requires a steady ramp rate. How you achieve this is will vary based on your targets/goals, available time and perhaps how ready you are to feel constantly beat up.

On 7 hours a week we're looking at like 400TSS a week or maintaining 57CTL unless you go apeshit on the intensity. 57CTL really isn't much, so if you want to improve on that number, you have to do either more time or more intensity.

Yup. I had a consultation with a coach this week, and his takeway was pretty simple: 'If you're doing less than 15 hours a week, then the best option in an ideal world will always be just more time on the bike'. You can do a lot with time-crunched programming, and the nuances matter, but ultimately it's always going to be sub-optimal.

FWIW, my outline plan is 2 45-75 minute interval sessions (which should be genuinely very hard) and 3 rides of between 1 and 4 hours, depending on the time I have (but try to ensure at least 1 ride is at least 3 hours). The prescription for those longer rides is pretty simple; largely Z2, but have a go for some Strava segment PRs if I feel like it - just enjoy riding the bike.

I'd stress that I am a mere 4w/kg, and 40, so the younger/stronger riders may well need something more intense or prescriptive.

[TobinHatesYou]

Yup. I had a consultation with a coach this week, and his takeway was pretty simple: 'If you're doing less than 15 hours a week, then the best option in an ideal world will always be just more time on the bike'. You can do a lot with time-crunched programming, and the nuances matter, but ultimately it's always going to be sub-optimal.

I'd say "time-crunched training" can make someone a 60-75min crit-monster, but it's just not feasible to become really good at anything longer. Imagine a 210TSS / 2.5 hours long road race. On a 7hr/week training plan 210TSS is equivalent to half a week's worth of work. I wouldn't have the stamina to compete in anything that long.

[raggedtrousers]

I'd say "time-crunched training" can make someone a 60-75min crit-monster, but it's just not feasible to become really good at anything longer. Imagine a 210TSS / 2.5 hours long road race. On a 7hr/week training plan 210TSS is equivalent to half a week's worth of work. I wouldn't have the stamina to compete in anything that long.

Pretty much. After a year on TrainerRoad, there is a significant relative disparity between my 90 minute performance and my 3 hour performance: for one, I struggle to stay comfy on the bike that long. Don't get me wrong, I'm faster over all distances, especially 5-20 minute efforts. but long (>90min) remains a relative weakness. I don't race, so it's maybe moot, but with a plan to do some longer sportive type events when Covid allows, the focus is shifting to actually spending more time on the bike.

[TheRich]

Heard of Dylan Johnson?
He is a cycing coach with a good youtube channel. Releases every week a specific 15-20 minute video where all these questions are being answered and sources provided to back up his findings. Discovered it during the festive season and since then enjoy to work me through his channel
There are videos about a 6 hour / week and 10 hour / week plan, that cover your questions quite in detail

Some very quick thoughts on your example.
In order to be efficient, and this really is old and new school, intensive work should be done in a well rested state. So intervall sessions prefereably after a rest day. Otherwise the intervalls will probably not be as hard as they could be.
It doesn't make sense to go saturday long and easy and sunday shorter and harder. Better would be to go for 2 hours on saturday with some higher intensity and leave sunday for the long ride. If you have additional time, you could prolong either saturday or sunday ride.
If you plan just two intervall sessions per week, which is absolutely fine, the preffered days should be in your case (Monday + Friday = Restday) Tuesday and Satruday.

the following link is that before mentioned 6 hours / week training planning video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9SvLGv2c1E

True Zone 2 work isn't stressful.

I do two hour Z2 (.7 IF) rides on the trainer, I'm just hungry later and feel great if I go out and do intensity the next day outside. Probably feel better than if I hadn't done anything the day before. (I feel better with a slightly negative TSB as well)

I'd say "time-crunched training" can make someone a 60-75min crit-monster, but it's just not feasible to become really good at anything longer. Imagine a 210TSS / 2.5 hours long road race. On a 7hr/week training plan 210TSS is equivalent to half a week's worth of work. I wouldn't have the stamina to compete in anything that long.

That's what a lot of their customers want. Kinda fun to watch them fall apart an hour into an event though.

[glepore]

Mark Allen, and many others, have said that its better to do something than nothing...even if its a 20 minute run. I'd do an hour at upper z2, but if you find that it kills the quality of the next interval session, then back it down a bit.
Yes, you need duration to get endurance adaptations, but even an hour will do more for your aerobic capacity than doing nothing. The key is not to reduce the quality of the next hard session.

[DavG]

I've heard a lot, too, that it's more helpful than having a lot at once. It's the same with training. An interval is better than several hours of uninterrupted riding. It will be interesting to read your findings after a few months.