I’m currently recovering from an operation that I had yesterday so will be off the bike for a few weeks. As a last ride before the op I did a 40km 850m elevation ride round Ladybower which nearly finished me off. General illness, Christmas etc has had a massive impact on fitness so whilst I’m convalescing I’m looking at a plan to get on top of it. I’ve used TR in the past and it was effective but a bit dull, although there’re is a lot of structure which I need. Zwift seems a bit more interesting but there aren’t as many plans and the ones that are there require a large time commitment. I can only really do 3 hours a week max, which is fine on TR as all of their plans can be adjusted. I suppose there isn’t the option to select different workouts on Zwift and build you own plan but I wouldn’t know what to select.

I basically need something to improve fitness for big days out and get ready for Ard moors. Does anyone have any advice on where to start?

Whenever I’ve been injured I’ve turned to sufferfest, the humour just works for me. It’s my gym go to now as they have watt bikes and I can measure my efforts for it. Just back from Do As Your Told, a good 45 mins of fun/pain. Free week trial available.

You can select your own workouts on zwift. Or just do things like ride up the alpe as a threshold session.

Join the racing on zwift
You could do three one hour events per week
I’ve found it quite a bit more engaging than the tr plans, Sufferfest etc

Different strokes etc, some people like sufferfest and tr, some like zwift. Weirdly I know far more mtb’ers (generally the older and / or rubber ones too) that use zwift, roadies just seem to go outside or use a training app rather than a simulator.

I quite like tr and sufferfest because there’s very visible results, you do an 8 week plan for X and at the end you’re at X+10%.

I don’t do training in the real world though, I just pick a ride, distance and pace and try to leave nothing in the tank.

I just cancelled my Zwift membership after a couple of months trying it out – it’s just too fake, with the stupid tunnels and the ridiculous Tron wheels, and it’s really nothing like riding in a group on the open road. So another vote for Sufferfest, YMMV.

nixie

Subscriber
You can select your own workouts on zwift. Or just do things like ride up the alpe as a threshold session.

You cant go wrong with this advise.

ps. just ignore the scenery and Tron wheels, and just focus on closing the gap to the rider in front … there is nothing fake about the effort required to do this. Whilst I find just riding around the different world almost as boring as a normal dumb trainer – when you enter a race and are determined to stay with the front group it gets very engaging and time flies by … and it gets your fitness up quickly.

Zwift works for me, but the gamification is not to everyone’s taste

Trainer road on one screen and Amazon prime video on another. Perfect.

As above, different strokes for different folks. I started with TR as at the time they did structured plans whereas Zwift didn’t (may still not) plus you can choose the amount of time you spend on each plan.

Anyway – define “big days out”. I’d go for long (as in all day) steady, zone 2, rides and use whichever turbo app you prefer for short really hard intervals to give you a bit of pep.

Interested in this as well – got a turbo (actually I’ve got a clothes hanger which also can be used as a turbo!) – need to get myself kicked into action and get myself fitter, but the turbo is just so mind-numbing (and I don’t seem to have the motivation to drag myself outside, hence the lack of fitness!).

Got a 2 month free Sufferfest code, but also thought about Zwift – which one is more engaging and likely to keep me going? As a reference, 5 minutes on the turbo and I’m thinking about getting off it!

Zwift or SF? Depends on you really. Both have free trials, just give ’em a go and see which you prefer.

A big day for me is 35km with 1200-1500m of climbing really, given I live in Lincs and only get out once a week for a local bimble.

I get that I can just pick one and run through the trial but I genuinely don’t know where to start. I liked the TR for the structure but SF and Zwift seem to promise some fun, I’m not one for trying to watch Netflix at the same time. Is picking any old workout or going for a race that effective? Or is it just a case of some riding is better than none? Obviously there isn’t a lot of freewheeling on a turbo so every minute is spent exercising…

I think people associate turbo training with going all out hell for leather. Sufferfest has humour that gets you through this. Zwift has other riders in a race to do the same. I’m happier with endurance efforts rather than just hurting myself. For that I prefer Zwift. Did 3 hours yesterday.

Everyone likes to say how wonderful high intensity interval training is for building fitness. And it is an efficient method. But lots of Zone 2 riding will build bigger fitness if you have the time. Now many people have the time though? So three hard hours a week of turbo pain or 14 hours of Zone 2 and an hour of intervals?

Zwift is better suited to just riding along building volume if you can’t or don’t want to get out. Hence it gets my vote. I bought the original Suffwrfest videos and still use them when away from home.

When I first got my smart trainer I thought Zwift was great. I soon got bored of it though and off the back of the Trainer Road podcast I thought I’d give TR a try. It works for me – I like the structure and being able to plan my training with the calendar. Netflix/Prime keeps me entertained during easier rides, Spotify or MTB films for anything above threshold. I recently got a free month of Zwift so tried it again but it didn’t do it for me. The racing is fun and a good way to push yourself, but it makes every ride a full on effort which doesn’t necessarily give you the most bang for your buck in terms of fitness gains (although probably isn’t a terrible approach with limited training time). I think TR requires a bit more motivation than other platforms as it is very functional with no distractions or frills, so much of it comes down to personality type – try them all and see what suits you. At the end of the day, whichever platform is most likely to engage you and keep you training consistently will be the best one for you. Your approach should also depend on your goals for ‘Ard Moors. If you simply want to get round without killing yourself then just getting the (virtual) miles in will suffice. If you want to race to the best of your ability then you should be looking for something more structured and incorporating a fair bit of VO2 max work. The TR plans could certainly work for this. I’ve done the Steady State Base plan and now doing Short Power Build which I’ll follow with the Gravity MTB plan in preparation for a season of enduro racing – the low volume versions of these plans only require about 3.5 hours each week. Alternatively the Time Crunch plans could work.

I have a free month of TR going spare – PM me your email address if you want it.

An hour on the trainer is my limit
Pushing blocks of wattage on TR eventually got a bit mind numbing for me but I had previously benefited from doing the odd plan or just running Sufferfest vids through TR.
I initially liked zwift for the real world effort associated with catching and passing people but this did not sustain my interest.
I did not want to race as I thought I would be shit.
I tried it, signed up to zwiftpower etc and am hooked. Like the fact that I sign up for an event in advance so I commit to train.I achieve much better numbers in competition than I do on my own. I find it hard to go easy which may be an issue. This approach may lack structure but it beats doing nothing.
I still struggle with the training programmes in Zwift as you loose the dynamic experience

The only one I’ve found interesting is BigringVR which is HD videos of loads of climbs in Europe and USA. Pick a climb in the alps that I’ll probably never be able to do in real life due to kids and lack of time and I just ride up and enjoy the scenery! They do have some flat and undulating stuff as well. There’s also a ‘league running on cyclechat if you want to try and get a bit competitive. As with all the others, free trial available to see what it’s like.

Just checked, 245 videos available to ride at present

@qtip, thanks for the offer, will do.

BigringVR Looks interesting as a thing to do occasionally, although it’s completely different to what I’m after.

Ive been on Zwift for a few months now and really like it. Its far easier to just jump on the turbo for an hour and its sustains my interest. Have done a few event / races and group rides and i think these are pretty good and the best way to go as they really keep you engaged (well me anyway). I’ve also started their FTB builder training plan (4-5 hrs a week) and its great at getting me off the couch.

I think zwift works well for those who are not “self starters”.