Can Cyclists Get Fast with Just 6 Hours of Training Per Week?

// Key topics in this episode:
- Why overhyping Zone 2 does Time-Crunched Cyclists a disservice
- Similarities between Time-Crunched Cyclist, Polarized, and 80/20 paradigms
- Zone 3: Is it useful or useless? Should you use it or avoid it?
- Extensive vs. Intensive interval training for Time-Crunched Cyclists
- How to shift training from base/foundation to prep/event-specific work
- Advantages of a "recovery-rich" training schedule
- How to embrace the benefits of time-crunched training
Example Workouts:
- Intensive Threshold Training Example:
-- Monday: rest
-- Tues: 4x8min @ Upper Threshold (95-105% of FTP) with 4min RBI; 75min
-- Wed: rest
-- Thurs: 4x6min @ Upper Threshold (95-105% of FTP) with 4min RBI; 75min
-- Saturday: Zwift Group ride or Race, ~1.5hr total.
-- Sunday: 2hrs @ Zone 2 Endurance
- Extensive Threshold Training Example:
-- Monday: rest
-- Tues: 2x20min @ Threshold (91-101% of FTP) with 5-7min RBI; 75min
-- Wednesday: rest
-- Thurs: 3x12min @ Threshold (91-101% of FTP) with 5-6min RBI; 75min
-- Saturday: Zwift Group ride or Race, ~1.5hr total.
-- Sunday: 2hrs @ Zone 2 Endurance (One way to add DENSITY to this program is to rest on Sunday and do Group ride + volume on Saturday for 3-4hrs total that day)
// GUEST
Jim Rutberg has been an athlete, coach, and content creator in the outdoor sports, endurance coaching, and event industries for more than 20 years. He is the Media Director and a coach for CTS and co-author of several training and sports nutrition books, including Training Essentials for Ultrarunning with Jason Koop, Ride Inside with Joe Friel, and The Time-Crunched Cyclist, The Time-Crunched Triathlete, The Ultimate Ride, Chris Carmichael’s Food for Fitness, Chris Carmichael’s Fitness Cookbook, The Carmichael Training Systems Cyclist’s Training Diary, and 5 Essentials for a Winning Life with Chris Carmichael. He writes for trainright.com and his work has appeared in Bicycling, Outside, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Velonews, Inside Triathlon, and on numerous websites. A graduate of Wake Forest University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology, Jim resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with his two sons, Oliver and Elliot. He can be reached at [e-mail] or @rutty_rides on Instagram.
// HOST
Adam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for more than 13 years and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.
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[@Ehsender]

Needed to hear this right now. Thank you!

[@andrewa4408]

As a semi time crunched athlete, i found the thoughtful content of this episode great. Thanks!

[@CTS_TrainRight]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@chrism5433]

Weather for me is limiting me . Unfortunately no indoor trainer $. 😢. At 54 newbie roadie .I love it . Mix it with running 🍺

[@drkraut]

Great show. Thank you for keeping it simple and clear that we are(if constant in these 6 hours) not in a massive disadvantage. Keep up the great work

[@christopheralix8554]

Who is promoting Zone 2 ONLY? It’s majority Olof time in Zone 2. No one promotes Zone 2 only to be faster do they?

[@ted56637]

Right

[@richardmiddleton7770]

It depends if you've ever done any before or where you are in the season. It's also great if you're feeling a bit burned out. Doing a few weeks of z2 can really bring you round without losing fitness.

[@starlitshadows]

Nobody. I see a bunch of vids claiming and comments claiming this is what is going on but I've never seen anyone actually say do only Z2. Inigo himself focused heavily on the benefits of Z2 but also mentioned doing Z4 and Z5 which he calls the "turbo." 😂 I've watched tons of training vids and read tons of articles in the last year and haven't seen a single person say only Z2 yet.

[@sir_cornholio5]

Hear a lot of people saying zone three zone four is bad for you and doesn’t work zone two is the way to go for most of your workouts scientific triathlon has every single PhD person come on and say zone twos zone two zone two zone two zone two.

[@marcdaniels9079]

I like the contributor a lot. He is so right when he says you need more than the biological mechanisms to develop a good training plan. This is so true of many areas including nutrition. Biological mechanism studies mean nothing in comparison to outcome studies. Also the concept of an annual plan with say 4 blocks as well as recovery weeks and progressive overload is very often overlooked. As is resistance training with weights. Dylan Johnson covers all these areas in great detail with reference to research papers. The z3 comment is interesting- it also helps mentally to be used to the long tempo periods. In an event I absolutely see my average power is well over Z2 for the whole event.

[@MichaelFargher]

Great podcast! Love Time Crunch approach. Curious - in the 2017 version of the book, 8/10/12 min SS intervals are done up to 86-90% of highest ftp. Is this because they are extensive or?

[@nicholashatcher2844]

I believe the 86-90% is off your 2x8 min ftp test intervals which would be 110% of your ftp. So steady state intervals would be 96-100% of FTP.

[@reineherrera8897]

I agree, generally speaking if you have very little time, the time you do spend on the bike needs to be intense.

[@gerrysecure5874]

Depends on your definition of very little. 80/20 polarized works better than threshold at 6hrs/wk. Llanao showed in his study with elite juniors.

[@reineherrera8897]

@@gerrysecure5874 Yes, to be clear my definition of “little time” is 2-4 hours Monday-Friday for training. For those who participate in other activities needing high aerobic output but do not have the time for more riding due to work, gym-time etc. Honestly, a lot can be done with 6 hours when done consistently week-to-week come to think of it. Do you have a link to the study?

[@toddboucher3302]

I fully agree I believe to get the benefits of zone two or low heart rate whatever you wanna call it I believe you gotta be able to have the time to run or cycle or whatever an hour and a half a day times at least 4 to 5 days a week minimum Now what I found works good for me at 61 which is a lot different than your average person or I only have during the day an hour to work out in the weekends are more open so I found out what works good for me is a couple days during the week Zone two or just a little bit easier hard out like a 4 x 4 and then on the weekends I’m in the trails working hard up the hills and that’s actually helped lower my heart rate so I can run better but I on my schedule if I was trying to do nothing but low heart rate it would fall apart, I think It’s just more fun to run fast but not every day because that breaking like I said I work out during the week usually Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday sometimes Friday and two of those days are easy in about one to two workouts and then Saturday and Sunday I do my thinggood good points enjoyed it

[@steven871]

Thanks gents. Do you mind please defining what these zones are in terms of % of FTP?

[@gerrysecure5874]

Ever heared about google ?

[@steven871]

@@gerrysecure5874 cute. every "expert" has a different viewpoint on this, which I learned from google. Hope you feel good about not being helpful. Have a great day

[@steven871]

@@gerrysecure5874 cute. 7 zone model? 5 Zone model? There is a difference in %. Keep feeling good about yourself being not helpful. Have a great day!

[@Asdos.]

Watching this and struggling to even ride for 2 hours a week lol

[@gerrysecure5874]

Then you better run.

[@ds6914]

Questions to which the answer is yes

[@1RWF1]

Are many people actually saying only do zone 2? I have never heard anyone suggest that

[@wheelnut64]

I have certainly off season or pre season then add intervals as season start emerges. Check Dylan Johnson on this.

[@marcdaniels9079]

Dylan rocks ! 👍

[@davidkay7201]

Dylan Johnson is a fan of the polarised model. Not zone 2 only.

[@pitekxpan5845]

What about 3 ride on week? 3 h fast group ride , 3 hours z2 and , 1 h indoors vo2 or Trashold??

[@wheelnut64]

That should work right?

[@OGillo2001]

Yes that will be fine

[@87togabito]

Drop the 3hr fast group ride. Or just drop all group rides; those are a waste of time that could be turned to effective z2 or a proper focused structured threshold.

[@kevinstry]

Is the recovery between intense intervals at Z1 or Z2?

[@reineherrera8897]

The pattern I have seen while on a Trainer Road program is that yes, that seems like a fair observation. As an example, my last workout was a series of 1 minute pulls at threshold level wattage followed immediately by a sustained FTP wattage and then in between the sets, the wattage was down in Active Recovery and Endurance zones, respectively Zone 1 and 2. Real light pedaling that you would find in the equivalent HR Zone.

[@wheelnut64]

Can be either Z1 or Z2 depends on the intervals

[@gerrysecure5874]

I do it mid Z2. The reason is that in Z2 the lactate removal is higher in Z2 than Z1. The HR remains activated after the interval and reach vo2max for longer in next interval while the muscles still get rid of lactate as quickly as possible.

[@jacklauren9359]

It depends really. If you’re trying to hit high output then recovery is recovery. Which means 100w and below.

[@dickieblench5001]

No one said just do zone 2 FFS

[@kpsig]

No, but you can become slower.

[@87togabito]

My ftp would beg to differ lol. 5-6hrs of indoors average weekly, and my ftp has been steadily increasing about 1-3% every cycle or so.