The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

Just had my first go of Zwift. Made up it works simply. Hopefully means I can get miles in the legs before summer hits and hopefully the large amount of weight!
 
Shifting weight (and keeping it off) is more about what you do or don't put in your mouth rather than what you do or don't do with your legs ;) :p
 
I did a workout I designed last night, which was the first one I have made and instantly want to make changes to it.

With my current FTP set at 271w
Did:
- 5 min warm up to 220w
- 5 min @ 220w
- 8 min @ 255w
- 1 min @ 340w
- 8 min @ 255w
- 1 min @ 340w
- 8 min @ 255w
- 1 min @ 340w
- 5 min @ 255w
- 5 min warm down

What I should have done was added a bit of a drop after the 1 min sections, say a 180w/200w 1 min and then back to 255w. Legs were hurting towards the end!

Going to do one that OCZ have done tonight, looks pretty brutal, for me it's:

- 5 min @ 140w
- 1 min build up to 200w
- 5 min @ 200w
- 1 min built up to 255w
- 2 min @ 255w
- 2 min free ride
- 2 x 20 MIN @ 271w (FTP)
- 5 min rest at 140w between each


Let's see how I fair with that one later.
 
A warm up shouldn't... really start at 81% of FTP... It's probably better to state intervals at % FTP than specific wattages.

Your recovery intervals seemed to both be lacking and also far too brief in my opinion! A workout can still be intense and effective with active recovery.

I'd structure your workout based on your goals rather than just aimless intervals and address any areas of performance which lag like anaerobic capacity or if you really struggle with sustained efforts over 10 minutes etc. Looking at how TrainerRoad periodised programs are laid out would probably serve you well :)

Edit: For example mine from last night:

% of FTP - Warm up 6min 50%, 6m 75%, 3m 95%. 5m 50% recovery. Then 6 intervals of 5m @ 108% with 3m recoveries at 50%. Warm down to finish the 75m in total.
Click to expand...
which is a replica of 'Elephants' from TrainerRoad. VO2 Max/Anerobic work.
 
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Not surprising :p to have an effective interval you do need to recover properly ;) it might feel a bit silly pedaling at 100w for 5 minutes but under recovering .will just sabotage your next interval

Your HR will eventually rise in each successive recovery & work interval as fatigue accumulates and you are less recovered but that's what forces adaption :)
 
Did the ZZRC Sub 3.0 ride last night. Front group went off like the clappers, considering it's a group ride not a race, sheeeesh. I tried to hold up, but I was feeling tired before I even got on the bike so was just blowing nothing. Kept up for about 20mins and then they got the jump over the cobbles and were off when I was out the main group.
Meant I had 40mins pretty much on my own, other than one guy, as we were about 2 mins ahead of the group behind.
Good workout mind!
 
Did the same 45 minute turbo session last night and got a similar result to Wednesday's session. After weighing myself last weekend (Sunday morning i think) I've got myself down from 15stone 7lbs to 14stone 13lbs this morning. Combination of starting the cycling again as well as getting fairly strict with my diet and not eating a load of crap. I know i wont have progress like that in the coming weeks but if i can shed a couple of pounds here and there I'd like to get down to between 13stone 7lbs - 14 stone. No real time frame for it but healthy eating and a good workout regime will help things along :)
 
Hi Gents, Hoping you can help. What is currently the best value way of getting into the VR training/turbo scene. I have a bike! iPad/Computer and a warm dry space. Thanks, Si
 
So, I had my first go with Zwift this morning.

I used the 25km free trial to do the full FTP test and it went ok but I'm not entirely convinced the power output was accurate as I'm not using a smart trainer.

I guess to a certain extent, as long as the setup is consistent, the actual numbers don't matter too much. You can compare 'wrong' figures with each other.

I also found that even though it was plugged in, my iPad was losing battery power, so if I do it again I'll need to make sure the thing is fully charged.

*Edit* I've just been reading up on it — my Elite trainer has five resistance levels. Apparently, Zwift's power calculations are based on this being set to level 3 — I always ride at level 5 because anything else doesn't provide enough resistance… looks like I'll have to change it to 3 and run the test again.
 
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Had a ride out tonight on Zwift after too much steak at lunch. Was going to do the KISS C but by the time I changed it, I was already warming up and it routed me to the SUB2 UK ride, which I was going to do before. I clearly didn't do sub 2, stuck with a few guys at the front who broke off fast. Was a nice steady ride out. Wife did a good 52km on there while I was doing that. Fair play to her, she's storming.

I'm going to try and get up for the OCZ decaf at 7am tomorrow. 2 laps at 2.2w/kg and then flat out last lap. That'll wake me up.

Anyone doing the KISS GCN takeover Tuesday race? I think I'm going to aim for that one, too. It's cold as anything out here this week.
 
Another 45 minutes tonight but increased the resistance to 3 turns instead of 2.5 https://www.strava.com/activities/834265144

Not sure it made too much of a difference. On Wednesday I might change up a gear and drop the resistance back to 2.5 instead.

Also worked out that if i do what I'm doing just now, 3 rides of 45 minutes on the turbo all year round I'll accumulate 2080 miles :D Think I'll try to get out and do longer rides though as they're more fun than sitting on the bike in my front room! :p
 
Got my usual Tuesday turbo in. Always spin around 5:20-5:30 after getting in from work.

Once I've eaten and sat down there's no chance in hell you'll get any exercise out of me :p
 
Only just started reading about zwift and it looks amazing, at the moment I'm using my road bike on a dumb elite turbo trainer and getting all my data from a Sigma 2209 sts cycle computer which does cadence, speed and HRM but I don't think its Ant+ or BT so of no use on the swift.

I'm thinking of buying the Tacx Flow T2240 Smart Turbo Trainer and a new cycle computer with sensors I can use with the tacx, I'm a bit lost here tbh. I also have the option of using zwift on my iPad Air 2 or a desktop PC on a 55" TV

What would be a cycle computer that would work with tacx/zwift but also on the road? I'd really like something with satnav as well but from what I've read I'd be better off using google maps on a smart phone.
 
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