I signed up for Muskoka 70.3 in July. Will be my 2nd half. First was 3 years ago and I am coming back from some health setbacks last year.
Looking for a way to improve my bike fitness over the winter. Has anyone used the Zwift built in workouts?
Looking for some guidance on how to choose workouts that would be beneficial rather than just riding aimlessly.
I think, and almost all of my athletes use zwift to various degrees, that Zwift is an excellent tool for indoor training and building fitness.
Program design will have a larger impact on your fitness vs what platform you use
Thanks Desert dude.
I think I my question is, should I seek out a specific plan, or just follow random built in Zwift workouts?
I do not know how to design a program but I think I need something to follow over the next several months instead of just riding on Zwift
Not a coach, or even close to it. But Iāve been using Trainerroad since 2019. Theyāve gotten me through Leadville, multiple Triās (two 70.3ās) and hopefully my first full in 2 days. I really like their product. Although you have to be ok with staring at numbers on a screen. I use their Low Volume plans.
Kudos to you for recognizing that a structured plan is the way to go.
Iāve used zwift and trainer road. Iāve had my best results with trainer road. Not enen close.
I attribute that to harder and more specific workouts.
I wouldnāt follow random plans. That will lead to potentially decent results and more probably disastrous results.
You could find a plan online or talk to a coach to have them build you a 90d plan to follow tailored to your needs/time availability/fitness level
Itās been a few years since I tried Zwift tri plans and they didnāt fit well with me at all which I fed back - perhaps theyāve improved.
Iāve also used TR for many years and will continue to do so.
Maybe have some fun on Zwift until January then get a more focussed training plan?
Just how ālow volumeā is the low volume plan?
If youāre looking for a program to walk you through a training plan then trainer road is better. If you want a program that can simulate real world riding conditions then zwift is better. Riding in āsimā mode on zwift and not using their structured workouts or ERG mode is the best way to utilize zwift for training IMO.
Itās not like that anymore - theyāll analyse your years of training and recommend volume from that, and adapt as each workout is completed/missed. Static plans are obsoleteā¦
Welcome back to training. All the advice above is correct and good. Butā¦
If youāre starting from a low base, as you imply, then the absolute best thing is to ride often and ride lots. And so the easier you can make the process of riding administratively and mentally the stronger you will be in spring. Donāt dismiss the fitness gains that come from simply doing 3-4 zwift races a week if you are starting at Cat D level.
As you get to January/february then swapping in a structured session or 2 does make sense. Iāve a coach, and so after I got my arse in gear doing the race thing, he now puts the plan in Training Peaks and I run it in Zwift Erg. Thatās subjective, but for me it works well as I get up 4:30am, jump on zwift, knock out 90mins-2hrs and am off to work by 7am with the work done and before my brain has realised whatās going on.
My wife (non athlete, casual exerciser) does use the dynamic plans. And they work for her in terms of motivation and getting value from her somewhat erratic frequency of sessions.
Just adding one thing: you can create custom workouts in Zwift ā youāre not limited to the pre-canned training offerings.
I prefer keeping everything in one place instead of having a separate setup (and subscription fee) for TrainerRoad or whatever.
One of my few gripes of Zwift, if itās even fair to call it one, is that there are no real āstockā plans for triathlon cycling, from sprint to IM distance. Youād think it wouldnāt be that hard to pay a real tri coach some money to make a few legit plans for each distance (beginner-intermediate-advanced) which would add a lot of value, but maybe their focus really is more on cycling than tri, and so itās not even an afterthought.
I will add however, thatās itās almost trivially easy to make custom workouts in Zwift, so you can easily make any planās workout quickly with the workout creator. Itās good, I made a lot of them for my last workout block and never once did I feel it was a burden.
Zwift is also great in that you can really replicate long ride saddle time if needed. I donāt do it often, but Iāve found it helpful to just freeride one of the longer routes once in awhile to make sure you have the endurance and saddle time potential ready to go. For 70.3, two of my go-tos were the Mega Pretzel and Four Horsemen, which I rode at times both freeride as well as alternately, erg-mode. Long, tiring, but better than any of my outdoor rides for 70.3 training. (Itās a LOT harder to hold aero for 3-4 hrs on an indoor trainer compared to outdoors, and itās also very hard to do 3-4 hrs with few stops or coasting. Makes race day feel easy!)
The LV plans are typically built around 3 workouts for each sport per week. It will adjust as you progress through the plan (i.e add rest days if you have a bigger than usual effort, etc.). I couldnāt do the 3 swims per week through my entire plan. About 5 months in I started swimming twice per week and used another plan I found online. Seemed to work well for me.
Dan Plews wrote some of them, I traded a couple of emails with him. Canāt recall the year, maybe 2021? Zwift used to keep the previous years tri plans on. I suspect heās no longer with them given the timescales.