Incorporating 4DP or Half Monty prep plan into training plan

Training
#1

Hello all,

I was wondering how I would go about incorporating a half monty or 4DP test at the end of a training block. Do I:
#1. Simply replace the workouts in the recovery week by the preparation week doing the 4DP test at the end on a Sunday
#2. Do I paste that week at the end of the training plan after the recovery week has taken place?
#3. Or can I just do the recovery week and have the test on Sunday?

Any tips or experiences? Thanks!

A bit of background:
I’m still in the first week of using sufferfest as a tool for road cycling training.
I was amazed by the brutality of the 4DP test. I want to try it out while already working on my weaknesses (sustained effort) having a test at the end of a 4 week block to see what structured training could do.

My Passport: Sprinter
NM 1180
AC 437
MAP 278
FTP 212

#2

Hi Tycho.
Welcome to Sufferlandria. :slight_smile:
The 4DP test preparation is built into the longer plans already so that is easy. As for the shorter 4 week plans, it probably isn’t there as you are usually suggested to give it 2-3 months before testing again (unless you are finding the workouts too easy or waaay too hard).
What plan are you doing? A lot of them now incorporate the Half Monty half way through (end of week 6). I would wait until then if you can.
Chris

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#3

Thanks for replying!

I’m doing the Special focus < Building blocks < FTP Block (4 weeks) program and replacing the ride on Sunday with an easy ride outdoors. I selected it to get familiar with how the sufferfest works, what the workouts are about but already trying to focus on my weakness (sustained effort).

But It would be smarter to select a lengthier training program with the test already built in?

#4

Nice numbers! Yes - adding to what Chris said, I would suggest a longer plan like All Purpose Road. However, to the extent that you need it there is a week long Full Frontal Prep Plan in the calendar under Special Focus that can be added at the end of a block as well that has some prep rides and built in rest time before the test.

Note that whatever plan you chose, SUF adapts it to both your strengths and weaknesses automatically based on the FF 4DP results which is a great feature of the platform.

I would also suggest checking out the Mental Toughness Plan - there is a workbook associated with it that helps with goal setting - ultimate, monthly, weekly, etc. That might be a good guide for you to figure out where you want to concentrate your efforts in the short term and longer term.

#5

Hi, I enrolled for the all purpose road and the Mental program :wink: going to give it a try!
I was just wondering for this specific plan if the values are being adjusted or not?

In the workouts tab I see workouts having an IF and TSS, but the ones in the plan don’t have any specified. However when I start the workout all the 4DP values seem to remain at 100% (I’ve seen it been brought down to 50% on other plans for the 4 specific skills).

Is doing the plan the same as just selecting the specified workouts?

Thanks for any feedback!

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#6

Hey @Tycho,

So glad you’ve decided to do a 12 week plan. I think you’ll see much more difference in your fitness as compared to the 4 week plan.
If you applied the plan to your SUF calendar, the best thing to do is launch your workouts directly from the calendar. (Just click the workout box and it will open a modal with more info about the workout and have a play button in the top right) That way, any workout that is meant to be done at 100% intensity will automatically play at 100%. If it’s a reduced intensity session, it will automatically adjust to the specified reduced intensities. If you have a reduced intensity session on the program, but you go to the Workout list and play it from there instead of from your calendar, it will give you the full intensity workout. The reduced intensity sessions are basically there because we don’t have enough low intensity video workouts to cover the needs of recovery and general endurance rides. (This is changing very soon, however…) Stay tuned next week for more about that!

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