Rating Every Zwift Academy Workout 2022

[@timothydewilde5041]

Would be cool to see a review of the training plans on zwift for the people that are in a tight budget to afford a coach.

[@XX-is7ps]

100% agree with you on the "Aerobic conditioning" workout, and all the workouts in general, there's just not enough time in zone, they're all just really lacking and not going to deliver much training stimulus. But I also thought that the "over" intervals were too short and not sufficiently "over" - at 102% your FTP estimate would only have to be slightly out for them not even to be "over" at all.

[@hondahems]

Bit late to this but I did the 2nd workout, FTP Short Blocks yesterday. I am a B category racer in zwift and to try and increase the time at or above FTP I stayed at the effort wattage during the 30sec rest and only took a 30sec rest after the 2nd effort in each block. This added an extra 4mins30secs at or above FTP. I also tried to hold 105% of FTP for the blocks 1 and 2 and then dropped to 100% ftp for the 3rd block. This felt like a decent workout but I think next time I will just do each block at the effort wattage without any rest, so block 1 would be 8mins at 105% FTP, block 2 aim again for 105% FTP for 10mins, block 3 100% FTP for 12mins. Ends up with 30mins at/above FTP

[@zachnehr72]

Would love to see a video about your thoughts on warmups. Was surprised that you said you can be warm after 3-4 minutes with a couple 30-second sprints. And how would you warmup for a race (crit, TT, road race), a hard workout, or a Zone 2 ride (if any warmup at all)?

[@nerocoaching]

You can be warm enough to start a training session in a few minutes, I recommended proper 20-30 minute warm up’s for TT’s and the like. No warm up for zone 2 rides (zone 2 is pretty much warm up pace anyway). Especially on the trainer most riders are time crunched, the ~15-20 minutes total spent warming up and cooling down is time that could be spent doing more work, especially since most of the ZA workouts are on the low end of time spent in target zones

[@troycollett8540]

I did a proper warm up for the baseline ride

[@XX-is7ps]

@@nerocoaching I don't agree with you on this one, I take a good 10-20 mins to warm up before every ride, I don't know if its needed physiologically but mentally it really helps me get settled

[@occyman]

Watching you race on Zwift Zach I am pretty sure you have a good warm up routine already

[@zachnehr72]

@@occyman Yep, I have a 30min protocol that I use for races and power tests. For other rides, at least 15min of Zone 2 does the trick

[@marcus_velo_9970]

hi Jesse, the academy is trying to reach a wide, general audience. it passes there for sure as a intro into training method and structure - what would be interesting from your perspective is 'how' does someone like Jay Vine come through the academy to reach the finals. power numbers and the extra required to peak at the right time, there's an artful science to that I'd say.

[@XX-is7ps]

The “workouts” in the academy aren’t used for finalist selection at all, it’s a bit misleading. Anyone wanting to go for the pro contract completes two additional “pro contender” workouts that each have “free ride” portions - ie unstructured ser duration at which you just give maximal effort. It’s effectively a critical power assessment and if you hit the right w/kg in those efforts then you catch their attention. The rest of the workouts really are just a fob to the masses and unrelated in any way to pro contender selection

[@yolono9549]

Still good i think for a beginner/inter They go gradully in intensity inbthe workouts week

[@eamonn9882]

I did the Workout#2 yesterday, Short FTP Blocks, and it's tougher then expected! I think you're a bit harsh on that one, it's a good workout with the 30sec recoveries the hr don't have time to drop sub tempo so I think it's a solid one with ~24mts in PZ4, but as you say maybe Cat1+ racers might have no bother with it. I'm Cat3 and I was a bit wrecked coming into it so maybe that a factor too. Really enjoy your no BS workout reviews!

[@XX-is7ps]

Either your ftp is set too high or you’re simply aerobically undeveloped and “muscle through” races and workouts of short duration relying on your anaerobic engine. This is incredibly common in lower level athletes, especially those who are time crunched and never build a serious aerobic base.

[@eamonn9882]

@@XX-is7ps You could have a point there, I've not tested FTP in a few months now, and do feel it's dropped a little, with recent focus on shorter efforts. End of season next week so will test it soon after.

[@chiefwarmpaws]

@@eamonn9882 that final interval was a little tougher than I expected, but realised my FTP was set 15w higher than current form ... I'll probably leave it like that if I do any of the workouts!

[@noahserrault]

Hey Jesse, I was wondering if you thought this workout was any good. A warmup into 2x40 minutes at Sweet spot with 10 minutes of rest.

[@anthonymian1242]

Would love to see some reviews on wahoo systm sessions training programs. Wahoo over zwift all day I reckon.

[@ddp2259]

Hello Jesse, I am new to Zwift, I am a junior level hockey player, I am looking to bike for my cardio portion of my off season training. I see you have rated many workouts, I have done research to find a program on Zwift that would be beneficial for a hockey player. Is there a specific program that comes to mind that I could start? There is too many options 😅. Thank you in advance

[@vitormila3951]

Hello, can you help me to be a good runner in zuyft for the year to try to be selected for the academy, I have time to train, I'm from Portugal, where can I get a cheap roller to start with?

[@rodcosta2345]

What timeline are these meant to be done? Twice a week?

[@DISCOhooch]

Thanks Jesse.

[@yannickokpara4861]

I think you could've been more critical of the efforts for higher level athletes. I'd need to raise the depletion efforts to 150-200% FTP, I reckon, and my last workout containing 3 sets of 13 reps of 30/30s were done at 150%. That's obviously my individual physiology, but the athletes I compete against are honestly even stronger than me anaerobically, so a lot of these efforts look a bit meh even for indoor power. I also have no idea why I or even a lesser trained athlete would need intermittent pauses in threshold or sweetspot efforts or why there is no neuromuscular activation or anaerobic efforts prior to the higher intensity sessions to raise blood oxygen levels and ramp up neurochemical processes. The whole thing just seems a bit unprofessional considering it's actually a competition for a pro contract on top of Zwift being a training platform albeit not in the same sense as Sufferfest or TrainerRoad. That's just my take, anyways.

[@zwtvchannel]

You’d think considering the contract is for Alpecin Fenix they’d have the coaches from Alpecin Fenix set the workouts for the Zwift academy (especially the pro contract) considering it’s for their team and will be coached under them. A good addition for the pro contract should include the indoors workouts but also a series of outdoor test or tests targeting a specific duration for example 5-6hrs with a mix of certain efforts like they did in Mallorca. That would show a lot more than just doing workouts on Zwift that are no longer than 90mins MAX (if that), also given that Pro races & WT races aren’t 90mins.

[@zwtvchannel]

I also agree with the 30/30’s. 5/6 reps in one set is nothing really. I do 3x13’s like yourself at 450-460 minimum which is just under 150% for me. I’m not very good anaerobically but my ability is becoming increasingly better doing these types of intervals. By the last interval on the first two sets I’m absolutely rooted then by 3qrts of the way through of the final set I’m breathing out of my arse 😂

[@llisperzhang8750]

I feel like it's much harder to do sweat spot training on indoor trainer than do it outside, is it just me or ?

[@patrickj4747]

Workout #5 would be better with 3 sets of the pyramids, but I think it would bring a lot of people to failure on the third set. They want people to complete the workouts.

[@laingy2009]

Would you recommend using erg on these workouts or focusing or controlling the watts your self?

[@nerocoaching]

I'd use ERG mode for everything besides the workouts with intervals

[@laingy2009]

@@nerocoaching that's a shame as my new stages bike sucks for erg mode. Pretty much useless for it

[@alanbell1821]

Been watching....I'm 56 ftp of 200 trying to get to 250 when 60 yrs any comments

[@troycollett8540]

What’s your opinion of the baseline testing ride

[@nerocoaching]

Don’t have many thoughts on it, it’s a great way to measure improvement across the month, a more fun way of doing power profile testing

[@XX-is7ps]

Its odd. The "VO2" section is 1:30 long for me and the "FTP" section 7:30 - just too short in both cases to be what they claim they are. That's the problem with fixed segment lengths (rather than times) when assessing two riders - one may have a 150W FTP and another 450W FTP so the segment lengths are going to take them drastically different times and target different energy systems. They just haven't thought it through properly.

[@peeterl.2016]

@@XX-is7ps Can you post your strava account link here or you're just trying to look like an "advanced" rider?

[@barryboardman5770]

Hey Jesse. You mention increasing intensity. Would I be better to increase my FTP say at 20% higher? My FTP is 270 so increase to say 290? That work ok? Thanks legend.

[@nerocoaching]

Leave your FTP the same, just when you start the workout you can adjust the intensity by %, in the top left hand corner. Hard to say how much you'll need to move it by, could be up to 110% on some of the workouts.

[@barryboardman5770]

Thanks mate!

[@LukasHridesbikes]

I these workouts after 2h of Z2, this way they are a bit harder

[@melbournecyclingsegments7510]

I died a thousand deaths on workout 1. So I'm either a newbie or my ftp is wrong or all of the above. I'm going with "Option C"

[@nerocoaching]

FTP may not be set correctly. If you struggled with that workout your going to be in all sorts of trouble for the rest! 😵‍💫 You should be able to hold your FTP value for at least 40 minutes, if workout 1 was nearly killing you somethings not right

[@XX-is7ps]

FTP likely over estimated, especially if you set it using the “ramp test” that commonly overestimates from for those with little aerobic base but a relatively strong anaerobic energy system (ie most people new to cycling)

[@melbournecyclingsegments7510]

In the baseline I was evaluated a "TT" specialist....The in the finish line ride i improved in all three segments except the sprint. (trust me i aint a sprinter). Now they say I am a "SPRINT SPECIALIST"...800w sprint...morons

[@maverickbenson3258]

Zwift workouts are always so kitchen sink-y imo, they often just seem to make them hard for the sake of being hard for beginners to feel like they “worked out” but those above say a C grade level just get zero adaptations because they don’t get to spend enough time in zone

[@boomshine7]

zwift alwaays overcomplicate their workouts for no reason at all