Please explain Intensity vs Ride Feel

[lonewolfcyclist]

Hi Alex,

It’s me again—sorry to keep bothering you with small questions like this! I do try to figure things out on my own as much as possible.

I have a question about the ride feel or intensity in the CJ training plan. From what I can tell, there are two ways to adjust the intensity: the slider and the radio buttons.

I’ve been experimenting with different combinations, but I can’t quite figure out what each one is actually doing. I notice the workouts get harder or easier, but I want to understand how they change. What exactly does the slider affect, and what do the radio buttons do? When should I use one over the other, depending on what I want to get out of the training?

For context, I’m quite motivated and can handle tough sessions, but I’m not looking to bury myself on the trainer every day, haha. I get that “harder” doesn’t always mean “better,” so I’m trying to find the most effective setup—getting the best results with the least unnecessary suffering.

Would appreciate any insights on how the intensity adjusters work. Thanks a lot!

[dthrog00]

Not Alex, but from a user perspective:

Intensity number = what difficulty the non-zone 2 workout is. Each of the blocks goes from 1 to 21 with the difficulty increasing as the number goes up. Zone 2 intensity goes up slightly also as the number increases.

Text descriptions = how difficult are the zone 2 sections of the workout. Level 1 + Mostly Easy may be ~ 60%. Level 1 + Tried The Above Options will be quite a bit higher, over 70%?

Dave

[Alex]

Yes Dave has it right.

Intensity increases the “Main work level” which mostly means the main work has more or longer intervals and ride feel increases the intensity of the secondary work.

See below

[lonewolfcyclist]

Ah okay I understand now. Thank you!