Here is my situation: I’m 63 years old and have been regularly riding a road bike on Saturdays for the past 13 years, always covering between 60 and 90 km (zones 2 and 3). I’ve just joined TrainerDay and bought a turbo trainer. I’m available to train 2 or 3 times per week.
Which training plan should I choose? I don’t have any specific goals like races, etc. My objective is simply to stay in shape and, of course, if possible, improve a bit in terms of strength or endurance.
Hi, congrads on the new trainer. I would say these 3 things factor into how you should choose a plan
What is fun for you and keeps you motivated
What is safe and smart
What helps you achieve your goals
Overall most people should have some form of periodization although if just staying in shape is the goal and you are not killing yourself with intensity then you have a lot of flexibility. You could do the same thing all year long and meet those goals. To improve performance then following a plan that increases volume over time, say has 6 months or a longer duration with different blocks and intensities (periodization) and gives you variety during the build and peak phases. If you don’t want all this and just want simple and it sounds like you are healthy and not injured I would just do the serious italian for 16 weeks. It gives the widest variety and is my favorite block. But again if you love hard training then you could choose something harder or increase the starting intensity. I suggest starting at intensity 1 but that depends on what is fun for you. It won’t feel hard in the beginning but will be moderately hard by the end. Start with an FTP ramp test so you know your FTP…
For some people just doing zone 2 indoors with our HR+ feature and watching TV and doing something easy is a great plan and save the harder efforts for outdoor. Yearly consistency is much more important than the actual plan.