Soldato
Neo is the same. It broadcasts both but connecting to power means you don’t get the smart trainer functions.
The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread
- Thread starter randomshenans
- Start date
Caporegime
They are at 265 which is basically my FTP (270).
Thanks for all that! I would prefer honestly to do less sessions and slightly longer ones as I sometimes feel I am abandoning my partner after the kids go to bed. I should probably do some of these sessions in the day really as well so we can spend more time in the evenings together. Now that the weather is getting better (hopefully) I will be outside a lot more but I still want to keep improving. I find that just riding outside doesn't necessarily give me much bang for my buck when it comes to improving fitness.
Would you recommend more short sharp sessions like Zwift races when I am not outside over the spring/summer/autumn?
I basically follow a simple training plan on Training peaks that syncs with Zwift. I have been meaning to look into zwift racing.
Turns out, the weather was absolutely perfect today so I got outside for a quick 30km ride this afternoon. Made me realise just how much I love the spring and the British countryside. Magical stuff even though I was only out for an hour or so.
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Soldato
Get into Zwift racing Fez. Its an absolute blast.
Soldato
No problem, and should be easy to tweak. What are your goals? It doesn’t necessarily have to be an event or anything but what would you like to be able to do or get better at?
Caporegime
All I want is to be able to go out on 100km or so rides and complete them in 3.5 - 4 hours. Currently I reckon I would be looking at 4+ hours for 100km around here as there is quite a lot of elevation. I guess I don't really have a goal and I don't know at what point I would be happy with my fitness. Absolutely useless when it comes to making a plan I know!
I'm quite time crunched with the kids so I like to be able to go as far as possible in as little time as possible. People always say "it doesn't matter how fast you are". Well it kind of does if you want to be able to do different routes and see different parts of your local area and can't pootle all day.
Currently my FTP is at about 3.3w/kg and I would love to get that up to around 4w/kg. I don't think thats too much to ask on 6-8 hours a week but I might be wrong.
Ultimately I just love the feeling of getting outside when the weather is nice and being able to have fun on my bike. Push myself hard. Sprint up some little hills. Choose how hard I go on a hill and know I won't burn myself out completely if I misjudge a little.
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Soldato
That's as good a goal as anything tbh, and what you want to achieve is certainly doable on 6-8 hours a week if you're consistent, which is the main thing. I think a big part of a plan is setting something which is hard but achievable and makes you want to keep riding your bike. I find VO2 intervals really fatiguing physically and mentally and have really struggled to incorporate them within my training, whereas other people can do them every week and enjoy that sort of work. On the other hand, I'll happily churn out long tempo or sweet spot sessions or 5 hour endurance rides which other people find mind-numbing.
If you were going to do fewer rides each week I'd say one of the rides really needs to be a quality interval session if your goal is to build power on top of endurance. At this stage of the year, I'd focus on the classic 4x8 where the goal is to achieve maximum sustainable power across the four sets. This will be somewhere around 108-110% depending on your physiology. Outside of that, the focus would be endurance, so something like:
Mon - rest
Tue - 90 mins Z2
Wed - 3x20 mins @ 80-85% (c90 mins with warm up and cool down) - could gradually build the intensity of this session as the weeks go in various ways (reducing rest intervals, introducing short bursts above FTP etc)
Thu - rest/optional easy ride
Fri - 4x8 mins (2 minute rest between intervals) as above (c70 mins with warm up and cool down)
Sat - rest/optional easy ride
Sun - long ride (c3 hours)
That works out at about 7 hours across 4 rides. If you don't feel good after a day off, I would definitely suggest an easy spin on the Thursday to keep your legs ticking over before the interval session. If doing the long ride on Saturday, I'd probably do a recovery spin on Sunday as I personally find 2 full days off in a row to give me really heavy legs.
I'd probably try that for 6 weeks initially tracking your average power across the 4x8 set as you might find improvements start to plateau towards the end. After 6 weeks, if you're still making improvements then I'd continue with it until they stop or you get sick of doing them (whatever comes first). I'd retest after that and then probably start another mini base phase, which would look similar to the above but I'd sub out the 4x8 for something like 2x20 @ FTP or a sweet spot session.
Caporegime
Thank you @One More Solo. Really appreciate you taking the time to explain all this. Once I am done with the current plan I will knock something up. Is there a good service to put all this info into? I am using training peaks at the moment but thats quite expensive for the sake of what little use I have for it. Essentially inputting workouts into a calendar and moving them about as life gets in the way of things. Thats the only premium feature I need from TP; the ability to move workouts in the calendar.
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Some new zwift updates coming https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2024/04/structured-training-interesting.html
Customisable hud and 3rd party training API.
Customisable hud and 3rd party training API.
Soldato
That's one thing I'm not sure on. I think most of the workout planning apps are subscription but someone else might know better.
And no worries at all, hope it gives you some ideas. I’ve worked with a couple of different coaches now and I think the thing that made the biggest difference for me was getting my Z2 rides at the right level as I’d either make these too easy or too hard. I also realised you can build every aspect of your fitness without having to smash out really intense intervals. It’s an extreme example but I set an all time 5 minute power PB last year two weeks after finishing Paris Brest Paris.
It'd be great if my Garmin workouts would work with that, but I doubt it. I like that they constantly adjust to my energy levels and previous workouts.
Soldato
Mini map getting a long awaited update too. It’s next to useless at the moment.
If I can import my 90+ minute TR workouts into Zwift with ease I'll probably sign back up to Zwift. Game changer for me.
Caporegime
It doesn't allow that already? Thats odd. TrainingPeaks just has whatever your workout that day is available in the "custom" workouts section. Surprised that TR doesn't do that as well.
Nope. Not sure why really. On the TR forums it seems like there was some communication between the two platforms a few years back but then it just ended. I can't even imagine it's a direct competition thing either because while Zwift has training plans they lack all the other bit which makes TR so good and while TR training plans are fantastic, it lacks the visual side of Zwift to be a bit more interesting.
I imagine the overlap of people who do, or at least would, subscribe to both is probably massive.
Caporegime
Yeah, there was probably some sort of disagreement at some point because other platforms are clearly doing it. If the API is opened up freely now I'm sure it won't take long for some sort of integration.
Soldato
Does anyone else use the climb portal much? I see this month's regular is Mt Fuji! There have been some big climbs like this already, but when they're just for 3 days, it's too easy to miss them/find an excuse. I think I'll set myself the challenge of riding Mt Fuji though... maybe this rain will help!
Usually I can use around 2.4W/kg to work my time out, so probably about 1hr 50 mins for me.
Usually I can use around 2.4W/kg to work my time out, so probably about 1hr 50 mins for me.
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Soldato
I use it quite a lot as a distraction during training, I do kind of wish it had proper scenery though. I’ve not done Mt Fuji though, that’s a pretty epic challenge.
Soldato
Yeah agree, its all bit 80's sci fi kind of thing. I've done a few but prefer the Alpe.
Soldato
Yeah I find it a good way to burn some calories for an hour and I usually have a YT/Twitch stream running side by side on my UW monitor so the rides don't drag. Otherwise I join a Valhalla ride before work but we're talking 5am which takes some mental discipline to do regularly.
Soldato
Finally some climber updates.