% of cycling zones per week?

Triathlon Forum
1

I’m curious how much time is recommended per cycling zone, per week. I’m focusing on sprint/Oly distance triathlons. The zones I’m using are:

< 70% - z1
70-75 - z2
80-85 - z3
95-100 z4

110 % - z5

I can devote about 5.5 hours per week to cycling and here’s how much time I spend in my zones over the course of a week of training:

ZONE 1 - 22%
ZONE 2 - 28%
ZONE 3 - 23%
ZONE 4 - 22%
ZONE 5 - 5%

Does this seem right? It appears I spend almost equal time in zones 1-4. For short races, I’m wondering if I’m training too much in z3 and not getting in enough easy z2 and hard z4-5. Thoughts?

2

I’m curious how much time is recommended per cycling zone, per week. I’m focusing on sprint/Oly distance triathlons. The zones I’m using are:

< 70% - z1
70-75 - z2
80-85 - z3
95-100 z4

110 % - z5

I can devote about 5.5 hours per week to cycling and here’s how much time I spend in my zones over the course of a week of training:

ZONE 1 - 22%
ZONE 2 - 28%
ZONE 3 - 23%
ZONE 4 - 22%
ZONE 5 - 5%

Does this seem right? It appears I spend almost equal time in zones 1-4. For short races, I’m wondering if I’m training too much in z3 and not getting in enough easy z2 and hard z4-5. Thoughts?

For a high volume athlete, I would reduce zone 1 and 3 and focus primarily on zone 2, 4, and 5, with about 80% zone 2, and the rest zone 4 and 5. Of course, this would vary a bit depending on time of the season. However, for a lower volume athlete this is not practical as it does not provide enough training stress. For a low volume athlete, perhaps 50% can be zone 4. It is hard to know if what you are doing is appropriate without knowing your training history and current volume.

3

80% in zones 3 or lower
15% zone 4
5% zone 5
.

4

What happened to the sweet spot zone…85-95?

5

Thanks for the responses ya’ll. Some info: Pre-2013 I mostly did long course, then decided I needed to go shorter and work on speed. I’m 43, 5’10", 140 lbs. A pro who stayed at our house commented that my legs “suck for cycling” to give you a frame of reference. Anyway, my go-to workout week (in-season) typically looks like this:

TUE - 70 minutes on trainer - some variation of 3x15, 2x20, etc. @ FTP
THUR - 70 minutes on trainer - 3x5 @ VO2
SAT - 3 hrs outside (combo of flats & hills) - 2x20 @ FTP, 1x60 @ z3, remainder @ z2 (70%)

FTP (and zones) were determined with the NP of a 2x20 test.

Every 3rd week I’ll cut the intensity down. Sweet spot? I really only was doing that during the off-season; maybe I should alternate that and the VO2?

The reason I am asking is that the past two seasons about this time my “sucky cycling legs” start to die off so I want to make sure I’m spending the right amount of time per week in the appropriate zones for getting my speed up. I didn’t think this was an aggressive routine, but maybe it is?

6

2.5 hours @ FTP seems like a lot for 5.5 hours of cycling. I guess I have been going too easy.

I don’t think I can do more than an hour at FTP without killing myself so I’ll try 3x20 minutes @ FTP on Tues and Thurs and another 30-60 minutes @ FTP during my long ride on the weekend. That way I’ll hit 50%. Sound about right? Maybe do sweet spot every 3 weeks as a recovery?