Originally Posted by
mollusk
Not trying to be snarky, but what is the point of it other than to break the monotony of Z2 base riding? I keep seeing posts about doing 2x20's at fractions a fair bit less than FTP and I am at a loss to figure out why. I have always done them above FTP when doing them for effect. Am I doing them wrong?
Throwing some in during a base period just to keep things interesting is fine. I try to throw at least one 1.5 hour SST ride in after a couple of weeks of base and some frisky riding with friends on 4+ hour rides is also a good thing. Base is horribly boring, but it is the foundation upon which you build.
The key to doing shorter SST sessions like that seems to be that you can do them day after day without needing too much/any rest. It seems to work pretty well for
some people. 2x20's @ SST 5 days a week, followed by harder weekend rides will have you at a decent CTL by the end of the winter if you're consistent.
Edit: forgot to refresh the page, just saw justkeepspinning's reply, spot on
I'm not nearly as consistent as some. I actually take days off the bike sometimes, but I'm working on fixing this. I'm doing 3x20's @ 90% right now (just finished a set actually), and sprinkling in 2x20's @ 95%-100% when I feel good or don't have as much time, and I think I'll start mixing in some 2x30's, 3x25's, etc later on.