wktmeow

I'm going to try to introduce some structure back into my 'training.' Subscribed to trainingpeaks for a year so I could use their calendar to plan my workouts.

So far the tentative plan is to keep the focus on lifting until July (4x/week), while doing basic low intensity aerobic where I can, then switch to aerobic work while trying to slowly shed fat and drop the weights down to 2x/week.

Strength work currently consists of 4x/week, one day each for squats, deadlifts, bench, and press, following a 5/3/1 protocol with accessories. I'll be filling in the gaps with z2, alternating between cycling, rowing, and running, but keeping overall intensity and volume low. Z2 work will be primarily fasted in the mornings

Aerobic block will likely be 3-4 days of z2, 1 day of vo2max, 1 day of threshold, with progressively increasing durations for 5 weeks, 6th week rest and test, then reset durations at new power target (and if the power hasn't gone up significantly, then keep pushing duration). Lifting days will be 1 day deadlift/press, 1 day squats/bench, and minimal accessory work. I'll continue to progress if I'm able but the goal is to at least maintain. Progression for vo2 will be something like 8x3', 6x4', 5x5', 4x8'. Progression for threshold work will be something like 2x15', 2x20', 3x15', 2x25', 4x15', 3x20', 2x30', etc, or possibly similar but with sweet spot and longer starting durations. Testing will be trying to negative split alpe du zwift, starting at sweet spot and ramping up, taking the last 35-40 minutes or so avg as the new FTP (I have a habit of going out way too hard otherwise, and my 20 min power is usually skewed by anaerobic such that I can never really hold the calculated FTP for an hour). Z2 work will fill in the rest, primarily fasted, and I may continue to spend some time on the rower and running (rower to help offset imbalances, running because it's easy to fit in a stroller run with the kiddo mid-day)

Then I'm going to alternate every 12 weeks or so between the strength building and the endurance building phases, since I'm not planning on going back to racing for a bit. The end game is to slowly gain weight in the form of muscle, with minimal fat, while retaining a decent level of endurance and improving my sprint gradually over time. All this with the caveat of trying to not suck at being a dad being the priority, so I may need to skip workouts here and there.

Sorry if I posted this before, it's a bit of a self-experiment, but my hypothesis and my hope is that as I increase muscle mass, I should have a higher aerobic power ceiling via increased total mitochondrial volume within the leg muscles (though density will likely not improve or may even go down a bit). I've always felt that my legs run out of steam well before I feel like my lungs or heart are maxed out. It could be that this is an illusion, but I haven't found much research into the effect on aerobic power of increasing muscle mass, so I'm just going to try it for my self. I can't compete with the good climbers even at my lightest, so I might as well try to get better at the flats. Since most of the racing here consists of criteriums anyway, worst case scenario is my FTP hits the same levels but I have a bigger sprint and anaerobic capacity, so my performance should still be better overall. If all goes well and adding 10-15 lbs of muscle can bring my FTP from the ~280-290 @ 145 lbs up to 300-310 @ 160 lbs, and get my sprint from ~1200 to 1400+, then I think it'll be worth the additional weight.