@Spoken_Velo comment on having 3 levers is pretty spot on. For me racing gives me motivation to be consistent, I can’t do volume so have leaned heavily on intensity to improve this year.
virtual racing is enough of a taste of the real thing that I try to use it strategically to keep my motivation high. last night I was struggling to complete 6min threshold blocks, pulled the pin, joined a 10mile TT and did a solid 25min of threshold and above. ¯\_(ツ)_/.
I have been using a combination of Zwift workouts and FasCat Coaching plans that I can use in Zwift and outside. I have started to do more group rides. with a few local groups here and the legs are getting better.
I like Xert because it takes the work I’m doing on my outdoor unstructured rides into account and updates my plan accordingly. If I get sick or busy, it just adapts. I’ve tried their new-ish Magic Buckets Garmin app a few times to add some structure to outdoor rides, but the indoor workouts are much simpler to follow. I’ve also tried TrainerRoad (2-3 times). I had a hard time sticking with it each time for two reasons: even the low-volume plans can be too much intensity for me, and it doesn’t adapt to outdoor rides or deviations from plan as well as Xert, so if I got off-track for any reason it screwed up the whole plan. I don’t doubt TR works great for many people, but my life is too unstructured to stick to a highly structured plan!
Just be warned that Xert can be somewhat daunting to setup and get started with. There is a web app, a smartphone app, and Garmin apps that work together. It’s developed by a small, very technically focused team, and the user base seems to skew more technical if the discussions on their community forums are any indication. If you need support, you may well end up interacting directly with the founder and main developer.
Out of curiosity, have you tried TrainerRoad’s Train Now feature? That sounds like a good fit.
I had mixed results with TrainerRoad. I think it works well if it’s mostly all you’re doing, ie TrainerRoad workouts plus whatever longer rides you enjoy. The ease of use is excellent thanks to the app design and calendar, and it’s great just dropping in a plan and seeing exactly what’s coming, as well as the app making adjustments around improvements or fatigue.
I found I wasn’t consistent enough to make the most of the plans, however. During racing seasons I’d end up either overtraining due to too much intensity, or just doing easy spins, which seemed like a waste of the app. I found my FTP bounced up and down within a 10-watt window and I never really improved. Any other outdoor rides (for which I don’t have power numbers) or runs meant I either tried to do too much that week to stick with the plan, or I skipped workouts and “wasted” the plan.
The “ride now” feature probably made more sense for me, but it wasn’t as motivating as the plans, and again felt like I was paying money for features I wasn’t using.
I’m currently using zwift, have found online racing to be more realistic and enjoyable than I thought it would be, and the workouts available on there enough for me to utilise once or twice a week without the pressure to stick with a plan.
We’re all wired differently 
On Zift I found that I don’t care for races, but fast group rides work well for longer sustained efforts. I’ve also built some simple interval workouts that work well for those “Got an hour, need to get some work in” days.
I think it’s good to find an interval workout that you like(?) and repeat it at least a few times. There is a learning curve to doing intervals well, and you miss the progression if you keep trying something new every time.
Yes, I tried TR’s TrainNow feature. It did help to prevent overtraining, but did not adapt the program if I missed workouts or did unstructured rides instead of workouts.
TR does adapt your training depending on what you have done. If you don’t train, then your Progression Levels will decay, for instance, which means you will be given easier workouts with time.
Outdoor workouts are included in many of their algorithms, most importantly in their AI FTP and their fatigue management system (Red Light/Green Light). You just don’t get Progression Level bumps at the moment, though.
The last time I tried TR, Red Light/Green Light was new and did help the problem of TR recommending high intensity right after a tough outdoor ride, but I still found it too structured for me. When I didn’t follow the program and it tried to adapt by giving me easier workouts, I ended up not seeing much benefit relative to the amount of work I did. I see more progression from the way Xert handles outdoor rides, and that provides more motivation for me than TR. It’s entirely down to how I use these training aids, I’m sure TR works great for many people.
Progression Levels are worthless until they incorporate outside rides, both structured (using actual data, not “This workout was completed”) and unstructured.
TR has been promising PL2.0 for something like 4 years and it is still nowhere to be seen, AFAIK. If PL’s only reflect some of the training you are doing, there is no value to them.
With the understanding that this is personal and situational, asking mostly for fun: Who has an interval workout or pattern that you particularly like? And why do you like it?
Dead simple: 5x5min/1min or 7x4min/2min in erg mode. The 1 min rest keeps the heart rate up, the 2 min rest lets me go a bit harder. Power set so the last one hurts but I’m not shattered. I think the simplicity and repetition helps with the goal of “being comfortable being uncomfortable” – the “yeah, this hurts, but I can hold it”.
Standing for part of the rest interval helps.
As part of the warmup, I find that 3 high-cadence blocks – 1 min @120RPM -really helps get my legs ready. The last one feels much better than the first.
Another thing that seems to work for me is getting off the trainer and immediately doing a set of full-depth goblet squats with a kettlebell. I figure I’ve just been working with a limted range of motion and a bit of work over the full range is good while my legs are still warm. Mentally, one set is easy to think of as part of the trainer session. Anything more becomes A Whole Other Thing and easy to skip.
I don’t think they are useless, because I don’t think most unstructured rides would raise any PL (except for endurance/Z2). You can only push PLs if you focus your on a single power zone, which you don’t do on unstructured rides.
What is important is to monitor fatigue of outdoor rides, which RL/GL does.
If structured training adds too much life stress, then maybe it is not for you. After all, cycling should be fun.
I think you have a good approach as I think doing a bit of weights and other sports like swimming and running are super important to ensure you have a functional body that will be robust enough to last for the next 5+ decades.
Regarding cycling, I think the earlier posts about consistency, sustainability, mix of intensities, specificity and progressive overload have it right. Then it does not matter much exactly what you do, as all training programs that follow these principles will provide gains. (See literature on polarized vs sweet spot)
That said, Cycling also a technical sport, so getting some guidance or doing research on aero and rolling resistance, position, nutrition, technique etc is a good idea as smart choices are easier to implement than getting faster through training.
The other key thing is that what works for some people is a waste of time for others, so I’d look very carefully at your profile before doing “average” training. For instance, I took 45 minutes off my HIM by doing less than half of typical swim training and investing this effort into running intervals, building long runs and weight loss.
Now though, I am going to give some ChatGPT assisted training a go. I’ve seen various posts outlining how to set it up, and it seems like a more flexible and interactive tool than a set program.
I think you just proved my point. PL’s are a purely TR-developed metric that are based on nothing other than TR’s protocol. I can guarantee that on some of our local group rides, I am getting pushed farther and deeper on hard efforts…threshold and VO2, etc. But those rides may as well not exist in the eyes of TR.
And if there wasn’t value in those rides, then TR would not have been promising PL2.0 for 4 years. The problem is they (as they often do) pushed something out before it was fully ready. …and now they are kinda stuck.
If I’m training outside then something like 30/30’s are great because all you need is a quiet road with decent sightlines and you can just bury yourself. I quite like how they go from ‘hey, this feels easy, maybe I’m a good cyclist now’ to ‘this hurts so much maybe I’ll sell all my bikes’ in the space of a couple of reps.
If I’m training indoors then I like (but also hate) over/unders. The reason I like them is for the broader life lesson they remind me of: it’s amazing how much better you can feel if you just take your foot off the gas a little bit.
Agree. Whatever strength and cycling program that keeps you doing it. And eat well to match it.
I don’t think so.
You are conflating pushing yourself with making fitness gains in specific power ranges leading to characteristic adaptations. Group rides that simulate aspects of racing will make you a better rider in the same way that skills sessions, trails and cornering drills will make you a better rider. But it need not improve your fitness, at least not directly.
In my experience outdoor rides that are not solo endurance rides are used to improve pacing (solo), drafting and group riding as well as learning cornering from others. But fitness-wise not so much. The exception are solo endurance rides.
Also, you misunderstood what Progression Levels (≠ Performance levels!) are for: they are to help AT and you pick the right workout to stay in progressive overload.
That’s a very important point. Many training plans are designed to maximize performance on the bike. However, it’d be healthier if you regularly enjoyed a broad mix of physical activities and sports to be more well-rounded and versatile.
Weight lifting is very important, too. I have nixed two cycling workouts in favor of two strength workouts. I reckon my on-the-bike performance will suffer (I peaked at lower W/kg this year), but I felt much better in an aero position.
I wouldn’t. LLMs like ChatGPT are great if you either want to learn about training fundamentals or adjust workouts and microcycles. They are very poor when it comes to designing and adapting workouts. Very often they will recommend training plans that are plainly non-sensical. I asked Qwen (an LLM like ChatGPT) to suggest a training plan for a cyclocross racer yesterday. It forgot that rest weeks existed. It kept on repeating the same workouts for weeks. And many of the workouts were all-out 1-minute or 30-second sprint workouts. 
I hear you! let’s see how the AI assisted (note assisted) training plan goes - my experience from using it daily in other areas is that it GenAI is a great tool for helping to shape and develop things where you are already proficient, but not a great tool for beginners unable to spot garbage outputs.