Hi.
How many have completed this plan? Just at end of week 5 and the power requirements in some workouts (I.e ac plus ss) have shot up massively. The work outs up to this point have been ok, not hugely challenging. Ftp set and tested.
I know I can drop difficulty (and I will). But I wondered if these workouts are just hitting my weak areas or if they are almost unachievable!!
Ta
Iāve heard that training plan gets very hard after the base weeks. Yes, almost to the point of being not doable. But I bet if you suffer, you will get faster.
Its an advanced plan for a reason, as is Crit Crusher. The 2nd to last week is brutal but manageable.
Iām on week 8 of this plan and I found there was a bit of a step change in week 5 regarding the Z6 stuff ramping up to 150% of FTP, I quit my first ever workout in this week after thinking I had been making good progress to that point, I failed the cruise intervals in week 5 also, and then missed two more due to work/holiday and the inflexibility of the plan so that was a poor week for me, I was dreading week 6!
Iāve completed every workout since, although missed a few stars on more high power Z6 stuff in week 6 and 7
Iāve completed the AC workout for week 8 and took every star on that one, and feeling confident of completing the 4 remaining workouts without missing any more stars.
Currently 41/49 workouts, 672 stars. 876 mile, 41h49m, 28780kcals!
Best of luck with the rest of your plan!
Thanks for your reply.
Iāve had the same kind of end to the plan.
Also in week 8. 2 workouts completed so far.
I had to drop the % on a few of the power intervals. But although the difficulty level has increased Iāve got although all the workouts, so far.
A big well done to both of you 
I was lucky to have realized early on to approach every workout with 100% commitment. The āCruise intervalsā are deceptively named and are the ones most people (myself included) fail on.
I was also grateful to come into the plan relatively fit at the end of a solid 1.5 month block with plenty of top-end. It was also of great help to skip the optional workouts when I felt I needed a bit of extra recovery. Finishing the plan feels great!
All,
Iāve had little to no struggle with the first 4 weeks at current FTP. However, week 5 power interval and anaerobic capacity workouts at same FTP have proven quite challenging for me (unable to finish high power intervals without dropping FTP in-game and/or pausing workout during recovery interval to keep me from blowing up). I do enjoy the challenge, but definitely need to work on improving my AC. Cruise intervals are tough but doable at current FTP. I am going to stick with it and see this program through to the finish! Started week 6 today. Any thoughts/suggestions on improving oneās AC? Iām thinking just incorporating more AC interval training on a weekly basis would be recommended!
Jay
Yes I agree - the first sessions in 4 years of zwifting that battered me into submission and ground to a halt.
Its a shame as they seem just a little too hard in weeks 5 or 6 - the otherworkouts seem to work as you ātrustā the coach who designed them and are rewarded with a nicely climbing FTP.
The other trick is not to retest your FTP after 3 or 4 weeks as it will go up and compound the issues.
Having said that I got some PBs on 25 and 50mi TT on the road so not all badā¦
Currently working my way through TT tune up - the specific workouts are expiring on a very tight programme. Id forgotten how annoying this was.
IS there a way to do a workout that has expired by 4 hours?
Some of the plans have 6 workouts per week , so in the real world (you know the one with real families, and the one where we earn money to pay our Zwift subscriptionsā¦)
you canāt always stick to the arbitrary rules and want a bit more flex in the schedule.
In the 6 week and 12 week FTP this isnāt an issue as they are in the workout sectionā¦ but in for example TT tune up AFAIK there is not a get-around?
Or put another way, Ive paid for that session so its up to me not you when I do itā¦
thoughts?
@Richard_Shaw1 is mildly frustrating, no workaround Iām aware of. Perhaps recreate that workout manually on Zwift being one solution albeit a little more time consuming.
Omg, just started week 6 and nearly died on AC + sweet spot #1. Be warned! Hardest workout ive ever done on Zwift including racing. Cadence down to 50, HR maxed at 182!
Genuinely scared of whatās to come in the remaining weeks.
Iām on last week. The āPower Intervalsā & āAC+ Sweet Spotā starting week 5/6 are very very hard, probably doable only if the anaerobic is your strong point.
Iāve always succeeded the first intervals but the recovery are too short to recover enough. The āAC+Sweet Spotā are decresing so by passing the second to recover, the last is doable.
But the āPower Intervalsā are even harder and Iāve always dropped at 90%.
I had no difficulty for the rest, the āCruise intervalsā are tiring but easy to complete
Really, enjoying this training plan, agree the first 4 weeks are all about laying a good foundation. For the last 4. Power intervals are my weakness and boy are they tough in weeks 5 and 6. But just completed Pi#3 week 7 and felt much better than I expected. My other comment is my legs always feel tied, when I start the warm up, but feel good after 5 minutes.
Any suggestions for my next plan, other than an Ftp test? Has any one done TT Tune up, back to back?
Hi there
I want to start this training plan, but when I enroll, it shows that I have to complete all 3 of the prep (wk0) workouts today (Monday). I know itās an advanced plan and all, but do I really need to do over 3 hours training in 1 day? So I guess my question is, is there a specific day of the week when I should enroll, such that these opening workouts are spread out a bit?
Thanks in advance!
In all other plans I have done, the prep is usually optional. The plans usually start their weeks on a Monday, so if you want to do this as well, just enroll earlier in a week. Week 1 will then start on the following Monday.
Hi all,
To keep this topic current and offer another review, my take is very similar to what is generally said above - weeks 1 to 4 are excellent and all manageable. Week 5 gets hard then it gets harder from week 6 on. Did an FTP test before starting and knew it was going to be a hard road once underway.
Currently at week 7 and starting to cull a few workouts to stay on top of rest and avoid the legs turning into rocks. Talking to other cyclists that have coaches who are humans, one fault of this plan is the lack of rest days. I started to feel the pinch at the start of week 6 and was constantly tired. With life getting in the way and missing out on outdoor rides for 2 months, this was wearing thin so completing workouts that are achievable was the way forward. Some of the power targets in weeks 7 and 8 are nearly impossible and can just be completed through at 90% bias (yeah right I am going to do 615w for 2 mins mid workout!). Yep, it is a cop-out but Iāve taken the approach that more may be gained by skipping 1 or 2 workouts that will break me rather than trying to complete them and taking even more time to recover.
This plan does have its benefits though - for the handful of rides I have done outside since starting, endurance is easier, hard efforts are manageable and have ticked up the average speed on training routes without gassing myself out.
It is worth it but some planning to commit for 8 weeks and managing rest is key.
Cheers,
Paul
Yes, a properly set FTP makes the last few weeks of this workout impossible (at least for me). Great way to start your day with an epic failure.
Iām just into week 2 and reading these threads with great interest. Iām familiar with training that focuses on HR zones and my first concern is that I havenāt yet got out of HR Tempo (HR Zone 3). So far, 85% of my first 8 rides are all in Recovery and Aerobic heart rate zones (HR Zone 1&2). This doesnāt seem right for rides called Anaerobic and Anaerobic Endurance - Iām expecting some VO2Max efforts. It does make sense to build aerobic base in the first few weeks so maybe the rides are just labeled inappropriately? What does look positive about the plan so far is that when I look at my first two weeks in Training Peaks, it shows a consistent IF with a smooth increase in TSS. The lack of rest days is building my Fatigue quickly but in a smooth manner. Iām trying to resist manually increasing the intensity of the rides, but I am actually getting cold on some ridesā¦ and when has zwifting ever been anything but a heat and sweat fest? Anyway, I am at very early days and it sounds as though I will be tested very hard in the weeks ahead, so I am reserving judgement and just trusting it for now. I am tempted to artificially increase my FTP in week 3 by 10% and then again in week 4, before putting it back to normal on week 5 to smooth the transition. I hope to get some VO2Max preparation before hitting week 5/6.
Never tried TT Tune Up, but I wonder if your FTP is set incorrectly in the game, your HR should be well out of Zone 1 for any of those tempo, threshold, or anaerobic exercises in the first two weeks.
Have to agree, it doesnāt seem right. I just increased my FTP by 10% and did the 30/30 anaerobic #3. Very slight improvement, but still nowhere near what I think it should be. HR seems too low but TSS and IF are getting more credible. Either my FTP is way off, or my aerobic fitness is stronger than my bike legs? Might bump the FTP up another 10%.
