Who's doing what this winter - TrainerRoad, Zwift, Sufferfest, Xert etc?

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

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TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

If you’ve added 35W to your FTP since the start of January, then my question is where was your starting point and where do you see your end point? Those kinds of gains are where I’d say training plans don’t mean much. I still say joining Zwift races of the appropriate category and just trying to keep up with the lead group as long as you can presents a pretty good mix of short and medium-short intervals.

The one weird trick to Zwift is not to use the workout module or just free ride. Join some group rides or races that will challenge you. Try not to get dropped. Get dropped. Try again.

mcfarton
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by mcfarton

I have found a good training rhythm on zwift. Between group rides and races I have challenged myself and made gains. On top of that it has been entertaining.

On the other hand I really want to ride outside but I don’t see it happening soon.


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PokojniToza
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by PokojniToza

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:27 am

The one weird trick to Zwift is not to use the workout module or just free ride. Join some group rides or races that will challenge you. Try not to get dropped. Get dropped. Try again.
This may well be true, but in my case it is inapplicable. I am using a dirt cheap trainer (Tacx Blue Matic) and the power you can produce on it is seriosly limited by Zwift (380W) so I get dropped all the time, so I stick to the structured plans. Due to the power limitations above, the progress on Zwift does not translate well in the real world, but at least I have improved my cadence.

bilwit
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by bilwit

Can't stand more than 4 week blocks of Trainer Road.. every time I try a plan and get to that 4 week mark my morale and motivation drops off a cliff and I get so sick of being on the trainer so I decided to stop and spend another four weeks riding unstructured outside and repeat the whole process again. Done this three times now since July. Fitness-wise, I actually saw a solid 15W at the peak but after a long lull last month and the spending the last two weeks completely off of it I feel back at square one. Progress is tough to come by.

RyanH
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by RyanH

I just got back from two weeks in Kansas City, which I brought my bike and a trainer with cause I have a problem. I found Zwift to be a lifesaver, particularly the races. I managed to do efforts in Zwift that I would struggle to do on my own on the road (from a motivational standpoint). The A races are nuts, but that's also partly since I haven't fully learned the art of drafting in Zwift. The other night my avg w/kg was the highest in the group even though we finished together so there is some type of stickiness factor to drafting.

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This was Sunday, while not as great as being on the road, I was very pleased with my effort and was hyper focused on staying in the pack so I completely put aside the monotony of riding indoors.

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The thing that makes Zwift great is that you have to focus on holding wheels, that coupled with it being an intense effort, it becomes no different than a maximal effort group ride...except you don't coast.

IsabelleFoissard
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by IsabelleFoissard

I live near the French Alps right now, so I'm giving mountain biking pretty hard. I am happy about it and it motivates me. I stay fit and weigh properly.

TurboTommy
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by TurboTommy

My own preference is for zwift over TrainerRoad. I don't dislike TrainerRoad. I've used it a fair bit in the past. And I'm sure that because the training plans are more focussed you could argue it's more optimal. But for me the fact I enjoy zwift racing so much more means I'm much more motivated by it so it that sense it is much more optimal to me. Courses like the 'Surrey hill' in London. And the new Yorkshire course make for excellent intervals / races. As some of you have said rolling and flat courses still make for great sessions in races because of the constant bursts of power you need to stay in the group or attack.
And 'road to sky' gives you a nice warm up before you hit the alpe and try to beat your previous power / time record.

So this winter I'll be doing around 3 races a week on zwift as well as short recovery rides. And weather permitting one 50-70 mile, low intensity ride outside a week.

g32ecs
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by g32ecs

TurboTommy wrote:
Sat Oct 05, 2019 5:38 pm
My own preference is for zwift over TrainerRoad. I don't dislike TrainerRoad. I've used it a fair bit in the past. And I'm sure that because the training plans are more focussed you could argue it's more optimal. But for me the fact I enjoy zwift racing so much more means I'm much more motivated by it so it that sense it is much more optimal to me. Courses like the 'Surrey hill' in London. And the new Yorkshire course make for excellent intervals / races. As some of you have said rolling and flat courses still make for great sessions in races because of the constant bursts of power you need to stay in the group or attack.
And 'road to sky' gives you a nice warm up before you hit the alpe and try to beat your previous power / time record.

So this winter I'll be doing around 3 races a week on zwift as well as short recovery rides. And weather permitting one 50-70 mile, low intensity ride outside a week.
How long does it take to have access to those courses?

It'll be my first time Zwifting this winter and I'm more interested in riding the courses more than racing. As I understand they only come at certain levels (which is shitty imo, why not just open it for everyone?)

I'll be coupling this with Xert for focused workouts.

Jugi
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by Jugi


TurboTommy wrote: So this winter I'll be doing around 3 races a week on zwift as well as short recovery rides. And weather permitting one 50-70 mile, low intensity ride outside a week.
I'm on Zwift this winter and I have a half-rigid approach as well. I have one workout which I'll go through once every week, another which I'll do every two weeks and on top of those, I'll do what ever feels fun and just keep an eye on workload / intensity.
g32ecs wrote: How long does it take to have access to those courses?
All worlds are accessible from level 1, but some worlds have restricted zones. Zwift Insider has a comprehensive list of courses around all worlds, which can be used to check the restrictions.

However, the world circulation schedule is a restrictive feature. Watopia is available always and other worlds are circulated as a second option. A particular world can be accessed manually if need be, but there won't be many other users around because everybody else is in Watopia or the secondary world.


bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I'm up to road riding as normal. Did 2hrs this morning and 2 hrs this this evening. That was extended commutes. So do continuing the 400 to 500km a week. Race around the netherlands next may hopefully. Cold autumn and winter riding is hard to beat.

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dgasmd
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by dgasmd

I think people simply stick to what appeals to the personally regardless. They are all probably the same if you put the same effort and work. I tried Sufferfest a while back and it was good. Too intense for me at the time, but very engaging. Tried zwift and that lasted 5 min. Couldn't stand the cartoon/video game graphics. Went to trainer road and bein able to customize it and do structured WO in addition to watching bike racing or listen to music is the chit for me!

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otoman
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by otoman

I agree with comments about the Zwift races -- those are nutso and a very hard workout. Balls out from the gun. Selectively incorporate those 1-2x per week into your weeks and you'll make gains.

I do all three -- sufferfest, TR and Zwift. I have bounced around from a human coach uploading plans to TrainingPeaks (which I then do on Zwift), to TR plans, to doing my own polarized thing and building the workouts in TrainingPeaks. The latter lasted me the longest and I made big improvements. I recognized though that I needed to change things up a bit, so am now back to TR mid vol SSB, but supplementing volume with endurance work from my polarized schedule. So effectivley I'm still doing polarized but allowing TR plans to be my intensity days.

I like to track all my mileage via Zwift. For the intensity days on TR, I'll run TR on a laptop which runs my Kickr and reads my powermeter via ANT+. I'll also have the AppleTV going which connects my powermeter via bluetooth -- essentially a "read only" set up for Zwift which gives me my fake mileage that I want. :lol: On the intensity days, I don't need any movie going or music to worry about, I just watch the graph on the laptop/TR and watch my ass on Zwift.

For the longer endurance days on the Kickr, I'll run Zwift on the laptop only, watching shows on the AppleTV.

Lastly, Sufferfest. I have done these workouts to death, really like them, but their plans, while self-described as polarized are absolutely NOT. They are all gas all the time. So lately, Sufferfest has really been a source of yoga vids and their excellent strength workout progression.

FYI, I burned out hard a couple years ago on the TR SSBI --> SSBII --> Build. I imploded on the HV Build what with kids and work and life adding to my TSS in unaccounted for ways. I was not hitting workout numbers, feeling bad about myself, and generally getting into that downward spiral that many of you may recognize. My threshold testing at my worst was down to 260 from a peak of 340 a couple years prior. So just be careful with the high volume plans if you are a busy person. :smartass:
Age and treachery shall overcome youth and skill

RocketRacing
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by RocketRacing

I am doing trainerroad. As the poster above, i am double linking with zwift. Mainly for unlocks and something to look at.

MarkoP
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by MarkoP

I have Zwift and Sufferfest. I prefer Sufferest (used together with the Training Peaks programs). I am debating cancelling Zwift as the Sufferfest programs are usually 6 days a week so it leaves me little time for Zwift.
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TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

For my purposes I found it hard to stick to calendar based training plans because I am frequently joining group rides throughout the week. Even in Zwift I don't touch the workout module. If I miss an outdoor ride or two, I supplement it with an appropriate ride/race from the event module.

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