Need help scheduling L5's

If you don't race, why do L5?

If you have 2 sessions Mon-Thurs, take Monday off. L5 Tuesday, L4 Wednesday, L2 Thursday.

Do your most intense workout first when fully recovered: So Off/L5/L4/E would be a 4 day pattern for you.

Spunout said:

If you don't race, why do L5?

If you have 2 sessions Mon-Thurs, take Monday off. L5 Tuesday, L4 Wednesday, L2 Thursday.

Do your most intense workout first when fully recovered: So Off/L5/L4/E would be a 4 day pattern for you.

do them monday....or rest monday and do them tuesday.

If you're going to go through the mental and physical agony of 5 x 5 you need to be fresh and focussed.

Spunout said:

If you don't race, why do L5?

If you have 2 sessions Mon-Thurs, take Monday off. L5 Tuesday, L4 Wednesday, L2 Thursday.

Do your most intense workout first when fully recovered: So Off/L5/L4/E would be a 4 day pattern for you.

I said I don't race, but that isn't enitely true. You see, we all race. Some in organized races, while the rest of us are racinig our cycling buddies on the weekends. At the very least, we race ourselves. If I'm not pushing myself for improvement then I think I would become bored with the sport.

I have very low FTP. It is improving with work, but I'm hoping raising the ceiling with some L5 work will help.

Thanks for the suggesstions. Is one L5 session a week enough to see improvement?

n2olowe said:

Thanks for the suggesstions. Is one L5 session a week enough to see improvement?

yeah.....if you get "maximum" time at VO2 max.....for even the fittest riders this around 25 - 30 mins.....it takes a while to get to the level where you stay in L5 for that duration without tiring and slipping back into L4....

maybe start out with 4 x 4, or 3 x 5.....work your way up.

5 x 5 really works you over. You feel it in your legs for the next few days.

n2olowe said:

My current training schedule is as follows.

Sat= tough 2-3 hour group ride on Sat
Sun= easy 1-2 hr ride, sometimes no ride at all
MON-thurs = two trainer sessions of L4 work. Usually l4 20x2 or 3 each day.

My question is when should I do my L5 work? After the L4 sessions? Add another training day that focussed just on L5? Is it okay to to them the following day after L4 work.

No, I don't race but I am trying to improve as much as possible with the training time I have. Thanks for any help.

You could do a Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday block and then take two days off/super easy before your group ride on Saturday. I wil be doing the same pattern: Tue-L5, Wed-L5, Thu-L4/L3, and Sunday group ride 4-5 hrs. The 2 days off is crucial. I actually feel it more on the 2nd day, so don't be tempted to ride after only one day off, just because you may feel pretty good on that first day.