Zwift is making things sloppy

Doing TR workouts while Zwifting is a fantastic way to climb AdZ and earn that Tron Bike!

4 Likes

Yeah, I noted this on another thread…except at the time I was doing Zwift workouts, not TR. The workout feels the same regardless of the terrain, but you get the elevation credit.

1 Like

Running Pettit on Road to Sky gets me 700m each time. :slight_smile:

1 Like

I’m running zwift in the background on as many of my TR workouts as possible at the moment. It’s good for a bit of visual distraction during rests between intervals if I’m not watching a film or TV show, and just keeps that zwift XP and elevation gain ticking over. It makes the Tron bike feel a lot more accessible without having to put work into actually targeting it (which would pose a risk to my actual structured work)

2 Likes

Paul, I don’t spend much time on the TR forum. I get too impatient with how much time it eats up, I’m not a fast reader, but your post caught my eye. I’ve read a few of the replies of those who do Zwift and TR but didn’t read any that talk about doing the workouts and Zwift riding simultaneously which I began doing about mid 2019 and it has enhanced my TR workouts by giving me more to look at (I can’t watch TV or movies when I ride, I have to listen to music) like distant riders I can chase down and pass while doing a longer threshold or sweetspot interval workout. I even do some of my workouts at the same time as a group ride or race. Sucks when you have a climb at the same time as a recovery interval, but then choose your route carefully to avoid such possibilities.

I found this article: https://www.smartbiketrainers.com/run-zwift-trainerroad-simultaniously-1948, which allowed me to stick strictly to my TR plan while also enjoying Zwift at the same time and getting the level ups more quickly than before when I’d ride Zwift on my off days when I didn’t have a TR workout. What I love about doing both is I have more visual stimulation and interactions during a workout that I didn’t have before. Depending on the workout, most often those distractions helps reduce RPE taking your mind off the pain of the interval. There is something about doing a higher intensity interval while watching another rider in the distance that you are chasing down and then eventually passing or doing a longer threshold interval while at the same time chasing a KOM on a particular climb. When I’m going a TR workout with 10+min sweetspot or threshold intervals I love doing the Volcano KOM climb because at 2.8-3.0w/kg you can complete the climb between 9-10 minutes and if your recovery is long enough to allow you go descend back down you can do repeats of the climb for the entire workout.

Anyway, check out the link and article. It just might be the best melding of both worlds you’ve yet to experience.

-Lance

7 Likes

Lots of people here do this; I do it every day. Several threads here on how to do so as well. Definitely keeps me entertained and provides additional motivation to get through the blue bars! :+1:

TrainerRoad and Zwift
TR and Zwift, a proper integration
TR and Zwift together

5 Likes

I think most of the comments on here about using TR and zwift together are about having TR control the trainer, so doing the structured TR workout, and just having zwift for the visual distraction / stimulation.
For those of us lucky enough to have recent smart trainers it’s super easy - I connect my kickr core (which can have two active bluetooth connections) up to zwift for cadence and power reading, then have trainerroad control the trainer and use power match with my stages power meter.

4 Likes

Neo Firmware update turned on the dual bluetooth on all but the oldest models as well that was a pleasant surprise. Same with the vectors 3. Now I only need ANT+ to get cycling dynamics which is nice.

2 Likes

I just cancelled my trial period of Zwift. I don’t like the avatar video game format and I’ll stick with TR and Sufferfest that I’ve used for many years.

@jasonmayo I’ve been using Zwift and TR (TR for workouts/Zwift for entertainment), what is it about the sufferfest experience that you like? Aside from the gamification of training, what is the difference between the 2?

Trainerroad has the better ecosystem as is evident from all the Zwift threads on the TR forums. :wink:

1 Like

In my case, i’m trying the 3 at the moment (well, TR i have my subscription until october, running from 3 years ago, and it will be renewed).
If i keep one of the other 2, it will be Zwift; i did not like it 2 years ago, but now using it with TR for longer / boring tempo rides and the odd TT or race might be enough of an added value and distraction to keep it.
Sufferfest i actually liked much better than Zwift, yet too much overlap with TR and not enough added benefit to keep it alongside. What i did like is the integration of yoga and strength training (not so much for the mental training; again i’m not a racer nor do i need to feel hyper confident or pumped-up).
Videos are nice to have, but with time they will probably be more of a gimmick esp. when repeating them; last sunday’s Team Scream was a lot of fun though!
Also, for complete training plans, the vids are mostly for 1 or 1 and 1/2 hour workouts, leaving you in the same situation of TR for longer rides. And to me it was never too boring to do 1 hour harder workouts on TR alone. Lastly, there is no analysis whatsoever in SF for your workouts and history…
So for yoga i’m still looking for an alternative to integrate with TR myself (any suggestions?) and for strength i’ve got myself a copy of YAYOG by Mark Lauren to help me build my routine off the bike - looks similar enough to the SF strength exercises and routines.

1 Like

I’ve been a fan of Sufferfest for a long time. I live the race forage that is ties into the prescribed workout. The music is usually great. Now they offer strength and yoga training with the prescription. The platform is very solid. They have training plans and just added a calendar but it’s not as good as TR. the story lines can be a bit cheesy but it’s fun.

1 Like

I think it’s similar to riding outside if there was thousands of riders coming past you, you’d be tempted to jump on the back of a group, ignore them and do your own thing.

On a side note I think the speeds on zwift are very generous, if I do 150 Watts on the flat I definitely don’t travel at 20 mph!
6"5 sail signing off!

3 Likes

Thanks for the info @Dede and @jasonmayo!

For yoga I tend to follow my own flow since I got hardcore into the Yogi life a while back. However, I do really like Yogi Approved for when I want to follow a solid routine and can’t make it to the local group. It was a Kickstarter campaign I backed a long time ago for lifetime access so not sure what the monthly/annual is on it. But definitely worth checking out since they’ve expanded a lot and have mobile/iPad apps that make pulling up a session easy.

1 Like

That‘s a good call and idea! I had the same idea - but never tried it really and have since suspended my Zwift membership. Might renew sometime though.

Also, this would solve the problem some are having with connecting Zwift and TR running on the same Computer.

I wonder: do a lot of people run the outdoor workouts from TR in Z? Or do most just run TR in erg behind Zwift like I do. Never really occurred to me to do the other way, as it seems like a bunch of shifting and stuff I don’t want to have to manage.

1 Like

I did not know that. Thanks. I will test it tomorrow. Which cycling dynamics do you get now on ANT+? Last time I tested it I only saw L-R balance, but that was quite a while ago & I could have missed stuff then anyway.

There is a free tier of RGT Cycling if you ever want a small fix of virtual riding/racing. It does require a computer to run it though.

I recently started doing like you do, TR workout in ERG and zwift for distraction. It’s good as you say to avoid shifting and controlling power etc. Just concentrate on the (usually hard!) effort.
BUT: for longer rides i think it can be actually nice to control shifting and pace to make them more interesting. Tomorrow i have a longer 2h tempo workout on calendar and i’m thinking of doing it in Zwift by itself, like a virtual outdoor ride.
I might update this post after that with my impressions.

2 Likes