I’ve been noticing that on off VO2 max efforts, especially the 15 seconds on and 15 seconds off type, feel disproportionately hard for me on the trainer compared to outside.
I’m running a Zwift Cog and doing everything in ERG mode. It feels like the trainer spends a big chunk of each interval just spinning up and down to the target power, so by the time it actually gets there, the interval is almost over. Same thing on the recovery side. It makes the whole workout feel choppy and harder to execute as intended.
For those of you doing short on off VO2 work indoors, are there any tips or tricks that have helped you get better results or that make these sessions feel more productive and less like a fight with the trainer?
Just trying to make sure I’m getting the intended stimulus from these sessions rather than fighting the equipment.
Apologies for not having something more directly useful to suggest, but 15/15s and erg mode on Zwift with a Wattbike Atom just weren’t going to do it for me.
30/30s and 30/15s were just about do-able, but I almost always prefer not to use erg for those anyway.
For those type of efforts it’s always easier (for me at least) to turn of erg and just go by feel. And I agree they are definitely easier to do outside!
I feel that the power changes are very slow on TrainerRoad, which makes those types of intervals easy for me due to the delay. I previously used Systm, and the power changes were instantaneous. I’m also looking for ways to improve this, as I like TrainerRoad but I’m very used to using ERG and have been doing so for years with very good results.
Seems like almost no one is picking up the fact that you’ve got a Zwift cog which makes shifting in TR impossible. However, the best way to do this is without question (IMO) out of ERG mode.
What I would do is let TR send your workout to Zwift and use virtual shifting in Zwift. Then you can manually shift into the gears for the intervals.
The other option would be to do them outside. If you live in a place where you can find a decent stretch of traffic free road, they’re pretty nice to do outside.
Oops. You’re right. When he said Zwift, I assumed he was doing the workout in Zwift.
I did some 30/90s today in Zwift (Zwift bike and KICKR V6) and this is what they looked like in erg (ignore that I forgot I had lowered the % for the 2nd to last recovery interval and screwed up that work interval )
So if you are doing the workout in Zwift then I’d follow the recommendation of switching out of ERG and use virtual shifting.
However if you are doing them in TR app, I don’t think virtual shifting works there so ERG would be your only choice (someone correct me if I’m wrong). What I do for ERG on these types of workouts is slow my cadence down to high 80’s with about 5 seconds of rest left. Then I start accelerating during the interval so that I am over 100 rpm by the end of the 15 seconds. I find that while accelerating the power drops off less. My goal is to hit hard at the beginning to get power up and then try and hold it up by accelerating rather than holding a steady cadence. It may not be perfect but I’m breathing pretty damn hard so I think I am getting the desired benefit.
You can use resistance mode in TR with a cog but you will have to manually adjust the resistance value to get the desired amount of resistance. Takes a bit of trial and error but once you know what value you need it’s pretty easy to switch from erg to resistance for the vo2 intervals then switch back to erg for the recovery intervals.
short intervals don’t play well with erg mode…better off shutting it off for them. You really don’t need erg mode if you are disciplined, the watts meter during a training session will show your wattage and whether it is in or out of the required range.
I’ve noticed that erg mode doesn’t work all that well using TR with my Kickr V5 compared to when I was using TrainingPeaks…not sure if it is the training program, my Kickr or Zwift but I wind up using the gears, 12 speed cassette, and it works just fine…it also allows me to tailor the cadence to what I want to use.
This is why I personally don’t use the Zwift Cog and still use a bike I can shift…
I’d be doing these intervals in Zwift where I can use the shifting / resistance functionality. Or, get rid of the cog and put a real cassette on with your outdoor bike for these type of workouts.
I can do successful shorter high intensity intervals OK in ERG mode on my trainer. The resistances takes 2-3 seconds to ramp up, but also the same ramping down, so the total time is the same. The thing is, if I let my cadence slow as the resistance ramps up, I won’t hit the target power in the short time available so I try to keep my cadence constant or even slightly increase it as the resistance increases. If I do that well, the interval looks good. If I’m increasing cadence a little, I can even exceed the target power.
So I use a Wattbike in erg mode and I don’t often do anything as short as 15/15 but when I do I find it’s easier to pre-spin up to 100 rpm , rather than wait for the interval timer and then start.
I have been trying to hit the magical 1000W max power this season but falling just short. I tried an experiment where I created a workout in Zwift with a 10 sec ramp from 200W to 1010W and then a ramp down from 1010W to 160W - to see if this would “make” me hit 1000W.
Only tried it once so far, but it felt like the brake had been applied and I got nowhere near it. Took Erg mode off and tried “freestyle” and hit 981W - close but no cigar.
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