Best way to increase Threshold

Training
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What is the best way to set a goal of increasing your Threshold Power? The AI goal stops at 20min Power.

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Hi @carytb, Are you currently preparing for a specific event or course? Weā€™ve said it plenty of times before, but sometimes Threshold Power isnā€™t everything!

The straightforward approach is to increase your Low Training Load (TL). When you increase your Low TL, you should see improvements in your Threshold Power (TP).

It seems there might be a misconception that opting for a shorter Focus Duration (like 5-minute power/Breakaway Specialist) wonā€™t contribute to increasing your Threshold Power. Itā€™s important to note that any Athlete Type selection can aid in enhancing your Threshold Power because each type requires stressing your low-intensity system before you can ā€˜accessā€™ the high-intensity systems, if that makes sense. The key distinction among Athlete Types/Focus (and Specificity) lies in the balance of Low, High, and Peak strain they require. Generally speaking, the shorter the focus duration, the less important TP becomes, as having a larger Peak Power and HIE are far more beneficial for short-duration efforts.

If youā€™ve come across the concept of ā€œpushing versus pullingā€ in relation to increasing your FTP, it aligns rather nicely with the points I mentioned above. You can ā€œpushā€ your FTP higher by dedicating significant time to low-intensity base training. If time is limited, you can accelerate progress by accelerating the strain on your low-intensity system through high-intensity efforts (which means that the training is done at a lower focus).

I hope this explanation helps clarify things for you!

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Thanks Scott
The only thing Iā€™m ā€œtraining forā€ is long group rides with either my friends or Club rides. Iā€™ve always thought of my self as more as having a more fast twitch type of physiology. Looking at my power profile for my age (68) on Intervals.icu I am distinctly average across most of the power values with the exception of the the sprint range where Iā€™m in the top quartiles. Consequently Iā€™ve been trying for a number of years to improve my power at LTP/LT1. Iā€™ve hit a plateau and after doing a lot of reading and listening to podcasts have decided I need to increase my TP to hopefully drag up my LT1. Iā€™m then going to start throwing in a few VO2 max workouts to try and increase my VO2max in order to give some more room for my TP to grow. Iā€™ve got to be a bit more careful now as Iā€™m not recovering as quickly as I used to and these long rides really take it out of me.

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