Who is using training blocks such as 3 or 4 weeks training hard and one week easy/off? How is it working for you?

I was planning on 3 weeks hard, each one made up of: M (easy day), T and Th intervals (hard days), Wed (easy/alternative activity), Fri (easy/race prep), Sat or Sunday (longer ride or race). These 3 weeks would be followed by one week easy to moderate riding with alternative activities, then back to the 3 week block again.

Just roughly, we usually ride our "long rides" on Saturdays like that ...

Sat 1 - medium ride

Sat 2 - longish ride

Sat 3 - long ride

Sat 4 - short ride

And repeat.

I do that, not varying the activities so much as the weekly hours. 3 weeks gradually building hours, 1 week with hours cut almost in half, then back to peak hours over another 3 weeks.

Sorry for the off-topic post.
[MENTION=78894]Carbonfiberboy[/MENTION], they've started grooming in the Methow. Rendezvous today, Mazama tomorrow.

That's too long a timeframe to plan out. You never know with the weather and all the other stuff you need to do. I ride when I can ride. In sunny SoCal, maybe it is less of a factor than here in NYC.

Easy for me in the PNW because I don't just ride my bike outdoors. I also have rollers, a gym membership, run, ski, snowshoe, and hike. I change my activities with the weather, but try to keep the hours and training stress about as planned.

Yes ...

We'll pencil in a set of rides for the next month or two, with a plan like I outlined in Post 2. Most of the time we're able to follow that plan, but every once in a while (like last weekend, for example) a massive low pressure system moves in and drops a whole lot of rain and wind on us.

So, instead of going for a long ride, we dropped in at the gym on Saturday and did a run on the treadmill, and then dropped in at the gym again, and did a decent row on the rowing machine. Then I came home and rode my trainer for a while. And we'll push our long ride off to the coming weekend or perhaps the one after.

The plan is flexible enough to accommodate changes like that. And a little cross-training is good.

I've found that real life just doesn't work in nice blocks. I'll ride, ride more, take a break, ride a lot, ride a little, go easy, etc.

Whatever life and my legs dictate. The problem with scheduling blocks occurs when you're halfway through the second week and feeling destroyed. Going to keep pushing through for another week and a half until the "scheduled" break? Same thing the other way. Get to the end of week 3 and feel awesome with great weather and lots of time available next week. Going to take your scheduled break, then?

Your body doesn't really know 3 weeks on, 1 week off. Your body only knows the recent stimulus it's undergone. Whether or not you're properly recovering from that and can push on or back off comes with a bit of experimenting and experience.

I agree. I rarely have a full "rest week" (even if by rest week you mean decreased intensity/volume as opposed to completely taking off) unless I'm sick or on vacation (and even some of our vacations include some riding). There are a few A-priority events that I taper for, I guess you could maybe consider those rest weeks although I tend to keep intensity up and just drop volume for tapers.

I take rest days as needed, and sometimes real life gets in the way of training and I have to take more days off in a given week than I'd prefer. But since I tend to follow a polarized training approach, I don't overreach to the point of needing a full week to recover. I can see how it would be necessary with some of the more traditional training plans, where you're doing 3/4/5 days of tough intensity in a row for weeks on end during the build phase; but as a master's athlete that training approach doesn't make much sense for me. Quality intensity work requires more recovery before you're ready to repeat it as I get older, so rather than a big block of intensity followed by a big block of recovery, I use smaller blocks with more easy days interspersed. So with a polarized training approach, the recovery is less structured than traditional training (at least for me).

That's not to say there's no periodization with my training approach, as the specific types of intensity work will vary depending on where I am in the training season, and some weeks may be harder than others.

Rather than doing 3 to 4 week blocks of hard followed by a week of easy, I suggest starting out doing 2 weeks hard and 1 easy. Then work up from there once you have a feel for how much you can handle. The practice of overreaching followed by recovery can look great on paper, but it has to be fine tuned for the real world and the other stresses a person goes through in life.

That's how I do it too. Works great.

3 weeks on 1 week off works great for me.

I always start the first week of every block somewhat conservative, adding 10% volume or intensity each week until the final week, where I really push myself and get it out of me. My week off consists of very little biking. Helps give me a chance to do other activities like hiking, playing basketball etc... No structure, but still active for general health purposes.

By the time the next block starts, Im feeling fresh and motivated. I always start at a slightly higher level than the last block to promote progression. The cycle repeats for a couple months, then I take a full week or two completely off between seasons.

What are your "off" weeks like? Still riding? If so, how light do you go? I have a problem of not knowing if I'm going too easy or too hard during my easy days. I guess I just go by how I feel. The problem is that I always want to go hard and get certain PRs or go easy until I get to a KOM I'm trying for.

Easy weeks are done for recovery. They should be timed when recovery is needed and most beneficial based on the amount of fatigue one is carrying from the past several weeks.

For most people 3 and 1 works very well but in the absence of actual training data it is at best a guess.

A free subscription to Training Peaks will provide a certain degree of accuracy. TP uses a number called "Training Stress Balance" or TSB which indicates the balance between stress and fatigue. When it gets too low and stays there then it indicates that some recovery is needed.

-Tim-

This is what I go by. It does a pretty good job of tracking fatigue, if you're honest about setting your numbers and logging all your workouts.

I have an easy 4mile bike commute so even on my off weeks, I'm not totally off my bike. Just a super mellow ride to work and back is better than total rest, at least for me.