Just started on Zwift (using Wahoo Kickr), I’m 50 yrs old, been cycling for 40 yrs, completed a couple of Etapes and am a keen cyclist - but never a racer. Keen Strava user but otherwise haven’t dabbled much with output stats, power meters etc. I love hill climbing and like nothing better than a ride in the mountains. 3 yrs ago I was diagnosed with a leaking mitral valve, had a successful repair op in March, and am awaiting an ablation to hopefully stop the Afib I’ve had since the op. I started on a course of heart meds in May to help with the Afib and also raise my EF. Since March, I’ve ridden my bike IRL a handful of times at a low intensity, no problems. I got pneumonia in mid May, and have not been on the bike since. Doctors say I can exercise but not go too hard. My cardiologist prefers me to use the trainer rather than ride IRL at the moment.
My question is: are there recommendations for low-intensity rides, and also training programs for cardiac patients/riders recovering from illness? Any tips much appreciated! I also saw there was a Cardiac Atheletes group which I will endeavour to join.
Glad to hear the op was successful. There’s no official program from Zwift and I know this question has come up a number of times before on the forums - maybe look around in those posts. Heart rate zones is probably a good metric for monitoring intensity as you recover
As Oliver said, use heart rate as a guide and don’t even try a training program in Zwift as they will all likely have too much intensity for you.
Start off by just riding the routes avaliable and what seems interesting to you while keeping a close eye on heart rate and perceived exertion. You can lower the trainer difficulty in the settings in game as well, this will essentially flatten out all the hills (you’ll go slower up hill but the resistance sent to the trainer won’t change, so you wont have to change gears or feel the inclines). Good luck with your recovery!
Oh, and get a good fan or two for air flow, this will help keep you cool and from over exerting yourself.
If you happen to be a Facebook user, check out the Cardiac Athletes group.
Robo Pacer rides can be good for giving you casual drop-in group ride opportunities on mostly flat routes. The pace choices are limited to a specific set but if one of them matches up with what you want, that’s a good option. It’s a join any time, quit any time type of ride so you won’t be likely to push yourself to do more than you intend to do. Plus you can teleport from one to another so if you join one that is harder than you want, you can downgrade seamlessly.
I wouldn’t do any training programs that aren’t doctor-approved. Most of the Zwift plans have too much intensity anyway, and you may push yourself to complete a workout that you should quit early. It’s just how the incentives work in the game.
My preferred way to do low intensity work is free rides with the Trainer Difficulty setting moved to zero so the trainer doesn’t adjust resistance and I don’t need to shift or change cadence, and there’s no group I’m trying to stay with. That way I can enjoy whatever scenery I want but don’t have to respond to hills. They’re just something to look at.
I would suggest to stay away from robopacer rides as well because they have surges of speed at times and pace increases uphill. It’s very easy to be encouraged to go faster than you should.
Doing your own rides or events where you know the pace will be nicely kept under control (ie, electric fence) is a must.
Some group rides use “rubberband” mode, enabling everyone to keep together, providing they are simply turning their pedals. So you can safely ride within your safe limits.
Zwifthacks site has lots of filter rules, link below should be group rides with rubberband…
Your cardiologist should provide guidance about max HR targets and maybe also average HR for your typical training duration. When I was being treated for atrial tachycardia I was given not-to-exceed numbers. Tell them you are an athlete and ask for the guidance, how hard can you go for how long.
@Tom_Morris from now on you should ALWAYS ride with a heart monitor. I’ve had 8 cardiac stents inserted into various coronary arteries over the past 8 years. This came about because I’ve been training with an HRM for decades. It showed me shortly after my 60th that my max HR was dropping. That got me into see a cardiologist and after a bunch of tests, they determined I had a 98% blockage of my right coronary artery. I was probably a coupla rides from doing a Jim Fixx.
Know what the numbers mean and what your limits should be at all times. As an experienced cyclist you can “probably” ride with the Taylor pace partner but I don’t really know that to be a fact. Taylor is the slowest PP and the increases in pace on the hills is very slight compared to some of the faster ones. Still, your cardiologist should be able to give you numbers that you can abide by. Please keep us posted on how that goes.
Do an internet search for Heart Rate Zones. You’ll get more information than you can imagine. I believe your doctor will suggest Z1-Z2 for the time being. Recovery will be a slow process…
