What to do after Couch to Crusher

Training
#1

Hi everyone!

I will be finishing up Couch to Crusher in the next week and I’m looking to see what to get into after!

From the bit of research in the forums, it looks like after the FF, it will let me know what I am good at and what I am weak at. I assume there is suggestions for a special plan to do after the test that works on my weaknesses. My big issue is I want to get into Yoga/Strength a lot more. Would it be fine to omit whatever yoga/strength that plan has and do a full blown yoga/strength plan on top of the cycling plan? I’m looking for Day 0 yoga and intermediate strength training.

Thanks in advance!

#2

One of my frustrations with Suf is that they do not seem to put the workouts associated with your strengths and weaknesses into the plan that you have chosen. In addition, there is no easy way to find out which plans have those workouts.

Many plans give you the option to put in strength training or yoga sessions. You can simply choose not to add them, and then add whatever yoga or strength you wish.

There are Cross Training plans that allow you to independently add yoga or strength training plans.

#3

Just my opinion but I think you are confusing two things.

The plans are built around your goal(s) and, via 4DP, adapted to your rider type.

The workouts suggested after determining your rider type are simply standalone workouts, i.e. a Pursuiter or Attacker may find Revolver suited to their type but this may not be a particularly good workout to repeat if your goal is a 200 mile gravel grinder (just for a hypothetical example).

I think the plans have moved away from “improve one aspect of my 4DP” and more to “this is what I want to achieve, how do I get there”.

Maybe the 3 week building block plans are the closest you could get to what you describe (I just did a quick check for my strengths and the building block has a good match for those recommendations).

If anything, I’d advocate removing the recommended workouts to avoid this confusion.

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#4

I am not confusing anything.

Since the coaches seem to strongly suggest you should be following some plan, I think it is pointless to recommend workouts for you to do, and then not make them part of the plan you choose, or at the least mention which plans have them.

If they were to follow your suggestion of removing the recommended workouts, they should then recommend plans to remedy the weaknesses.

Of course, you might not care about your weaknesses if they do not relate to your goals.

#5

@monstorr Congrats on completing the plan! A key question for you would be what are your goals? You may want to check out the Mental Toughness Program workbook which provides a framework for making those decisions and the MTP videos are great as well:

You could certainly chose to do yoga as a separate plan or just add more yoga videos on top of whatever is in your plan. However, be careful with how much strength you add especially when it is outside of the plan as it should be coordinated with your recovery days. Let it develop first and make sure that you are adapting and that strength isn’t interfering with your performance on the bike. It is easy to go overboard with strength and can set you back.

Good luck!

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#6

Hi @monstorr

As others have mentioned, that depends largely on what your personal goals are. So find a plan that matches your goals and run with it.

If you’re looking for good general biking fitness + strength and yoga I might suggest the Metric Century plan at the novice or intermediate level and adding in the strength and yoga at the levels you desire. The one caveat is this does have a larger time commitment on the weekends for longer endurance rides. But there’s little (or no) replacement for long, sustained endurance rides when it comes to improving your cycling endurance. Additionally when you add strength to their century or metric century plans it adjusts the bike workouts to account for the extra strength training.

In any case, mixing the intensity of the regular suf video workouts during the week with endurance on the weekends has been great for me personally. So it might be a good place for you to go as well.

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#7

Thanks for the info everyone! I’ll look into the 3 week building blocks as well as the Metric Century plan.

@JSampson, Honestly I don’t have any solid goals other than just getting stronger on the bike overall. I guess doing my very first century would be a good place to start. I plan on hopefully getting into some cross in the fall if the situation allows. Also wanted to dabble in some crits but it doesn’t look like any are planned at the moment in my area.

@Brian_Kraemer, love your avatar photo! It looks like a local metro station in DC!

#8

Thanks! You are correct. It’s a long exposure photo from the Navy Yard metro station.

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