Zwift Training Plan -
I dunno, maybe this goes in its own thread?
4wks until vacation, and there is a 4wk plan on zwift - may or may not be the right one,
but any plan is better than no plan?
I did an FTP20 test and zwift used 95% as FTP - I'll do a ramp test in a couple days, just to get an idea of relative accuracy (??? sounds reasonable)
(thanks for the idea Ian)
I've been to spin classes, with the perceived effort - various videos, and scrolling graphs indicating various blocks, loud music with appropriate tempo.
The bikes had cadence, but not power, so who knows. I remember sweating a lot cause of the limited airflow.
I also remembers I was the only one with dirt on the SPDs!
Anywho, the point was to show the zwift training setup after 1 ride, get a little feedback.
Esp compared to other training platforms.
Setup
40" tv on a rolling cart (you know, middle school A/V nerd stuff - brings back memories)
Apple TV series 4 running the zwift app
Iphone mounted on handlebars running companion app
Kickr, Chest HRM, Cadence
The Iphone screen has a bunch of info - Easily see workout progress, and what is coming.
Without the actual Zwift app running on the TV, this would be all that is needed?
Any glaring omissions ? (yes - the lack of fitness is missing !)
Looking up at the Zwift App screen on the TV, provides the same info sans power gauge, plus some visual cues.
The red bubble/gate in the distance is the start of the next block (is that the right word?). It is colored red to indicate a harder effort is coming.
From Zwift - the gates are colored too -
A gray block is zone 1 (recovery), blue is zone 2 (endurance), green is zone 3 (tempo), yellow is zone 4 (threshold), red-orange is zone 5 (VO2 max), and bright red is zone 6 (anaerobic). The curvy block is a “free ride,” where you can ride any power or cadence you want. The “warm up” and “cool down” blocks ramp up or down in intensity. Use these at the beginning or end of workouts, or try adding them in the middle as ramp intervals.
It is time based, changing speed will move the gate. Cadence and power cues will flash when off-target.
Current block progress bar is above the power number.
All the rest of the Zwift stuff is there, but interacting with other riders/terrain is turned-off.
No drafting, no wind, no climbing (not that there is any in Richmond), no power-ups.
The workout does earn XP and Drops.
Looking at the 'zwifters nearby' list - anyone with a phone icon is using the companion app,
anyone with a bar graph is doing a workout - in case you all were wondering.
Overall workout progress bar, time remaining, and current block are top left.
There are some audio cues indicating that a change is coming a few second before the gate.
Important
😀 - While doing this workout - which didn't take much effort, most of the time was spent watching TV.
I finished
Dark and still don't get it, so i have to watch the last two episodes again.
In lighter viewing, season 4 of
Better Call Saul seems to do it.
The show lasted longer than the workout,
so Zwift transitions back to JRA - with the game stuff activated. Finished-up with an extended cooldown,
and one half-assed sprint (i didn't stand) -
Ride report at the end looked like the plan...given the intensity (or lack of) my HR barely moved.
TSS seems right - endurance level.
Note cart, and eero. TV is set at height that does not require breaking my neck to see.
Hey, here is a question. The kickr seemed slow to respond - I'm running big ring, with a straight chainline into the cassette.
Is there an advantage to having a lower RPM at the "rear wheel" when training (erg mode) to make it more responsive to changes?
Some of the posted TR reports appeared to have flatter power results? Perhaps it was just the lower power that it is asking to produce,
which means fluctuations are a larger percentage?
I do have a 100" screen and projector down there. 🤔