Am I doing SST?

LT Intolerant said:

Many moons ago RDO wrote..."my 2 hr MP is only ~90-95% of my 1 hr MP. I think it continuously declines and if I were to predict my 5 hr MP it would be ~75-80% of my 1 hr MP."

Given the above, when I do a set of 2 x 20s that are 85% of my FTP, in hour 4 after a 3 hour group ride, am I doing a Tempo workout, with Tempo level physiological adaptation, or am I doing an SST/TH wkt, with SST/TH adaptation.

thx in advance for the help.

gene r

Yes to both.

Alex Simmons said:

Yes to both.

Thanks for the quick reply Alex (as always). So if I hear you correctly even though my wkt is at 85% and FTP, and the "mythical" SST wktt zone runs from 88%-94% of FTP per what I've read, I am doing an SST wkt and getting Threshold physiological benefits when accounting for the power drop in hour 4.

Did I get it right?

thx

gene r

88-94% is the super sweet spot. The sweet spot is fairly large though it's often not practical at the extremes.

Your 2x20 at 85% are in the sweet spot because 85% is in the sweet spot, not because fatigue bumped up an 85% effort into the 88-94% range.

With the likely exception of altitude, anything that transiently lowers your FTP (heat, riding indoors, riding with one leg, P*wercranks) also lowers the training effect even if the effort is at the same percent of the lowered FTP.

Squint said:

Your 2x20 at 85% are in the sweet spot because 85% is in the sweet spot, not because fatigue bumped up an 85% effort into the 88-94% range.

Interesting, as I didn't realize the sweet spot was a larger than the percentages I quoted. I know it's a continuum, and not an exact science, but I didn't relaize this. Thanks.

Squint said:

With the likely exception of altitude, anything that transiently lowers your FTP (heat, riding indoors, riding with one leg, P*wercranks) also lowers the training effect even if the effort is at the same percent of the lowered FTP.

Again thanks for this insight. I guesss this is where I was heading with my question. While my perceived exertion is that I'm doing "hard" work (in hour 4), I don't "feel" that I'm getting the same training effect as when I do SST when I'm fresh in the first hour of a ride.

gene r

LT Intolerant said:

Interesting, as I didn't realize the sweet spot was a larger than the percentages I quoted. I know it's a continuum, and not an exact science, but I didn't relaize this. Thanks.

Here's a good article describing SST.
http://www.fascatcoaching.com/training_tips/SweetSpot_partdeux.html
-richard

cooljazz said:

Here's a good article describing SST.
fascatcoaching.comSweetSpot partdeux.htmlOpen ↗
-richard

Thanks for the link Richard. I've seen that article before but didn't look closely at the graphic showing the sweet spot covering most of the Tempo and Threshold zone.

I guess my real question had to do with the training effect one gets when doing workouts in hours 3,4, etc. once your power output as a % of FTP begins to fade.

Thanks again.

gene r

LT Intolerant said:

I didn't realize the sweet spot was a larger than the percentages I quoted.

I'd say that the "sweet spot" is more of a concept than an exact exercise intensity. If you twist my arm and insist that I put numbers on it, though, I'd say that it spans roughly from 85 to 100% of functional threshold power, with the apex somewhere in between.

acoggan said:

I'd say that the "sweet spot" is more of a concept than an exact exercise intensity. If you twist my arm and insist that I put numbers on it, though, I'd say that it spans roughly from 85 to 100% of functional threshold power, with the apex somewhere in between.

Thanks Andy. Nice to know I can go a bit easier (than I have been), <88%, and still achieve the physiological benefits I'm looking for when working in the SST zone.

gene r

LT Intolerant said:

Thanks Andy. Nice to know I can go a bit easier (than I have been), <88%, and still achieve the physiological benefits I'm looking for when working in the SST zone.

gene r

I agree! As a triathlete, working in runs, swims, and back to back bike workouts, I find it pretty hard some days to keep the intensity above 90%.
-richard