Turbo Trainer Advice

What does that mean?
Low effort etc.

I think you can look at it this way:
You’ve been doing some races recently and you might have also been training.

Stick to the plan a bit longer, I’m sure there is a ramp test/ ftp test coming up.

Your reaction to VO2 work may have changed because you’ve been racing flat out at cross and you’re comparing your past performances on the turbo when you might have been differently trained.

Words words words

Yeah ageee, I’m happy to stick to the plan and I’d tend to agree, by low effort I mean a session I’d previously have expected to end at max HR I’m now 10-15bmp less.
My thinking was therefor am I being stretched enough was all

Look at the plan as a whole. What comes up next?

Also: are you paying your mortgage with your results or are you just doing the best you can to enjoy bikes at the best you can?

What’s the goal here? To be flying in December and January at the end of the se cross league?

There’s one, possibly two, London League races in the whole of December and January.

If I have six weeks of vo2 max progression I wouldn’t want to be struggling on the first workout

I’m going to stick to the adaptive plan. Suppose I’m anxious about recommitting to the turbo and being no better off after 3/4months.

DON'T FEAR THE TURBO.
DON'T FEAR THE TURBO.

woaaah

If you're just riding for 'fun' then sure but I reckon regular tests are essential for proper progression. I've done a lot though and can pretty easily tell if the last test was shit or I'm knackered and whatever. I float around in a land of moderate discomfort interspersed with boredom and some flashes of seeing God*

*there is no God

1hr tests are nonsense. Who does those other than people placing too much weight in their FTP value. You want something you can bust out every few weeks to monitor progression or lack of. I used to 20min test a lot and then moved to TRs Ramp Tests for simplicity. I did some back to back testing and I'm happy with how they work. Whatever you use, stick to it through the season and then try something next season if you want.

I often do struggle with the first couple, especially after an FTP bump. But if I'm struggling after the third or fourth one, then I drop my FTP a bit.

Or do what I'm doing now and watch the turbo gather dust while tile bagging instead.

I agree with @dbr that I wouldn’t want the first session to be too hard, I wouldn’t do any more, and certainly would want it to get harder.
@hippy I’ve done a few but it’s a fair point, you can’t always trust a ramp test and I will probably do a power test outdoors soon to help calibrate, then redo the ramp halfway through this block. Motivation was low, I hadn’t used this testing format before, I’d had covid, I knew I wasn’t fit etc.. so my result wasn’t my peak

my result wasn’t my peak

It's not supposed to be. It's supposed to be a snapshot at a period of time. Too many people forget this and their ego can't take it being lower so they leave it or bump it and then training suffers. It's meant to fluctuate up and down.

But it’s a test!
I do well in tests!
I always have.

Todays session was suitably self harming.

With that in mind, what goals do others have that maybe I can piggy back on.l, the more creative and silky the better

Loosely had the Fred W, in mind next year and I’d like to do more cross racing

But it’s a test!
I cheat well in tests!
I always have.

What's that stupid cross race that everyone loves? 300 peaks of mud or something? Ask a northerner... they'll know.

I have one of those bar mounted Tacx tablet mounts if anyone wants to take it from me.
1 beer.

The Three Peaks.

Tried a vacmaster today.
No shin gutters required.

So I was pretty close.

I’m still finding similar to this, but today doing sweet spot 4x8 mins with 90 sec rest I realised maybe my heart rate isn’t climbing over 140bpm because I’m not doing any more than 190 watts. If this was sufferfest zwift or similar the workout might have some 10-20 sec sprints thrown in which would spike the hr.
After 3 weeks of regular sweet spot on the turbo I’d say the combined load is adding up (plus running, swimming and gym) but I still am incapable of managing to execute the outdoor workouts effectively!

My road bike is going through a warranty replacement so in the meantime will be majority indoors on the TT bike. I have a Kickr Core and a low enough ceiling where it's set up I am a bit limited to putting the whole lot on a traditional rocker plate.

I saw this through Google Search: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1597850484/indoor-turbo-trainer-rocker-feet

but similarly i think the design is so simple that there are 3d printing STL files available online.

Has anyone tried this? Will get a quote to see how much it is to print 4 of these rocker feet, am guessing it's less than £139

Worth asking someone in the 3D printing thread if the might do it for you, almost guaranteed to be cheaper, might just take longer and come in a funky colour.

to add to the trainer road plan thoughts, after 4 weeks and now doing 10mins sweetspotx4 with 15 sec rest the power target is fine! I can do a bit over the power but at this time of year in the cold it’s plenty. Still struggle with the outdoor workouts but that’s a work in progress learning to pace and find the right loops