[oldcyclist]

Can I please get some help as to how to do the following workout on Zwift …

I’ve got one of the Accelerations Rides coming up – CA5 (Accelerations Ride).

The following is the workout description for it…

“Correct execution of the two accelerations in this workout entails accelerating continuously and gradually from Zone 2 to the top of Zone 5. The most common mistake is speeding up too quickly and thus running out of “gears” before the end, so guard against this.”

The workout is

11min @ 83 – 150% FTP

and

6min @ 83 – 150% FTP

Stating – “Accelerate VERY gradually and continuously, aiming to reach full speed a few second before the end.”

How do I do this on Zwift?

Thanks

• This topic was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by oldcyclist.

[Matt Fitzgerald]

The short answer is, pretend you’re not on Zwift. Do the workout as you would if you were riding outdoors.

[Charles]

I assume you are loading the workout from Training Peaks into the Zwift workout folder.

I did the CA1 workout a couple of weeks ago. I recall that Zwift was prompting me to add power during the interval in a linear manner.

Surprised, I looked at the workout on the Training Peaks workout builder and the interval was labeled “acceleration”, something not available in my athlete version of Training Peaks. It worked like ramp up intervals, but isn’t displayed that way. Maybe David has more tools in a coaches version?

I’d suggest that you turn off erg mode if you are on a trainer that forces you to the prescribed power from Zwift, I could be wrong, and just follow Matt’s suggestion. After the first time through you will know for certain.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Charles. Reason: Added the first line

[oldcyclist]

But that wouldn’t work Matt as zwift forces you to use erg mode. This would make the intervals totally impossible to do. As the power would simply ramp up for the entire interval duration.

You can’t disable erg on a zwift workout. Zwift doesn’t offer slope mode.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by oldcyclist.

[Matt Fitzgerald]

That’s unfortunate. ERG mode really thwarts an athlete’s ability to self-regulate, which is critical to optimizing performance. The whole point (well, half the point) of that workout is to improve self-regulatory capacity.

[oldcyclist]

What would you recommend I do?

The cycling plan I purchased says it Zwift compatible but this workout isn’t.

[oldcyclist]

Is there another workout I could do in its place?

[Matt Fitzgerald]

There are a number of other workouts that will give you a similar physical challenge. Progression Intervals are the first that come to mind.

[David Warden]

Oldcyclist, you can turn off erg mode, see https://zwiftinsider.com/erg-mode-in-zwift/

David

[oldcyclist]

Fantastic thanks David.

Thanks also Charles.

p.s. this forum needs a Like button

[Charles]

Zwift interfaces the 80/20 workouts in some unexpected ways. I really like the way it handles the warm ups and cool downs by gradually ramping power up and down.

I’m planning to purchase a treadmill to do some of my run workouts on Zwift and I would love to hear from anyone that has had some experiences and lessons learned on the platform.

[gvsmitty]

I currently run and cycle using Zwift as I live in a cold climate 40% of the year. As for running on Zwift and the planned workouts, you can not simply upload the workout as a .fit file to the platform. You need to use a workout editor to manually input your workout for the day. One of a couple websites – zwiftworkout.com – gives you a graphical representation of the planned workout from 8020 and generates a .zwo file which Zwift uses. From there you will need to place the planned workouts in the \Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Zwift\Workouts\YOUR 7 digit numerical ID in order for it to sync with Zwift on next startup. It is a bit cumbersome but it does work and it works well. You can insert text throughout the workout to remind you what comes up next or motivation if you are generating workouts for someone else.

[Charles]

gvsmitty,

That seems to be the hard way.

Are you using Training Peaks? My 80/20 workouts, both run and bike, are loaded directly into the Zwift Workout menu automatically from the Training Peak calendar.

[Author]

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