For this afternoon’s ride I was looking for something a little different. Ideally not a blue zone (zone 2?) ride, but something the green zone – a bit harder, but not much.
Having used the excellent WhatsOnZwift search and filter system, I found one that looked really interesting: Zwift Academy Tri 2020 – #1. Strength Development.
This is the first workout in the Zwift Academy Tri 2020 program, and that’s something I skipped over – as I’m really not interested in running, and I only like swimming if it’s lovely and sunny. Aka, on holiday.
I figured this would be an interesting session simply because the Zwift Academy 2019 workouts were, by and large, really well done. I had previously thought about doing the Zwift Academy 2018 workouts, but have yet to get around to doing them. I’m also always looking for things to do that last more than a session – so potentially, this could be an interesting set of workouts to work through.
The other interesting aspect of this session for me is the low cadence work.
If I have my way, I strongly prefer to spin at 90rpm or greater, particularly during workouts. Over time, I’ve discovered I feel most comfortable at that cadence.
But I have been wondering: is there a benefit to lower cadence work, and if so, should I be doing some lower cadence workouts as part of my mix?
With all this in mind, this workout seemed to be ticking a lot of boxes, so I got involved.
One thing I did really like about the Zwift Academy rides were the varied warm ups. They gave me some ideas and techniques I have kept and built into my training sessions ever since.
And this – and I assume the other – Zwift Academy Tri 2020 workout started with a typical warm up to get things moving. I liked this. Always lots of stuff on screen as well, which really helps keep me interested – and mentally occupied.
Somewhat unusually, the warm up went up to just below FTP, yet at no other point in the workout did we come close.
Today’s session was really about lower intensity stuff. And as soon as we dropped into the first block, I was all over the show.
The idea is that we ramp up every 2 minutes, increasing from 60rpm in the first block up to 75rpm in the last.
I was just about comfortable at 75rpm. Everything else took a lot of concentration. And I must say, many times my concentration wandered and I ended up spinning either too fast, or often, too slow.
The required watts were fairly easy targets today. I found this a little frustrating – I’d wanted an easier session, but honestly I barely broke a sweat today. That, to me, isn’t a totally optimal use of my time. I know not every workout needs to be a drip fest, but I do tend to want to feel like I’ve put in a solid shift, unless it was intentionally a blue zone / active recovery session.
It was kinda weird to be told that this speed – 170w approx – would be the speed I’d typically hold for longer rides. I’m not sure about this, honestly. I’d really expect this to be closer to 180-190w, even if riding for several hours. Maybe I’m completely over estimating myself here, but this felt too cruise-y.
By the end of the first block I figured I had the measure of this session. I was wondering if I should bump up the intensity – though have been burned plenty of times in the past by being too cocky.
I reckon I could have bumped this one today, it wasn’t pushing me enough.
However, I did enjoy it. The variety was enough to keep me interested for the full hour, though I was a tad dismayed to realise I’d be doing 5 reps instead of 4. And by the last rep I was very much ready for the session to be over. That was also my least consistent of all, as I found if I alt+tabbed to browse YouTube, my cadence went to pot.
Speaking of things going to pot, my diet went out of the window yesterday and today. Junk food, pizza, 3 big glasses of wine, and some shots… yeah, it’s not often I go off piste, but I definitely over indulged yesterday. That said, aside from a pint when out at meals, I don’t drink at home anymore, so it’s far from the end of the world. And man, did I feel crappy for it this morning.
Definitely the most challenging thing about this workout was going from the 2 minute rest blocks between each rep from 95rpm back down to 60rpm. For me, 60rpm feels like I’m almost standing still. It’s sooo much slower than is comfortable for me, it really is.
Anyway, I’ll stop moaning about that now.
So, am I going to do the next Zwift Academy Tri 2020 workout?
Yes, I think I am.
Not as my next session, but I think one of these a week could be a nice little diversion from otherwise ending up doing 2x SST sessions per week. That said, I’d guess the SST sessions are likely to yield faster / better gains… but I’m not trying to be some superman, so maybe having a bit of flexibility at the expense of an extra watt or two over the same period is acceptable?
Positives for this ride then:
- Rode for over an hour – had a week not so long ago where this did not happen at all.
- Got a new ‘thing’ to complete.
- Almost at the 50km climbed marker – I’d be there by now if all my climbing had been done on Zwift.
- 500+ calories burned.
- Got on the bike, even though I’d gone “off piste” yesterday.
Did I like low cadence work?
No.
Was it beneficial?
I’m entirely not sure. I’d probably say I remain more unconvinced than convinced that this has any immediate benefits to a complete amateur like me, but then, what the hell do I know?
Looking ahead to tomorrow, I’m semi-tempted by the last Fondo ride. It is looking ever so slightly different to the January Fondo, and wow, I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since then already.
I’d really have quite liked to get another race done this week, but finding a suitable race is proving to be a real pain. I’m also semi-tempted to get Tacx Software back up and running, and do a climb on there, instead.
I guess I’ll go with the flow in the morning. Fortunately I do seem to be finishing the week in a much more positive frame of mind than where I was at mid-week. Happiest of all about that.
