TOP 5 ZWIFT TRAINING SESSIONS: Part 1 - How I built competitive power & endurance
Vložit
- čas přidán 7. 02. 2020
- Demonstration & Evaluation of the 5 core Zwift Training Sessions that enabled me to build competitive cycling power & endurance (4.0W/kg FTP or more):
The Gorby (aka 5x5mins) - Found in “Less than an hour to burn”
40:20’s #1 - Found in “4 Week FTP Booster week 1, day 5”
Sub Threshold XX #2 (aka Overs & Unders) - Found in “4 Week FTP Booster week 4, day 4”
3x15 FTP Intervals (aka 3x15mins) - Found in “90+ minutes to burn”
SST Short; SST Medium; SST Long - aka Sweet Spot - Found in “Less than an hour to burn; 60-90minutes to burn; and 90+ minutes to burn).
But are these optimal to take us beyond 4.5W/kg FTP? - Find out in part 2, as I introduce a training concept from a Pro Cyclist. - Sport
Love hearing you have 5-6 hours to train and race. Makes me feel better 😂. New born in the house.
Cheers Ryan - super tough to have a new born in the house ! I remember those days 🥵 But for sure - I reckon most of us don’t have much more than 5-6 hours for the bike each week - unless work is quiet or on a few choice weeks ahead of an event! Good luck with the little one 🍀
Thanks for the really nice explanation of your good quality training.
You improved a lot and that's just the beginning, keep smashing it :)
nad sim thanks so much - really appreciate your lovely compliment and support🙏😊👍. And you’ll see in vid 2 a little twist and some advice from Ed Laverack that I hope will help us all build power to weight 🤞
Congrats on the vid. Really enjoying them. Keep up the good work!
james sellick thanks James - plenty more to come. Really appreciate your support 👍🙏
'This is my quest to win 'any cycling race on zwift'. lol . Love it. Havn't followed you and Ed for long but you are both going great!
😁 thanks ever so much Mr M🙏. 1 year on from this vid - the quest is the same .....
Great video Phil, look forward to part 2.
Monsieur Rouleur thanks so much🙏👍. And am really hooding the advice from Ed Laverack in part 2 will help us all build more W/kg 🤞
Thanks for sharing Phil, as always some great inspirational training ideas. Will be trying out myself. Looking forward to part 2. And congrats on the cat 3
Tony Strange cheers Tony - and hope you like part 2! 👍🙏. PS What were the safer races you referred to on Strava?
Bike Racing Without Mercy just generally Phil. E123 races are, in my opinion, safer than Cat 3/4. Simply because they have been racing longer and have more race skills, race craft. This said I accept crashes happen at all levels
Another great feature well done
Colin Fell thanks Colin - really appreciate your support 👍🙏
Great video Phil! Keep them coming! 👍🏻👍🏻
Really appreciate your kind support Chris 🙏 - and will do 💯
Great informative video Phil, pretty new to your channel but finding it very useful. I'll be incorporating these sessions in my plan moving forward. Thank you!
Richard Abrahams Thanks so much Richard 🙏🙏. Really appreciate you checking out the channel! These were the sessions I uised to build my base - and you’ll see since then I’ve gone to a more polarised / high intensity approach
Well done on The Gorby.....it’s a leg buster!!!
Stephen Pritchard Cheers Stephen - it’s a beast 🤮🤪👍
Always a good thing to revised these types of vids ...
Cheers Zaahier 🙏 - oddly enough I’ve just revisited the Zwift sweetspot training today - which is pretty hard! Thanks for your DM on insta, I’ll get to it shortly (work has been super busy)
Another cracking video! Love your content which is probably my favourite out there currently! #RideOn
Thanks Silverspoon - I really do appreciate your support and encouragement 🙏
Super informative video Phil! I'm going to start doing those workouts as well soon. The 130% is a very interesting concept. Thank you as always being so inspiring to all of us also trying to improve. I know I'm getting better. On stage 7 of the tdz I once again finished third from last! Next goal; 4th from last as I have mastered 3rd from last 😂
Linda Messinger thanks Linda - and because you are so consistent in your training, the progression will continue to come steadily. It’s so cool you just get stuck in and give it your best. Thats the only yardstick that counts ✊👌👍
Thanks for doing this. Its such an inspiration and motivation for me. I have an FTP of 287W but i do weight 95kg right now ( 1,94m tall ) and its fascinating to see whats possible for amateur riders. I am on the polarized training now for 4 weeks ( after 2 years of "normal training" for triathlon ) and i am excited to see my evolution too..keep on the good work :-) nice greetings from the middle of Germany ( Frankfurt )
Thanks ever so much for your very kind and motivating encouragement, ewigheim 🙏 I love Frankfurt, my bank has a branch there, and I was regularly visiting in 2018 and 2019. I’m ever so pleased you find the training vlogs to be helpful, and I certainly believe that the polarised training approach is both fun and very effective 💯. Key is being well recovered with the zone 2 days and rest days in order to give it 100% on the harder interval days, and for sure your FTP will increase 💪
backgrund music a bit high when trying to follow the chat, at least for me.. Exelent video, need more like this!!
OldSlow really appreciate your lovely comments - and certainly I’m aiming to produce more technical content. Part 2 will set the scene for the next phase of training, that I hope will yield progression 🤞. I’ll figure out the right level of background noise 🙏👍
I would consider 30-30´s when going for sprints above or at 130% of FTP. For me that makes the quality of my intervals better. 40-20´I use at a little lower level (115%) and more of them pr block, to collect as many minutes in the VO2max-zone (focus: quantity). The HR will stay high in the 20 sec.
Allan Dybro thanks Allan 👍🙏 - really appreciate your insight on this, and it makes sense. Also I’ve taken on Ed Laverack to coach me, and as it happens he’s also prescribing 30:30s and 30:30 into zone 4 plus zone 4 into 30:30 👍👌
Thanks for the tip to put the percentage of FTP up to 130% on the 40/20 's. I put the workouts on my to do list. Curious about the next recommandations. Nice shirt with the lion of Flanders. I love that brand Stolen Goat.
agnesrosalinde me too - Stolen Goat produce great winter bib shorts also. Thanks so much - and I hope you’ll like vid 2, because I think there is a training idea from Ed Laverack that will benefit us all🤞👍
@@BikeRacingWithoutMercy They do? I'll check that out. Looking out for nr. 2 extra then!
Going to have to add these to my workouts. The 40/20s were always a concern for a sprinter type like me. However after my last sprint workout session I found myself completely gassed by the 3rd round, so I need to get on them every couple of weeks. Hardest part I think is pacing my sprints so that i'm not tiring out too quickly, given that my sprints are around 550% of my threshold. I was always under the impression of sprint intervals to go all out on the sprint efforts. If you find you have any suggestions regarding this down the road feel free to let me know. As always I enjoy these videos!
JakeKaminskisRacing cheers Jake - stick ‘em in! My sprints aren’t the best - so as you saw there - I go max effort right from second 1😊
@@BikeRacingWithoutMercy yeah I just found that I need a little longer between sprints to catch my breath because I too was going all in from the start.
I enjoyed that thanks. Could you list the specific training sessions you recommend in the blurb below the vid?
Richard Wood cheers, Richard - that’s much appreciated 👍🙏. And I’ll get that sorted out tomorrow.
As inspiring as always, Phill. I take it you have some still unannounced plans for this coming summer then? ;)
Ps. You did the right thing, never argue with Lord Fulford. :P
Lord Di Lego The almigthy supreme commander of the CHUB forces
Lord Di Lego thanks Lord 🙏👍. Yes aiming at La Marmotte and Fred Whitton - plus some road races. And definitely Tim F is a guru - but the Good Lord is the Yoda of the e-sports world 😊👌
Great vid dude with those killer workouts. Hey, what trainer are you using? It sounds mean when doing your sprints.
Dazza thanks so much Dazza🙏👍. I use the WattBike Atom - it’s WattBikes smart bike. Love it 👌
Hi Phil, just like to say I’m loving your videos, really inspiring and informative. I’m at the beginning of my journey and have been using XERT to help give me a polarised structure. However, I think I like the idea of what you did first before switching over to a fully polarised plan. My question is, I have 5 days to train (7-8hrs) per week, how did you structure your weeks before the fatigue really started to take effect? During my research I’ve found the Ronnestad workout (basically 30/15s) a few times a week lead to large gains during a short window and think I may incorporate that in my training for the next month. Not sure what to do yet lol
Mike Redman hi Mike - so sorry for the delay in my reply. I didn’t get a notification from CZcams. Thanks so much for your very kind words and support - really appreciate it. I’d say that the 40:20s and 30:30s are excellent - and Zwift has a couple of 40:20 programs in its FTP builder. Also the Gorby (5x5) is a great challenge. In terms of the zone 4 - I’d focus on the overs and unders / sub threshold (again in the FTP builder).’
If starting again, I’d definately drop the sweet spot and only complete the 3x15mins or 4x10 sparingly. The sub threshold is a good alternative to these - and makes you hit the zone 6 also.
I’d keep days with the hard efforts like these to 3 per week and after a rest day or zone 2 day. So you can go really hard on the zone 5-6 effort days 3x15mins etc. And remember you can do some zone 2 before or after the hard efforts in order to get the KMs in.
But I’d also say don’t be afraid to go deeper into polarised - because the gains I’ve had under Ed have been material (in just 6 weeks!). You’ll see on the vlog (and my strava) a number of hard effort days like blocks of 30:30sinto zone 3-4; zone 4 into 40:20s; 60:30s; 3x3mins etc. These are super hard - but have really dragged up my top end power and ability to recover fast after a hard effort. Good luck ☘️
Bike Racing Without Mercy Thanks for taking the time Phil and for the advice. Good job on the racing and the vlog. Really great content 👍
I really love your video and noted these workouts, I want to start these, how many of these would you do a week? thank you
Hi Carerra 911 - from a Ferrari 355 aficionado ! I personally think max 3 high intensity training sessions a week - and often just 2. And then for the other trainings do an hour or so of high Z2. I also do a couple of strength trainings per week👍
Awesome video! So, I'm a bigger more athletic build. I played American Foot all for 15 years so I have a foundation in strength. Would you recommend I still incorporate weights or really focus all on the bike. I'm 6ft 185 lbs. I think that converts to about 82kg or so.
Thanks ever so much Dj - hugely appreciated 🙏. I think the strength training should be complimentary to the cycling. So for me I have always kept it in the program, because it helps create strength and power through the core and lower body, which has great transfer for the cycling. Also it’s healthy to preserve muscle, flexibility and good movement patterns . So I focus on single leg deadlift and deadlift for the lower body one or twice per week with 4-8 working sets (6-12 reps for the single leg movement and 4-8 for the deadlift) - but always with the focus on good form, and an explosive movement and staying well short of muscle failure to avoid fatiguing the legs and detracting from the cycling. I’ll also complete upper body training x2 per week, with 6-10sets and 4-12reps. I’ll aim for a powerful movement but go closer to muscle failure for the upper body. I think the upper body training is good for the core and general health - and provides a nice cross training benefit and better body composition. I don’t worry about bulking up because it’s hard to put on muscle - and especially so with all the cardio we are doing on the bike. 15years Football is very impressive ✊ - what was your position ?
I generally don’t use ERG mode because there is a 5-6sec lag between the prescribed power changing and the resistance changing on the bike, and this renders the shorter efforts less effective (eg 40:20s 60:30s and even 3mins etc). But also in crit racing outdoors or on Zwift you need to punch from low power to high - and ERG doesn’t facilitate this due to the lag. Plus on a good day you can push a little bit above the prescribed lower if feeling good. I do occasionally use if for efforts of 10mins or more 👍
Cordial saludo, quiero que otra persona o personas hagan un plan que he diseñado, como una quedada o meet inglés, como lo puedo compartir?
JAIRO OSWALDO MONROY GUTIERREZ Hello Jairo - I think you are asking for a training plan. I use Ed Laverack as my cycling coach. And if you look at the videos since February - you’ll see loads of good training sessions to copy on them
Hi Phil - have watched this a couple of times and beginning to put a better structure to me training. Just curious on the movement of FTP for the 40/20’s - how did you calculate by how much it should be moved? More simply if my FTP is 272 what should I move mine to??? Regards. Simon
Sorry- just watched a bit further 130%
@@simoncarr6740 no worries - 130% is a more typical recommendation than the 120% Zwift sets.
How often do you do these workouts? Do you have a schedule which day of the week you do these workouts?
Hi Venkatesh - you’ll in the training vlogs that since filming this I have a cycling coach. But was typically doing 2 - 3 of these sessions a week plus a Zwift race. I’d suggest doing 2 - high intensity workouts per week such as the 5x5 / sub threshold / 40:20s and 2-3 days low intensity such as zone 2 or low zone 3 . I also like the stepping workout that was added after this 👍
What holder are You using for tablet?
Piotr Ś my indoor trainer is the WattBike Atom, smart bike. And it has a holder designed to clamp everything from iPhones through iPads. I very much like the Atom 👌. Happy to answer any other questions your have 👍
Is Erg mode fine for these workouts once watts required is 230ish downwards or is it a struggle regardless of watts required.?
Carl Baker hi Carl - I find it’s more about the length of the efforts and the difference in power between recovery and hard effort. eg for the Gorby - 5mins at 320W in erg mode is good because the resistance & power takes 5-10secs to normalise at the correct level, then you get 4mins 50secs at the perfect resistance & power. But for the 40:20s where I was going from 150W for 20secs to 370W or more for 40secs, there is too much of a lag in the resistance & power transitioning from the 150W to the 370W+ in erg mode. Whereas if I manually control the gears, I hit the right resistance and power on the 40sec sprint right from second 1. 👌
Bike Racing Without Mercy Ah I see. I’ll be getting a smart bike soon, and the main concern was the lag between changing gears and the effort to get watts up to/down to required amount. The price of the watt bike seems so good compared to the kicker bike and tacx bike. Can spend the extra on new wheel set for outdoor bike instead then 😊
When Zwift says: reduce power, do you just ignore that? will that not affect the workout?
I ride to the powers prescribed in the Zwift workouts - but if it says reduce cadence, I’ll keep at my own cadence 👍
Been zwifting a year ,,,how often do u struggle with say your vo2 sessions
VO2 Max efforts are draining. I tend to focus on 5x5mins or 6x3mins when looking to build this - and find the first couple of trainings very hard - don’t always complete at the prescribed power. But with consistency I get better each week (I’ll only train VO2 Max twice per week)
Races are great but i end up spending about 70% of the time in zone 3 which isn't ideal. One a week for me i think.
petef15 100% agree. I’ll only race on Zwift x1 per week, because it detracts from the polarised training that will actually build your power and W/kg ! Too much time in z3 & 4 detracts from the energy you can out into the hard interval sessions working z5-6-7 - and these are what count in crit races and zwift races !
Also, I know you explained this but im still unsure why you changed your FTP in the middle of the workout?
Hi Souhir, on the Zwift Companion App on your phone, when in a training plan, with the app open it will show you the power and intervals (times and prescribed power), plus the real time power you are putting down. You can then use the +/- option to dial up or down the intervals. Or mid game you can pause and go into your profile and reduce your FTP. Hope this helps 👍
Do you use erg mode for your intervals?
Jack Davis I use ERG when there are longer efforts at the same power (eg 5x5mins) but for the 40:20s and sprints, I go manual. This is because ERG has a 5-8sec lag in terms of getting the right resistance to achieve the prescribed power - and this makes the high powered sub 1min sprint work less effective with it turned on. Manually I can make sure I’m at the right resistance for the high end power right from second 1 👍
Bike Racing Without Mercy yea I found that with the gorby training program, after the effort the kickr was so hard to turn the pedals lol, was going to try it without erg mode to see if it was any better, great videos as always, I also only train about 6/7 hrs a week. Was wondering if you could do some videos on nutrition aswell would be good. 👍🏻
Great stuff Phil. Can i suggest leg speed for sprints rather than, power, low rpm stuff. You just aint got the build for low rpm, high resistance. 130 rpm, and above.
lee baxter thanks so much for the advice Lee!! Oddly enough, I tried this today, during my outdoor crit - which includes a steep hill. I opted for the small ring and cadence of 100-130rpm (and all went well!) But what you say about my build makes sense - so I’ll practice these much more 🙏🙏🙏
@@BikeRacingWithoutMercy How did you get on in the crit. Does the zwift stuff transfer to the outdoors?. I might give an outdoor road event a bash this summer.
lee baxter As someone who hadn’t ridden a bike outdoors until March 2019, my bike handling skills needed a fair bit of work. The transfer of power and fitness is really good, whether undertaking a long climb or a crit. But the need to hold your line on the corners and think carefully about positioning takes a bit of getting used to. On Zwift there’s no braking - you ride through people - and can corner like a boss. But in a crit you have to think about getting onto the front in the final 2-3laps, otherwise you get blocked out. I’ve had about 10races, and just today got promoted from Cat 4 to Cat 3. I’d say give it a try - because it’s a lot of fun! But set the target of staying in the bunch for the first couple of races 👍. The Vlogs will be hitting the crits very shortly.
Tbh it's the same as you can hit the same peak powers in an 130rpm 'revout' and a sprint and if you sprint properly you're gonna spin out anyway, and leg speed is only really useful if you're gonna race outside tbh
Struco177 thanks Alex. I’ll experiment. PS You’ll like the twist 🤞
Good video - but why not design your own workouts with the desired power instead of changing your FTP setting?
Hi Ian - and agreed, since filming this 2 years ago, I do tend to do this, because I am less focussed on my FTP. However sometimes it’s still good to check back in on some of these, as I recently have !
I had the same X-Wing 😂
Jose Miguel Moreno ha ha 😂😂. My boy used to love his Star Wars - and I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. My favourite is the At At 👌
1kth view
Cycle Nutter 😂😂😂. Hugely appreciated - it’s my fastest vid to 1000 ! 🙏
Cybersecurity guy here…just a friendly note that it’s not a good idea to reveal your date of birth publicly, if that was your real date of birth. Enjoyed the video!
Thanks ever so much David 🙏 - that’s hugely appreciated. And cheers for the heads up 🙏
Music is irritating