Ask Coach Nate 7: Sweetspot and Polarized Training

In this video Gregory and Coach Nate discuss Polarized training and Sweetspot training, what they are, why you would do either type of training, and whether they are in conflict. Depending on what your fitness level and goals are, all training intensities can be a key part of your overall program and shouldn't be avoided. But, the quantity of time spent at any intensity should be considered so that you can make sure you do the training that's important to your goals and you don't burn yourself out doing too much of any one kind of training. Likewise, we want to think about how you can focus on training that will be appropriate for your goals.

So, Sweetspot training can be a key part of any endurance athletes program, but you rarely if ever want to focus exclusively on that intensity. And, the timing of when you may do a lot of Sweetspot intensity training can vary depending on your end goals.

As always, most of your training should be diversified so that you include at least a little bit of training at different intensities (power levels or paces), but the mix and overall difficulty of your training must change over time if you want to get the best results. Singular focus on any one type of training or constantly doing difficult but not peak training will never yield the best results.

Stay healthy; mix it up; you'll reach your peak if you keep at it!

[Fenderprj]

Such a timely video especially considering it came out before the Dylan Johnson vs Trainerroad video about the same topic.

[TreyCoursey]

So a well balanced training plan with a mix of all intensities is good...got it! lol.

[MMichiganSalveRegina]

One thing I've been thinking about recently is that the way that pros ride is different than how AGers ride. For instance, a pro just needs to put down watts to not get dropped on a moment's notice and then hang out for as long as he can. AGers on the other hand can just put out a steady W all day long, and so time at that power level I have to imagine is invaluable. It's kind of a NP vs AP type of distinction maybe. Also I do non-drafting triathlon so that's the lens I'm using here

[Avianthro]

It just doesn't really matter if you want to do sweet spot all the time or polarized or mix'em. What matters is looking at the physiological strain for every ride and following a system of progressive overload with sufficient recovery between overload sessions, and designing your program toward your specific event type.

[richardmiddleton]

Ride easy (60-65% ftp)(the more hours a week the better) and race once a week. That's all you need to do. If you don't race, your race can be an FTP test or HARD chain gang/group ride.

[marklohnes]

Good video....I think that there is A LOT of info out there, much like dieting in general, that gets folks tripped up. Not only is everyone different, but training for events as a pro is different than for those of weekend racers, and what the event is, or performance goal, all are variables that can change a training regime. Too many think sweet spot is better than polarized or some other training program when it is merely different, not superior or vice versa. Different tools for different jobs kinda thing.

[redcloudmc]

Excellent video. Helped me a ton. Thank you

[zimbomania]

What's the brand name of those ropes at 07:15? Seems like a very good core training. Thx!

[joeo]

Great video don’t know this doesn’t have more views keep it up guys

[scooterc]

you do some some threshold in zone 3 with polarized just not as much as pyramidal or TR versions

[htukmumfie]

I like the it does just sound like a good old fashioned pyramid: big base then working your way up to short-high intensity stuff