FWIW i have used a training plan post knee op, then a personalised training plan in 2020 and finally the zwift academy last year. I can't say for sure but the TP and the discipline the plan imposed post op, and after 8 weeks with my knee in a brace, really helped me get to a point where i was cycling up mountains outside Girona 3 months later. Another 3 months of Sufferfest training and i was able to ride reasonably well in the Alps...
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I think at my age i benefit from the discipline a TP imposes and the calculations of effort as against accumulating fatigue. Sufferfest/SYSTM does all that and it works for me.That said i couldn't do a traineroad TP at all.
The personalised TP i did in layte 2019/2020 in anticipation of Flanders, a trip to Nice etc, allowed for a race a week, TTT's on a thursday. I hit my best ever ftp as i edged towards the end of the plan. Then covid hit and trips fell away so I started racing on tuesdays as well and ended up overtrained and pretty much ruined. I remember the race when it really hit home and where i just avoided coming last. It took a few months to recover-old age is a bastard.Then last year I did the zwift academy just to get a bit of structure back and a got an immdiadte small ftp boost. So, it works for me .
If i was younger and could race 2-3 times a week and recover quickly between each and continued to see improvement in power and endurance, however minimal, then i would probably just race. But i am not. As Tommy says, Martin is a great example of someone who adopts and sticks to a training plan and the benefits are obvious to see. And he's an old man too 😄