Zwift setup suggestions

So I realize that I'm not in the best shape, but I've always had strong legs and enjoyed biking. When I ride out on the street I can go for hours at a reasonable pace with no issues... I have an admittedly low cadence (around 60-70rpm) but I'm usually in a higher gear, the fast pedaling just doesn't seem to jive with me. That being said, I can't even finish half of the FTP test for zwift and similarly all the "workout" rides are way above my capabilities... Any suggestions?

 

It's hard to pace yourself at first, so you might have to do the FTP test a few times before you nail it. If you're not on the verge of throwing up at the end of the test, you're not trying hard enough. It's tough as hell.
I try to stay at a 90 rpm cadence unless I'm sprinting.

 

Training = results. Keep plugging away. Cadence is an individual thing but 60-70 is pretty low. I'd try to get that up to 80 at least.

 

With that kind of cadence, you are more prone to injury. I hurt my psoas muscle a few years ago because my gearing was too long and I could barely keep my cadence over 50 in the climbs. It still hurts sometimes.

 

There is a guy who rides by my house all the time, and his cadence can't be more than 50. He just grinds and grinds. It's painful to even watch. One of my "power" workouts calls for xW @ 60rpm at times and I hate it.

 

You can manually adjust your FTP. All the workouts are based on your current indicated FTP.

Try bumping it down to around 200 then try a workout (I like The Gorby) or repeat the FTP Test but try and maintain consistent watts for 19 mins (then kill yourself for the last 60 seconds).

For my FTP tests my watts do fluctuate, I’ll go very slightly anaerobic for a few mins then a slight recovery for maybe a minute and repeat. Then go banzai for the last 60 seconds.

 

Well, I went in to set it and my FTP was listed as "0", so I'm not sure what they were basing the workouts on. Thanks for the heads up, I set it to 200 and I'll try it out this weekend and see how that affects things.

 

I've found FTP tests on the trainer to be slightly lower than what you do outdoors. Could be because they are in the off season, but mine have been surprisingly consistent.

I've done two (annually, I know I should do them more often) and get 250 outdoors

237 on the trainer.

And yes, I know these numbers are weak. Much like me.

 

Body cooling is also much less effective indoors than out. That has a huge impact on wattage.

 

Just picked up a Giant Propel Advanced Pro 1. Done a couple rides with it on the trainer.

Amazing bike!

 

Almost 1000km so far this year.

Cleaned up the basement a bit.

 

Probably start doing 30 minutes to 1 hour daily with 10 or 20 ....30 second intervals.
Start out at 30 seconds then bump it up 10 seconds every week or a pace you feel comfortable at.
Its a lil easier to do this on a trainer since you wont have to dodge obstacles, pot holes, or careless drivers.
Do a short warm up... then get a stop watch to time the intervals and pedal as hard as you comfortably can(without rocking or swaying) at least 100rpms. If 30 seconds passes and you still feel "good"... increase your interval time til you start losing some rpm. When youre not doing intervals... then ~60 rpms is fine. You should see your fitness increase pretty quick doing intervals at least 3 times a week. The more you do the bigger dividends it pays. The more rpms you can turn the faster youll be. Your legs can take alot of abuse just have adjust your brain!

 

do you mean 30 seconds on 30 seconds off, or longer breaks in between the 30 seconds of hard pedaling?

 

intervala are like steps...do them progressively. If you pedal hard for 30 sec..
.the pedal your normal pace for 2 minutes. Repeat. Work up to a goal then change the length or distance of your rides.

 

Zwift has some great guided workouts and workout programs you can choose too.

They’re based on your FTP so they never get easy. Basically just follow the very simple instructions and try not to puke.

I did a 50 minute ride on Saturday and averaged 259 Watts. Pretty happy with that.

 

So you've ridden it on the trainer and it's amazing?

 

Over 400km on it now, can I write an online blog review??

No matter, all the reading I did before buying it suggests it’s an amazing bike. I’m really not qualified to say!

 

But it's the end of march, shouldn't it more like 3000 miles? 1K kilometers is what 207 miles a month.