Looking for some help on Zwift.
I have been using zwift for about a year now. I did all of my weekly rides last year on Zwift as I trained for 3 IM events. This year I am looking for something more structured. Last year I did a Gran Fondo program/ workout and a bunch of other workouts to really just get me on my bike. They worked to get my fitness together but no real improvements on my cycle.
My next IM is in August (IMMT); can anyone recommend a Zwift training program or a combination of programs that I can follow to buildup my power and overall cycle fitness heading into IMMT?
I run TrainerRoad and Zwift at the same time. I use a TrainerRoad training plan and the operate Zwift at the same time as an alternative to watching a movie.
To be more specific, I like to ride 5-6 days a week. I choose a low or mid-volume tri specific training plan in TrainerRoad, those plans usually have 3-4 days of riding. I then augment those plans, on the weeks that I feel like it, with a free ride, or two/three, in Zwift.
While I’m doing the workouts in TrainerRoad and cruising around Zwift my connections are as follows:
AppleTV - Zwift
Power - Stages Power Meter
Cadence Staged Power Meter
iPad/iPhone - TrainerRoad
Power/Control - Wahoo Kickr
Cadence - Bontrager DuoTrap
HRM - Scosche Arm Band
Free rides in Zwift, All connections go to AppleTV and Zwift companion app so I can get the “road feel” from the Kickr and the Climb.
Yes, there is some trial and error setting it up initially but until Zwift has training programs as good as TrainerRoad… or until TrainerRoad offers a more immersive experience like Zwift, I’m using both.
FINALLY - An easier route. There is the option of buying a “structured” (check the ‘includes structured workouts’ box!) training plan or plans from Training Peaks and importing the plan into Zwift. https://www.trainingpeaks.com/training-plans/triathlon
TrainerRoad is boring… that’s why I run the TrainerRoad workout on my phone at the same time as running Zwift on the big tv with the AppleTV. I get the controlled workout and the avatar cruising around watopia.
I felt the same way about TrainerRoad. It just didn’t hold my attention but running it along side Zwift has been really beneficial for me. I’m not the biggest fan of paying for two training systems monthly but I’m training 90% indoors for an ironman so I’ll take all the help I can get. Before I went to TrainerRoad I was doing the OpenTri 36 week plan and building the workouts into Zwift.
Don’t understand this whole Zwift hype. Maybe it’s because I’m playing video games from time to time but this virtual world is not appealing to me at all. Seeing other people with questionable wattage ride… Wow.
I ignore the people with questionable wattage… I have a lot of friends that are on the platform. For example, my Tri group is doing a 3 hour endurance group ride on Zwift tomorrow morning. We chat via voice app and catch up and egg each other on… it’s a lot of fun when it’s ass-bitingly cold outside.
And virtually hanging out with my mates while riding indoors makes the time pass substantially more quickly than watching Netflix.
That’s an interesting idea that I may propose to my tri group. Using a voice app would bridge the gap between the massive text-a-thon it would otherwise become.
There are some pretty good canned workouts in Zwift, and you have the ability to create your own. I did 95% of my bike training indoors last year and had my best results ever. To train for my IM and 70.3s, I like to create a race goal power profile in Best Bike Split which can then be easily exported to a Zwift workout. I then can “ride the course” and even ratchet up the wattage for training using the toggles in the app. Riding your long course at 105% or 110% of race power is a great way to get confidence.
That’s an interesting idea that I may propose to my tri group. Using a voice app would bridge the gap between the massive text-a-thon it would otherwise become.
we use discord for voice, but our group rides also become “text-a-thons.†Surprisingly I kinda like the texts, especially on longer rides as it kills time better.
TrainerRoad, while I understand they are good workouts, is to mind-numbingly boring for me. Zwift at least give me the avatar.
Trainerroad for me with the updated ramp test based FTP, is usually so hard that I can’t watch anything after the first 20 minutes. I thought it would be super boring, but it’s so hard that I can barely see straight on the 3’ VO2 sessions and I’m hanging on for dear life on the long SS workouts.
Have you tried it? I think you’d be horrified with how hard these workouts are. I was gonna do Zwift myself, but I can’t even see straight on the back half of TR intervals!
Zwift and TrainerRoad are both excellent programs. I’ve been using both for a few years now for different reasons. For structured, you simply can’t beat TrainerRoad. For my focused training the past 2 seasons I’ve used TR. I usually would just listen to music or the TR podcast while riding. During the off season I’d use Zwift for fun. Coming off my first IM this past year I’m struggling with motivation and having a hard time with TR. I’ve tried watching movies and TV shows on Netflix, but I’m not having much luck. I feel like when i’m doing that I lose some of my commitment to the workout. What i’ve been doing lately is doing some TR workouts and if the TR workout calls for longer sustained efforts, I’ll find a Zwift ride that I know the competition end will be enough motivation to hold steady at a higher effort. Seems to be helping.
This is a dumb question but I feel super guilty when riding Zwift. People give me “ride ons†but I never reciprocate because I can’t figure out how to do it with Apple TV
With zwift what i would recomend is joining group rides eg our own slow twitch hilly vanili or racing. Thats where zwift is king - the social aspect. It makes it feel like you are in a bunch. Most power Iv ever put out was in zwift races just because it really does feel like you are trying to hold that wheel just like in real life.
Having said that for IM texas make your own programme - easy enough on zwift. One hard interval session one tempo ride and one long ride a week. Profit
This is a dumb question but I feel super guilty when riding Zwift. People give me “ride ons†but I never reciprocate because I can’t figure out how to do it with Apple TV
So how do I do it?
The only way I know of is by using the Companion app. On the map view, there’s a white circle around you - tap that and it gives 5 Ride-ons to random people around you. Either that or you can go into the Zwifters view, tap someone’s name, and then give them a Ride on…kind of a PIA if you ask me.
I utilize Training Peaks to build workouts for my athletes they can export and use in Zwift.
The issue with a canned training plan from Zwift is they may be great for cycling, and maybe triathlete as a whole, but they are not centered around YOU. Maybe use the canned Zwift plans to get FTP up in the pre-build…
Is this easy to figure out? I had Best Bike Split for a season but didn’t really know how to get much out of it. I can make workouts in Zwift but haven’t tried to import anything other than Sufferlandia workouts.
I can think of a couple of courses I’d love to emulate.