That old post pops up from time to time in threads about sweet spot training. Sweet spot obviously works for some posters here, but I wouldn't drill only that narrow intensity range for several months like I did. I still think that there's a time and place for sweet spot, but it wasn't an effective long-term approach for me.

I plugged away with a long block of sweet spot (~85-95% threshold) and relatively low volume (~7 hours/week) from November 2013 to March 2014. I took the rather extreme approach of completely avoiding work above threshold. I also did virtually all my riding on the trainer. I saw rapid gains at first, but improvement slowed and eventually plateaued, and I may have even started going backwards. You can see this in the graph below, which shows my best average 20 and 5 minute power every month since acquiring a power meter in 2013.

In May 2014, I started working with my coach who polarized the intensity distribution of my training by introducing key blocks of VO2 (Zone 5) intervals along with endurance (Zone 2) riding and more sparing use of tempo and threshold (Zone 3-4). I responded very well and saw increases in power over all durations, despite no significant change in training load. The two big spikes in 20 minute power in the graph below correspond to blocks with intervals above threshold.


Suddenly introducing high intensity training made for an interesting experiment because I completely shunned work above threshold in the past. Not surprisingly, I saw a huge increase in my short duration power. In fact, the critical power model suggests that my anaerobic work capacity doubled to tripled in a year. Not relevant for triathlon you say? That's debatable for age group racing, but you definitely need some pop in pro 70.3 racing.


YMMV



Best monthly 20 minute and 5 minute average power

---

CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
ASICS | Ventum | Martin's | HED | VARLO | Shimano | 4iiii | Keystone Communications

Haha, I noticed this thread yesterday and was working on a post as you wrote this.

---

CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
ASICS | Ventum | Martin's | HED | VARLO | Shimano | 4iiii | Keystone Communications

Sufferfest four week training plan on TrainerRoad. Try it for one month.

I just wanted to jump in here and link to this old thread since it's somewhat relevant...and it's one of the better and more informative threads I've read on ST.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4196172

---

Race Reports, etc -- Bob's Bikes

thanks very much for this

why do you think you plateaued - did you continue to rest after each block and then increase the load and still plateau? was the improvement simply due to a change in stimuli?

I am guessing I have significant amounts of "untapped" potential in that I've only been training for one year and even that wasn't done in a particular structured way so I've 44 weeks to my last and I'm time constrained so I thought that intervals of 15-20 mins and then doing multiples of these is quite an easy way to flex what I do with the time available

I'd also seen a previous thread where AC said he'd done something similar, which he again referenced in this thread and I thought thats an easy uncomplicated way to manage my town

cheers

Periodization was pretty much non-existent when I self-coached. I just kept plugging away with sweet spot and tried to gradually increase the power I was holding at roughly the same perceived exertion. I took a sporadic and reactive approach to recovery, usually too little, too late. I should have taken a more structured approach with regular rest days/weeks and a more methodical way to track progress (I avoided regular testing).

Yes, I improved because I changed the stimulus, specifically adding work above threshold. The intensity distribution shifted without significantly increasing training load or volume. Another very beneficial change was adding regular recovery days (one day totally off per week for most of 2014) and dividing the season up into 2-10 week blocks/mesocycles with specific objectives (e.g., VO2 intervals, race-specific prep, recovery). The VO2 blocks I do are so brutal that I can only manage them by counting down the sessions until the end of the block!

---

CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
ASICS | Ventum | Martin's | HED | VARLO | Shimano | 4iiii | Keystone Communications

thanks very much - as an example, something like these 3 workouts / week as your vo2 max block?

how many weeks of this to make a difference?

Cheers

I've had good success with two VO2 workouts per week on top of some solid endurance riding during a block lasting 4-8 weeks. This is during balanced training, so I'd probably aim for three per week during a bike focus block. Then I'd typically move towards more race-specific prep for a few weeks leading into a race. We're starting to stray into my coach's IP unfortunately... wish I could share all the gory details.

---

CodyBeals.com | Instagram | TikTok
ASICS | Ventum | Martin's | HED | VARLO | Shimano | 4iiii | Keystone Communications

You realize that Graeme Obree has never owned a drivers license right?

---

---

Dan Meehan
Coach / Athlete