Zwift Chat

[BurningLegs]

@Marino.g - I'm confident that you'll find better gains in your fitness than equipment at this stage.

Congratulations on losing the weight . I've been on a similar journey (from 86KG to 69KG) and have been focusing on losing weight whilst maintaining/slowly increasing power. It's worked for me. When I started on Zwift a SUB2 group ride was hard work and I'd be aching afterwards, now I'm CAT C and pushing towards CAT B without any structured training at all.

I am sure you would benefit from a training plan on training peaks or similar, but I don't think it's required. What you've been doing so far has clearly been working - why change it unless progress has stagnated??

 

[Brendan Parker]

@Marino.g - I'm confident that you'll find better gains in your fitness than equipment at this stage.

Congratulations on losing the weight (from 86KG to 69KG). I've been on a similar journey and have been focusing on losing weight whilst maintaining/slowly increasing power. It's worked for me. When I started on Zwift a SUB2 group ride was hard work and I'd be aching afterwards, now I'm CAT C and pushing towards CAT B without any structured training at all.

I am sure you would benefit from a training plan on training peaks or similar, but I don't think it's required. What you've been doing so far has clearly been working - why change it unless progress has stagnated??

Agreed. When I first joined here back when it was bkool. I was fighting to stay with the slowest on here and with my RL rides. Now doing better than I thought was possible. There must be something in going balls out for an hour a few times a week. Stick with it mate it will come

 

[CXRAndy]

Marino, being Clydesdale riders we are limited in out performing these very fit middle/light weight riders. That said with a structured plan everyone can improve. I personally found TR a great benefit. I don't t how much duration riding you do, but once I found I could do a couple of hours zone 2 without my heart rate climbing I began to see improvements in racing too.

Its down to productive time in the saddle, Im managing about 6-7 hours per week. Martin has been doing 12hrs- more goals/dedicated than others.

Try Zwift/Sufferfest/TR multi week plans and see what improvement you get

Dint forget to rest when you feel tired, overtraining sneaks upon you

 

[berty bassett]

well havent i missed a lot of posts in a couple of hours !
for what its worth i think this stage isnt as bad as most the hill is at the beginning then you can tuck in and recover a bit

 

[bridgy]

Hi guys
I know that you have been talking about training schedules lately and racing on Zwift especially TDZ that’s taking place.
For me at cat D and virtually the slowest of our group on Zwift I would like to improve to compete but at 55 with a knee worse than Bobs and weigh 89kg (lost a stone) I wonder if this is achievable.
I’m thinking of trying a training schedule on training peaks for about 12 weeks to improve my ftp (220) and would like your thoughts.
Surely going flat out for an hour and half on the Tdz races twice a week is not good training or is it ??
I’ve tried Trainerroad before but found it boring without much gain but at least training peaks is listed on the Zwift world workouts so I might find this more substainable.
One thing to mention is that in the real world I’m ok but use a different bike but on Zwift I have an older 9 speed racer on my direto trainer and sometimes I wonder if that might make a difference.
I would be grateful for your opinions.

My suggestion would be, you focus mostly on *healthy* (and sustainable) weight loss as this will make by far the biggest difference. People often focus on the things pro's do to eek out some additional marginal gains in their performance or equipment, forgetting that these guys have already done the "low hanging fruit" stuff that we should all do first.

Well done on the weight loss you've achieved so far - if you think you have more weight you could lose (a bit of a blunt instrument but a guideline at least is to put your details in to a BMI calculator - https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/) I would say focus on this first and foremost, whilst doing whatever exercise keeps you motivated to keep doing it regularly - whether that's racing twice a week or following a training schedule.

@Whorty has probably made the biggest improvements out of our group, and it's no coincidence that he's also lost a hell of a lot of weight (I think he may have mentioned it once or twice )

If losing any more weight is not an option then I'd say go for a training plan if you fancy it and see how it helps - why not!

 

[bridgy]

for what its worth i think this stage isnt as bad

Good news everyone, Lee (time of 1 hour 10, and 18th/325 on ZP results) says stage 3 is an easy one....

 

[Joffey]

Hi guys
I know that you have been talking about training schedules lately and racing on Zwift especially TDZ that’s taking place.
For me at cat D and virtually the slowest of our group on Zwift I would like to improve to compete but at 55 with a knee worse than Bobs and weigh 89kg (lost a stone) I wonder if this is achievable.
I’m thinking of trying a training schedule on training peaks for about 12 weeks to improve my ftp (220) and would like your thoughts.
Surely going flat out for an hour and half on the Tdz races twice a week is not good training or is it ??
I’ve tried Trainerroad before but found it boring without much gain but at least training peaks is listed on the Zwift world workouts so I might find this more substainable.
One thing to mention is that in the real world I’m ok but use a different bike on Zwift and use an older 9 speed racer on my direto trainer and sometimes I wonder if that might make a difference.
I would be grateful for your opinions.

Don't worry Marino - I've come along so you aren't the slowest anymore!

 

[<Tommy>]

Mario if your knee is giving you problems I wouldn’t try and do anything too structured like a training plan. I’d just do what you enjoy and and rest when you need to. I think the same thing applies to all of us in varying degrees. Try and avoid overtraining and work out a good recovery that suits you. Try and each healthy and if you’re trying to lose weight reduce your meal time portion sizes and cut out snacks.

 

[CXRAndy]

Good news everyone, Lee (time of 1 hour 10, and 18th/325 on ZP results) says stage 3 is an easy one....

Lee is slipping, he's usually top 1%

 

[Whorty]

Meant to do stage 3 yesterday but just one of those days at work, aiming for 6 today

Good luck. Only advice I can give is don't rush to the KoM ... it's only about 4km from the start pens, so go at a nice pace and save your energy for the 25 to 30 mins climb. As you crest, you'll know there is a flat section ..... I saw 3 other riders 'resting' on that ahead having dropped their power to about 1.6 or so w/kg. I chased on to them to ensure on the long descent and into the Jungle I wasn't on my own. I think this really helped and was much better than being on my own.

 

[JuhaL]

I just did my own stage 3 recon and it is easy as it can be . My time 1:33:50.

 

[bobinski]

Hi guys
I know that you have been talking about training schedules lately and racing on Zwift especially TDZ that’s taking place.
For me at cat D and virtually the slowest of our group on Zwift I would like to improve to compete but at 55 with a knee worse than Bobs and weigh 89kg (lost a stone) I wonder if this is achievable.
I’m thinking of trying a training schedule on training peaks for about 12 weeks to improve my ftp (220) and would like your thoughts.
Surely going flat out for an hour and half on the Tdz races twice a week is not good training or is it ??
I’ve tried Trainerroad before but found it boring without much gain but at least training peaks is listed on the Zwift world workouts so I might find this more substainable.
One thing to mention is that in the real world I’m ok but use a different bike on Zwift and use an older 9 speed racer on my direto trainer and sometimes I wonder if that might make a difference.
I would be grateful for your opinions.

Mate, what’s wrong with your knee? You banged it like Tommy did it is it even more serious? Diagnosis? Prognosis and Treatment?
You a spinner or a grinder? Whichever you are, or should be depending on what’s wrong with the knee will likely dictate a TP. I have a bit of knowledge I can share 😁 In the meantime weight loss, hard as it is, is your friend.

 

[Whorty]

@Whorty has probably made the biggest improvements out of our group, and it's no coincidence that he's also lost a hell of a lot of weight (I think he may have mentioned it once or twice )

Did I mention it? I can't recall

My suggestion would be, you focus mostly on *healthy* (and sustainable) weight loss as this will make by far the biggest difference. People often focus on the things pro's do to eek out some additional marginal gains in their performance or equipment, forgetting that these guys have already done the "low hanging fruit" stuff that we should all do first.

Definitely this @Marino.g . For anyone like us who are (even slightly) over weight the biggest gains will be to shed a kg or 2. When I first joined Bkool, as you may recall, I was definitely the fat bloke at the back. over 90kg and on 5'7'' (171 cm). I'm currently at 74kg so even for me plenty more can be lost - my power has increased but my FTP isn't much higher than yours (I'm 238). What i did last year, and it was damn hard, was just cut out all crap from my food. This had the benefit that I lost weight and hence increased my w/kg, but also meant I could ride longer, and this allowed me to ride harder, which increased my FTP .... a positive cycle.

Re equipment, I also have a 9 speed tatty bike on the NEO and, as @bridgy says, go for the low hanging gains before you think about spending any money.

I use Zwift for my workouts as I quite like them. There are plans you can sign up to, or (as I do) just pick a workout that fits what you fancy that day. Sometimes a race, sometimes a structured workout. Only on 'rest' days like today will I just do a free ride - at pretty much all other ride days I ride hard.

As for your age - you are 5 years older than me, but don't forget @Norry1 is 5 years older than you. 12 months ago I could stick with Martin in races (although he always outsprinted me) but despite my gains over the past 12 months, he is now well ahead of me I think he is a great example of how even us older riders can still make big gains.

Lots of advice from lots of people .... take what suits you best and hopefully come and join us soon in C cat

 

[Brendan Parker]

Lots of advice from lots of people .... take what suits you best and hopefully come and join us soon in C cat

bit misleading as your going to B cat next week

 

[IrishAl]

Well done on the progress to date @Marino.g and keep at it. I’d suggest that only racing full bore isn’t going to help maximise your gains and you and your knee would benefit from easier zone 2/3 work.
I haven’t tried any of the Zwift training plans. I did start the FTP builder plan but found it too easy and lost interest. I’ve an all round plan that was developed for me by a coach years ago which I still use now and then. I can share if you like - it’s a mix of varied work outs and I’ve created .zwo workout files for Zwift to match these. Most of the bro-science I’ve read suggests the lower intensity stuff to helpweight loss and the high intensity for building your cardio engine. You could substitute a race or two in each week in place of the more intense work outs as we all enjoy the fun of the race and community element.