Are Zwift races effective training?

CptKernow

I've recently started doing some Zwift races - a couple a week. Really enjoying them in a masochistic kind of way.

What I'm finding is my heart rate is heading up towards 95% in the first minutes and pretty much staying there for the next hour / hour and a half. Av power is pretty close to my estimated FTP.
The incentive of not getting dropped is what keeps me going so hard...

Anyway, I realise this is a different kind of training to intervals as I'm never going massively over FTP and there is no recovery.

So, will racing like this over these timescales pull my power up, or are intervals still more effective?

fat daddy

its effective for sure, any thing that makes you push yourself will make your body adapt as it works towards minimising the effort it needs.

Is it more effective than intervals ... if you are doing intervals properly, in a structured manor based on your current tested FTP and following a recognised coaching plan ... then probably not, if you just randomly click on the interval training and do that twice a week, its probably about as effective.

BUT ..... I am firmly in belief that what you train doing, you get good at ...... so doing the Zwift races, will get you good at doing zwift races .... where as doing intervals will make you good at doing intervals.

What are you training for ? ...... if its just general real world application of more power, speed, reaction to power, stamina, recovery .... then the best thing to do would be do both !

reformedfatty

If you can maintain a heart rate for longer than 20-30 seconds, its not 95% of your maximum. Not even close.

markhewitt1978

reformedfatty wrote:

If you can maintain a heart rate for longer than 20-30 seconds, its not 95% of your maximum. Not even close.

I assume they meant 95% of FTHR?

CptKernow

reformedfatty wrote:

If you can maintain a heart rate for longer than 20-30 seconds, its not 95% of your maximum. Not even close.

That'd be nice if it wasn't.
However, my 5 yrs of data I've never seen it go much over 180bpm and this has involved some serious efforts.

Recent races I've been averaging at 168bpm for an hour. So that's around 93%

I'm not sure how much difference a few bpm at the top end make. I definitely feel it when I'm over 170 though...

imposter2.0

reformedfatty wrote:

If you can maintain a heart rate for longer than 20-30 seconds, its not 95% of your maximum. Not even close.

You might need to re-think that.

imposter2.0

CptKernow wrote:

I've recently started doing some Zwift races - a couple a week. Really enjoying them in a masochistic kind of way.

What I'm finding is my heart rate is heading up towards 95% in the first minutes and pretty much staying there for the next hour / hour and a half. Av power is pretty close to my estimated FTP.
The incentive of not getting dropped is what keeps me going so hard...

Anyway, I realise this is a different kind of training to intervals as I'm never going massively over FTP and there is no recovery.

So, will racing like this over these timescales pull my power up, or are intervals still more effective?

Notwithstanding the dubious HR reading (if you are talking %max, then 95% for 90 minutes sounds ambitious), then if the sessions replicate what happens in actual races (assuming that's what you are training for), then I can't see how it wouldn't have a benefit. Doesn't sound very structured though, which may or may not be a good thing.

fat daddy

a lot must also depend on how much of a beginner you are.

I have seen my FTP go up 45 points in 3 months ... being a newbie to it, I can make fantastic gains with no structure, if I did intervals I would most likely improve at the same rate as if I did races or if I just cycled up to the radar post.

the longer you have been doing it though and the nearer your genetic potential you reach, the more a structured program will benefit

CptKernow

The structured alternative would probably be doing a 40k TT plan. I imagine this would be lots of unders/overs and 20 minute efforts - i.e. tedious and hard.

I doubt I'll actually be racing. Maybe some TTs and fast 100k rides or even a Tri. So anything that pushes up my overall power and particularly 1 hr efforts would be good.

stueys

I find them very effective, but I think it depends on your mind set. I'm able to push myself harder in the real world (i.e trying to get a time up a climb) or a zwift race than sitting doing intervals on something like TR (much as I love TR). It probably means that I'm physiologically weak ;-)

For me if you're able to kick yourself as hard irrespective then structured intervals are probably better as you are prescribing very exactly the effort and recovery. If you can push yourself harder if you've something to chase then definitely no harm in zwift.

cycleclinic

It is no more effective than racing for real twice a week. The thing is I have found just racing alone with a bit of base miles/recovery rides in between had me plateau this year. Once I brought interval sessions back in and more hours on the bike (I did plenty before but obviously not the right kind of riding) then things have changed. You body adapts and if you do the same thing over and over you plateau after seeing inital improvements. I now understand why training is done in blocks.

jgsi

You get to a certain age and plateauing is actually a result........