gthomson

Sorry Zwift Haters, but this is another Zwift post because I was impressed with my experience tonight and feel I'm getting good value for the $18/month subscription fee. What's a gym membership, maybe $15/month for the No Frills version? Spin classes are now at least $15/class at the cheapest level and some times as high as as $25/class!
Normally I do group rides or races and then when my energy levels are low (which is more often than not lately) I just ride for 45 mins to an hour but today I wanted to change it up and tried a training plan. I've done them before and find them tough but I was really impressed how well it's organized. There are dozens of different training plans, at different levels and it's great how they prompt and communicate with you at what power levels and cadence you should be at, encouraging you and updating you on your progress the entire time.

Kudos to the Zwift team for making it so easy to train as hard as you want to and personal motivation is up to each individual to bring to the pain cave.

caloso

Which plan are you doing?

gthomson

It was just under the Ride Type and I thought I would change things up a little because I didn't see any group rides or races I wanted to do and I chose Lactate Shuffle. I haven't chosen a scheduled plan but might consider it as the winter has just started...

caloso

Gotcha. I am doing a workout just about anytime I’m on Zwift. Earlier this fall I did the Build Me Up plan. Some of the workouts were overly complicated I thought, but it was helpful for me to have a weekly structure without being too strict day to day. Made some decent gains.

jpescatore

I've been on Zwift for 4 years now, and over the winters have evolved to enjoying a mix of group rides, group workouts, custom individual workouts and just plain old riding. Used to be mostly spin classes at the gym over the winter - can't do those now even if I wanted to!

Since winters are warmer, I still get in the occasional outdoor ride but I'm definitely in better shape when spring comes around that I was pre-Zwift. In the past, I've tried every way of working out in the basement on the bike and all were just too boring - the variety on Zwift changed that.

gthomson

I'll have to give that plan a try. In past plans or when I tried the other group workout rides they were a bit aggressive for me. Holding like 400 watts for 2 minutes is just not happening. I like a shorter, flatter race ride which gets the old competitive juices running so I'm able to maintain a high level of power for the duration, more then I would riding on my own.

I average about 2.5-3 W/K on average but when I do a race or competitive group ride I'm more at 3-3.5 W/K average. I'm spent after about 45 minutes at that pace.

spelger

i did two training plans last year, "Build Me Up" and "FTP Builder" (might have the names wrong). i did like them and i liked the cadence instructions. some were tough becasuse of teh instructions to stand with a high cadence. i can't stand over 60 RPM unless the load is high, just too fast. sitting i can do 120 for very short periods.

what i did not like about the plans was the schedule. sometimes i could not do a workout due to timing and they would not let you do it even if you were an hour late. that was messed up.

Thomas15

Good discussion.

I'm in week 5 of the Build Me Up program. I have been on Zwift for over a year and have quite a bit of miles on but this is the first structured training program I have tried.

It seems like some of the exercises don't make much sense but I trust that the designers know what they are doing and trying to keep it interesting. One thing for sure it is more of a workout than just riding around. My legs get this buzzing sensation that lasts for a day after doing one of the workouts.

Some of the weeks have 4 interval workouts for that week. Because of my schedule and time I have generally only completed 3 workouts, I leave what seems to be the least challenging workout for last in case I don't get to it.

I think the program is helping but not sure. Granted 5 weeks isn't enough time and I cannot help but think that any kind of stress will improve fitness. I'm hoping to increase my ftp by at least 10% but any gain is ok by me. Regardless of the outcome I'm going to do another canned workout program once this one is completed. One thing that the program has done it has forced me to increase my cadence and find ways to recover during a ride.

I need to: 1. clean up my diet, 2. plan my workout time more efficiently. 3. work harder while in game. 4. work on core strength. 5. get rid of a few distractions.

It seems like I lose stars on the segments that are easy, not the hard ones. I think but do not know but it appears that if you put too much power in a recovery segment you will not get the star.

gthomson

Geeze this is me in a nutshell! ha ha Maybe I'll give your plan a try as my new years resolution. At my age I just want to keep active and stay competitive (with myself really) and maybe shed a few pounds.

AdkMtnMonster

I was planning on starting a 12 week FTP builder on Jan 1st. I didn't know that the training plans are devoted to exact times of day. That sucks. I work 3-11p shift in a hospital laboratory, and it's a very rigid schedule, so riding at the same time every work day isn't a big deal. On my days off, though, I've found that I like riding mid afternoon, or even later if it's just a recovery ride. That won't work at all for me if the training plans won't allow that type of variety. That truly sucks. Now I'm all bummed out...

spelger

its not quite that bad. each training session starts at a given time but the window of opportunity is quite long, i think sometimes more than 24 hours. i assume teh start times are related to the time the previous was completed.

by all means you should start the plan. missing one or two is not so bad. i just did a free ride then and i think i only missed maybe 4 out of the plan. no biggie. i just find it strange that if you miss one due to schedule conflicts they won't let you "catch up."

Thomas15

Yes. I firmly believe in setting goals. For me, if I resolve to do something say every day, the first time I miss I generally quit. That is usually around January 3rd Ha Ha!

Anyway set the goal of what ever might work then re-evaluate from time to time. I'm in the same time/space situation as you will be 63 in a few and I don't have many years of prior fitness to lend a hand but I really couldn't be much happier with the progress I have made by simply setting a few goals and working to meet them. There are a lot of good people on this forum willing to advise and give encouragement which is great.

Thomas15

As spelger has said the window is large sometimes several days so don't let this stop you. If you use the companion app your workout program will show up on the home page with the titles of the workouts and a check after you complete it. If you miss one it will be grayed out. I think it is possible to either click on the missed workout and do it or find it in the library of workouts, you just will not get "credit" for doing it. But getting "credit" for a workout I'm not sure really means anything.

AdkMtnMonster

Does the companion app tell you, for instance, how long the next workout is, or if it needs any special prep? I was looking through a bunch of workouts in a training plan the other day and it said, "Do this workout fasting," for example. Do you know ahead of time to be fasting? Also, can I load a training plan now, but not start it until my planned start date? I've currently been doing single day workouts and recovery days on a somewhat random "how do I feel today" plan, so I've never actually registered for a full training plan. I guess I should just do it and see...

caloso

I don’t recall any of the workouts in the Build Me Up plan having any specific preparation, other than doing the FTP test if you don’t already know it. It will say something like “Do ABC workout by Thursday” and “XYZ workout available on Friday morning.”

I think the plans start on Monday. If you click it later in the week, the workouts won’t be available till the following Monday, but
I don’t think you can schedule them out more than a week.

https://support.zwift.com/en_us/cycl...-faq-Sys_LJpGH

Thomas15

No prep needed. The companion app will tell you the name of the workout and the time it takes to do it plus a brief overview of what the workout consists of. Most of the workouts are an hour some (so far) are as long as 1:45

Also, it is possible to tone down the required effort by decreasing the % (from 100%) or increasing effort using the up/down arrows on the index box on the left hand of the screen. So far I haven't had to do this but I will say the workouts are sometimes difficult to do.

jwalther

Good outline of the entire plan here: Build Me Up

AdkMtnMonster

Now I’m torn between Build Me Up and Active Off-Season. I think the latter will be my choice. Thanks for the link to the plans. That’s cool- didn’t know about that site.

DCook87

I am a big fan of the Zwift Workouts functionality, but I am not impressed by the available Zwift training plans. For those who find those workouts a bit unfocused I would recommend watching some of the videos from Youtuber Dylan Johnson, then using Zwift to create your own workouts which target specific zones in separate workouts. I can't post links, but if you search Youtube you can find his videos on the problem with Zwift training plans and good ways to raise your FTP with your own workouts. I also find it more mentally stimulating creating them myself. I begin to feel like my own cycling coach which is rather fun.

AdkMtnMonster

Just starting “Build Me Up.” I’m doing the prep workouts now, waiting til Mon to start the real pain. Halvfems today. Not bad. I liked it.

Thomas15

I'm at the end of week 7. Some of the workouts are fairly easy, most not. Really have my fingers crossed that his will help me improve. One thing which will sound strange, I wish I had measured the diameter of my quads before I started because it seems like they are a bit bigger, but that's not saying much LOL! One thing that the program has me doing is it has my cadence up. Good luck!