Guidelines for Changing a Workout

You bought a training plan and you wonder if you can change a workout. Maybe you don’t like a certain activity, or you can’t do it because you are injured or don’t have the right equipment. What should you do if your training plan prescribes one workout and you want to do something else?

Switching Workouts #

It is not a problem to change workout modes to a different activity that suits your preference, but it is recommended that, when you switch workouts, you maintain the same training intensity.

For example, if your plan calls for a zone 1 run and you wish to substitute it for a bike or roller ski, then you should do the substituted workout in zone 1 as well. This rule applies to intensity training as well. Substituting the training mode but not the training intensity is a good rule of thumb when modifying your training program.

Please note that we have also provided you with access to a ski walking video lesson. Ski walking and related activities like ski bounding and running with poles, are terrific options for swapping out roller skiing workouts because they are full body workouts that relate more closely to skiing than other activities, such a cycling.

Modifying Timing #

Another important consideration when changing training modes is timing.

If your plan calls for a 3 hour bike ride, it is not the same training load to go for a 3 hour run, so it is important to modify the timing of the workout to establish a similar training load.

The table below outlines how to modify the main exercise modes you’ll find on your training program. If we take a running workouts as the baseline, you can change workouts and increase timing by the factors below.

Using this table, if you have a 1hr run and you would like to go for a rollerksi, then the training load equivalent would be a rollerski that is around 1:15-1:30hrs. If you wish to do a bike ride instead, then you can multiply by 1.75-2, which would mean a 1:45-2hrs cycle.

This table also works in reverse.

If you have a 2 hour cycling workout and wish to go for a rollerski, you should cut it down by around 25%. A 2hr cycle would equate to roughly 1.5hr rollerski, and if you’re wishing to run, then cut that time in half to 1hr.

Hopefully this helps shed some light on how to change workout modes and modifying timing so that you can keep your training load as prescribed by your plan roughly the same while having the freedom to personalize to your liking.