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

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Example Workouts: 

1. 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 
2. 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 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 jrutberg@trainright.com 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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