Zwift Training Programs

As a Zwift noob I’m asking for people’s experience with the training plans. I’m hoping to end the winter fitter and stronger (and lighter) than I started it.

I did a couple of the 30 minute work outs and a Ramp Test Lite and thought something more structured would be a good idea.

With that in mind, I’ve started the Dirt Destroyer plan. Has anyone done this? How did you find it?

I’m in the same position, have a zwift set up but am unsure how to best utilise it, I dont have a race or event to target being fit for, I just want to be fitter next year.

Interested to hear about dirt destroyer if anyone has any experience?

I’ve done the Fondo one and the 12 week ftp booster. I saw a decent ftp boost from the 12 week one but I struggled a lot with boredom while doing it, it felt like a chore at times. There isn’t much of the social aspect to workouts unless you join one of the workout events.

I personally preferred the Sufferfest stuff (SYSTM as it’s now called) but that’s not to say the Zwift stuff is bad.

Also interested in this. I’ve used Sufferfest more for this type of thing in the past, but was planning on doing some kind of Zwift FTP builder in the run up to Xmas. I think there is a 6-8 week one…?

Dirt destroyer is great, loads of low cadence work in it to help with MTB specific riding.

I did it at the start of this year as my first proper training plan and went from 212w to 246w FTP.

I think there is a 6-8 week one…?

There is (or was) – ‘Beginner FTP Builder’ I think it’s called, I did it in my first Zwift winter and enjoyed it to be honest.

I also started the Dirt Destroyer one last winter but never really got into it, but that’s a reflection of my motivation, not the plan. I’m just about to get into Zwift again for this winter so I may well give it another shot.

Found the 6 week course, its now just called ‘FTP builder’. Going to start it next week I reckon…

I did some of the Dirt Destroyer one, I wasn’t convinced of the benefit of all the low cadence stuff. I also tried the FTP builder. I found the workouts a little monotonous, riding mostly under threshold is just kind of boring. Probably effective though. I ended up browsing What’s on Zwift website for more over/under style FTP sessions, I just find them more interesting. You can filter by duration, zone and training load. Some of the Ineos ones were good. Of course you’re missing the plan element doing that.

I’ve always thought they look overcomplicated, same goes for the TrainerRoad stuff…maybe it’s designed that way to hold your interest a bit better. That said if you’ve not done much structured stuff before you’ll certainly benefit from it.

 I wasn’t convinced of the benefit of all the low cadence stuff.

I was wondering about that too; I’m primarily a winch and plummet ebiker and as AFAIK, spinning is the best way to maximise range.

if you’ve not done much structured stuff before you’ll certainly benefit from it.

That’s my thinking. The Dirt Destroyer Plan is 6 weeks, so I’ll still have loads of winter left to do something else.

I’m primarily a winch and plummet ebiker and as AFAIK, spinning is the best way to maximise range.

‘Low cadence’ in Zwift/roadie speak is basically about 60/70rpm, which is pretty ‘normal verging on spinny’ for most MTBrs. A roadie would class 110RPM+ as ‘spinny’

2 weeks in to dirt destroyer and really enjoying it. the repeated changes in cadence do sap the legs, plus at around a hour per session i can stay focussed.

I was looking for zwift workouts and came across these if you want some simple but hard to do ones.
https://www.octaperformance.com/index.html
Some on here who know more may be able to say if they are any good

Always seemed to me that the main point about zwift was the racing and social riding, not the training plans (which are mostly pretty rubbish from what I see). I used to do 1-2 regular races per week and then some group rides, which worked pretty well for me.

Yeah re cadence zwift really will improve your range, I sit around 90rpm normally but will go as low as 60rpm, right up to 120+rpm when hitting big power numbers! Yet to get into four figures mind, my peak power is around 880w.

Stick to anything with consistency and that will beat picking the right thing after fannying for months.

If you’re new to Zwift but not new to structured training, then I’d just use it as a distraction whilst you do your structured training.

If you’re relatively untrained, pick any plan and have at it. Try a lower volume and easier one as again – consistency beats specificity. Better to complete the plan 100% than do 70% and keep skipping stuff because you don’t have the capacity.

I have just bought a kickr and got a Wahoo SYSTEM free trial. The sufferfest workouts on there are quite good so I think I’ll initially keep that going until christmas. With the mtb plan I can incorporate a few outside rides into the plan as well, which is more important to me at the moment rather than the zwift racing.

It may change over winter though!

I’ve always thought they look overcomplicated

Dylan Johnson on YouTube does quite a detailed take-down of a lot of the Zwift workouts, he’s a solid proponent of very simple big chunks of intensity in a workout.

BUT

He also agrees that if it holds your interest and keeps you coming back then that’s equally valuable.

I’ve enjoyed the geekery of finding my zones and just doing very incrementally harder 4×7 minute threshold workouts, but thanks to external factors my consistency is absolutely lousy, if I could just string together several weeks of two moderate intensity workouts a week I’d be flying 🙄(relatively speaking anyway).

I believe a lot of the workouts on zwift are complicated to give you a mental break. Realistically there’s no difference in training value between a 45min 200w effort and 45mins of 195/205 5 min intervals but it sure as hell feels more engaging.

RGT used to (maybe still does, I don’t know) just have huge blocks at one output and it was soul destroying:

“hold x for 45 minutes”
“Oh **** off”

I’ve just started on the running programs and they’re weird, some segments done by distance and some supposedly done by time only they’re not so I’m never entirely sure what I’m going to actually be doing.

@ivandobski

That’s fine and TR do similar things with their workouts to also provide a slightly novel stimulus.

What’s more moronic about Zwift workouts is the

Ramp to vo2 max
5 mins @ FTP
1 min vo2
45 seconds sweetspot
4min FTP
45 secs sweetspot
1 min vo2
17.45mins tempo
2min vo2
1min sweetspot

Approach

Like throwing a box of spanners at the wall hoping it will undo the bolt on your bike.

Nothing like targeting a specific energy system.

Literally nothing like it.

Started on zwift 3 years ago and did the FTP builder (short). Loved it, clear increase in fitness, endurance and power. Aimed at roadies so it forced me to learn to spin at 90rpm. Killed at the time but much better for distance work. Then did the 3month version but summer then happened.

Tried dirt destroyer and it didn’t hold my attention the same. I understand that slow spins increase leg power but just made me bored.

Laptop died so on atv, and until recently couldn’t access the workouts (didn’t know about the app), back on FTP builder and loving it again.

Some tunes and max of an hour a session (I ignored the free session, would go on my MTB) are great for me.

What sort of rest periods should I be doing?

Did a 90 minute free ride session as part of the program and it took more out of me than the actual training sessions. It’s supposed to be an easy ride!

I don’t really want to miss days completely but I prefer the structure of a training session to JRA.

Can I do a bodyweight workout instead and alternate between that and cardio? I don’t want to overtrain and I don’t want to be knackered on the days I actually ride outside.

I’m doing a TrainerRoad plan but the same rules apply, I generally have 1 day off as rest between hard sessions (for example last night’s VO2 max 1hr workout, 3x sets of 5x 1 min on, 1 min off VO2 max intervals).

I’m doing 3 ‘difficult’ workouts per week which allows for some other lighter workouts on days off (outside rides, weights). That’s the low volume plan, mid volume goes up to 5x workouts a week but adds 2x ‘moderate’ workouts.

..which are mostly pretty rubbish from what I see..

Now I’m not saying they’re perfect, and another plan/programme may have shown better benefits…but after doing the 12 week FTP builder I was uber fit.. FTP went from 275 to 301 to 312…
Was happy with that..

I really should get back into a training plan again!

DrP

A lot of people slate Zwifts training plans and you probably could target certain areas better with a personal coach/personalised training plan to make it more specific, but since I’ve had my smart trainer and zwift I’ve never been so fit, mtb wise.

As echoed above there is nothing more soul destroying than sitting at one power output for anymore than 15 mins.

Normally I would have to be out 3 times a week minimum to build any sort of what Id call decent fitness for mtb, 3hr + rides. Which can be pretty tough in the depths of winter. Now it’s just a case of setting the trainer up and being consistent.

Try singletrack slayer, it’s a lot more intense than dirt destroyer. TT tuneup is another good plan which really ramps up in the 5th week onwards, I always aim to spin at a cadence of 100 rpm(unless specified) which makes it more cardio than muscular.

since I’ve had my smart trainer and zwift I’ve never been so fit, mtb wise.

This. I’m the fittest I’ve ever been currently, and it’s all thanks to Zwift and the training plans. Dirt destroyer straight into build me up got me from 210w to 269w, and now I’m using TrainerRoad I’m on 279w, aiming for 295w to get to 4w/kg. I’ve also lost 10kg since this time last year.

TT Tuneup is a decent plan, gave me great gains just before the pandemic started… But do not adjust your FTP upwards in Zwift as the weeks go by, the plan is absolutely brutal from week 5 onwards!

This. I’m the fittest I’ve ever been currently, and it’s all thanks to Zwift and the training plans. Dirt destroyer straight into build me up got me from 210w to 269w, and now I’m using TrainerRoad I’m on 279w, aiming for 295w to get to 4w/kg. I’ve also lost 10kg since this time last year.

I’d love to follow this path and get the same gains! Did a ramp test and started dirt destroyer last week, but since then have chosen to ride outside twice instead of inside… think means I’ll have missed several DD workouts so may just have to restart it!

It’s great to see that progress translate into real life results too, I did a Dartmoor ride almost exactly 2 years ago, and then again a few weeks back, there was a particular climb on both trips – 2 years ago I was at the back of the group, pushing up the climb. 2 weeks ago, first to the top, zero pushing and wasn’t anywhere near pushing at any point.

Good to hear of fitness improvements. I’ve just acquired a smart trainer and set it up last night with a zwift account as I’m the least fit I’ve been for ten years after a summer of niggly injuries and a nasty bought of covid this last month. So I need to start gentle then ramp up over the winter – recommendations?

So I need to start gentle then ramp up over the winter – recommendations?

You won’t go wrong with FTP Builder

Start with the Zwift 101 plan, this takes you through the basics of training and erg mode, intervals etc.

I think there’s meant to be a ramp test at the end, you’ll need to do one at some point to get an accurate FTP measurement.

^ is also a good idea

I’m not sure I should be using Trainerroad, Wahoo or Zwift.

I signed up for TR so will see how that goes for a month and then maybe look at the others and compare.
I think I just want training not group rides.

I’m not sure I should be using Trainerroad, Wahoo or Zwift.

TrainerRoad is very training focused, as the name suggests – it’s better than zwift once you’ve done a few zwift plans IMO. But you’d need something else to run alongside it otherwise it’s a bit dull, there’s nothing to keep you entertained.

I use zwift running alongside TR for my workouts, means I get the unlocks and entertainment from zwift (only 7000m more until I get the Tron bike!) and the workouts from TR.

Zwift obviously has the non workout rides too – group rides, pace partners, races etc which TR has none of – it’s purely for hardcore training. Which it does very well with the adaptive training etc.

I’m 2 weeks into zwift. I’m fairly fit and getting dropped off the start on zwift 🙁

Rather than a training plan I’ve just stuck to group rides/races. You always end up with folks of similar fitness and my FTP has been increased twice. It really motivates me to stick with a bunch etc and so far I’m loving it.

Top tip have proper warm up before race(I’m hanging on now longer)

people slag off zwift plans as mentioned above – too little focus, too many intense days etc.

I did a plan once (6wk one I think) and it did me some good but not sure I’d bother with another.  Reckon I’d do longish lowish effort rides most days, either outside if possible or on zwift if not (maybe meetups, maybe a pace partner thing (racks up good points)) and then top up with races for the intense days a couple of times a week (either cx outside or zwift races).  That and “smashing the weights” (in my own puny way) a day or two instead of intense riding, maybe

… and yeah, zwift starts are hilarious.  It’s like what I imagine a ‘cross race is like at the start if you’re not at walking pace in mid-pack
(don’t forget to push your “starting” power at least 3-5 seconds before “GO!”)

and yeah, zwift starts are hilarious. It’s like what I imagine a ‘cross race is like at the start if you’re not at walking pace in mid-pack
(don’t forget to push your “starting” power at least 3-5 seconds before “GO!”)

I’m in B cat and a flat race will be 300-400w for the first 2 minutes just to keep with the main pack. Brutal!

Same. I manage to hang on, feel pleased myself, get dropped on the climb and timetrial home.