I'm pushing each training session to my FTP

[jawaka]

I've been to the mountains in france an italy for the last 12 years and I feel the need to keep it going as I was seriously ill for 3 years 20+ years ago. It doesn't look like I'll get there again until 2022 when I'll be 68, so I have a lot of motivation to keep training now as letting it lapse may make it difficult to get up to a high enough level then.

I am really an occasional rider, I use the bike when on holiday, some touring, but I get bored of the same routes locally and there's time too as we have a lot of grandchild care.
So I use a tacx smart trainer and like to ride the mountain routes that I've done in the past, 40 mins to an hour x2 weekly. I can't stop myself for going full out and if I'm not on a good day and my watts drop I'm annoyed with myself. I did an FTP test 193 watts and most rides are an Intensity factor of one.

I just keep any eye on my HR, which I try to keep below 150.

I am wondering if this is the best way to train as there are training programmes in the App, which does have varying intensities of sessions. I've not followed them as looking at graphs rather than a road is not really .

The TSS puzzles me as it varies widely and doesn't seem to have a relation with either the IF or Average watts.

[cyclop]

I,m afraid "getting used to the same routes locally" kind of defines any sort of outdoor cycling training regime.Find a way to add some focus to a ride apart from going as hard as possible e.g.a minute hard,minute easy,go hard on hills,ride a high cadence but moderate effort,riding to a fixed heart rate,doing strava sections,riding at a pace that doesn,t hurt.Your riding at the moment seems inadequate for your ambitions,bite the bullet and do some longer training rides,there,s no getting away from it.Find some local sportives to aim for as shorter term goals,train for them and ,voila,come 2022 you,ll be ready!You could ,of course,do exactly the same on your tacx but could you honestly do the hard miles,the 3 hr rides,the long climbs etc whilst staring at a screen?Maybe you could and good luck to you;there,s more than one way to skin a cat.Whatever you decide,you,re gonna need to do a lot more than 2x1hr turbo sessions.Good luck and hope you get there.

[xerxes]

Surely riding the same local routes can't be as boring as sitting on a training machine?

[Jdsk]

Is this what the abbreviations mean?

https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201377644-Common-Training-Acronyms-Defined-

Thanks

Jonathan

[gbnz]

I,m afraid "getting used to the same routes locally" kind of defines any sort of outdoor cycling training regime.Find a way to add some focus to a ride .

+1. Having been back locally twelve years ago, retrospectively realized I was bored silly with the local (25 mile radius rides) back in 2013.

Found a decent approach was to head down an easy 17 miles to the "boring" part of the county (Nb. Something I'd done on a purely subconcious basis). Turned out to be stunning part of the country in it's own way, encouraging 80-100 mile rides! And other than than that, other "training sessions" can be useful. Never had any interest in swimming, but purely by chance, found back in 2018 a 60 minute daily swim was generally beneficial.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
FTP
This is criminal at best of times, its certainly not to be advised that anyone would do this more than once a month!

This is your maximum you can achieve in one hour or a program of a 20 minute test regarded as quite accurate.

Just limiting your max HR won't tell you much....why are you doing this?

I would do a minimum of 60 minutes three times a week but limit getting to max effort for the first 20 minutes.
Effort can only really be measured with a power meter of a good second is a HRM (chest strap sensor), this the later would be a percentage of your max HR.
Intensity factor one is flat out intensity..............what you are aiming for would be 0.8..........maintain that for 2-3 hrs and you will be fit!
Doing flat out every time IF 1.0 is simply to intense with many disappointments.

If you have no health issues with the heart and you GP okays it, a max HR is a better starting place to set your training levels.

P.S. Turbo trainers are more intense than road work even at measurable effort / heart rate, so expect better endurance on the road.

[hamster]

It's certainly not the best way to train - you will suffer from overtraining.

Training is about stress, recovery, then adaptation. Have a look at the British Cycling training programmes available on their site.

[jawaka]

ok thanks. why? I guess it is rage against the dying of the light when 65+. Also had a year of grandchild care so just hadn't had the time or energy left to do 2+ hour rides. so tried to make the most of 40 mins to an hour.

I've since started the training programmes on the trainer software. I was a bit reluctant because there is just a screen with figures instead of a film of Alpe d'huez, etc but I've put music on and can read a book: so I've read most of Sapiens and Rovelli's book on reality, and I can recommend both. the first has some new ideas, all very clear as the writing wastes no words and if quantum mechanics is of any interest the Rovelli is the best book I've read that at least gives you a bit of understanding.

Now they are back at school I'll be doing some outside road stuff too

[JohnI]

I've always seen indoor training as a means to an end: maintain my fitness so that I can do longer rides outside. This winter I've been doing a bit more indoors than previously, and I've been on Zwift once or twice a week and outside a couple of times depending on the weather.

I've done some longer rides on Zwift, including their version of Alpe d'Huez, and having something to look at and other virtual riders around does almost make it interesting. Their workouts are not bad as well, because you follow the figures in the programme but it also looks as if you're on a real road somewhere.

I'm not trying to convert you to a different app, it's just that the key for me is variety: different routes, different intensities etc. From now until next Winter I'll be doing most of my cycling outside but also mixing up off-road and on-road, long and short rides, as well as some hill rep or interval sessions.