I’m unsure that I know what I’m doing

Hello
I’m in a beginner training program. I just cycled outside for the first time this year and a mentor/friend helped me transition onto Zwift for the winter. Now I’m doing a 12 week beginner course. Week 1 and 2 were great but now I’m really not understanding what I’m doing wrong. It keeps telling me to spin faster so I spin as fast as I can but what I thought was my cadence never does up usually I’m on the lowest gear on my bike so I tried up shifting down and that didn’t help either. I’m just
not getting anywhere. Maybe I’m unsure what cadence is? I don’t want to give up but I don’t feel encouraged to keep on going during these early morning cycles when I just keep seeing these bold words Faster! Faster! Can someone please explain what I’m doing wrong?

While you are riding in a workout, u never shift. Just keep the same gearing all the timing, Zwift will adjust the power automatically. The faster u pedal, the higher the cadence will get.

Id suggest u try again w/o shifting and see, if that helps already.

Hi @Gabby_Cappis, welcome to the forums!

Cadence is the same as RPM, how fast you are turning the pedals. Please let us know what trainer you are using, is it a wheel off smart trainer? If so, then when in a workout or training plan the trainer will be in ERG mode, meaning that the trainer will adjust the resistance automatically and all you have to do is keep pedaling.

I can’t tell from your screen shot if you are using a smart trainer or not, so please let us know.

Don’t give up! Keep asking questions, the Zwift community is great at helping and providing insight into the program (there isn’t a Zwift user manual, so figuring things out as you go is the norm).

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Oh, I have a JetBlack Z3 Pro Fluid Bike Trainer and I use a garmin speed sensor and cadence sensor to track what I’m doing. This is what I got help setting up.
I really don’t want to give up as a whole, I really do love it.i just need to figure out this problem. During the first week I know that my cadence was at 60 so now I’m confused why it’s not even getting over 40 when I know I haven’t slowed down.

ok that is not a smart trainer, hopefully you got it for free :grin:

This is likely where the problem is, perhaps the sensor isn’t reading correctly? I would double check that the sensors are installed correctly and reading your cadence accurately. Either way, these sensors are just estimating your power output and may be very inaccurate (nothing you need to really be concerned about at this point, but if you get more serious into training then you will want a more accurate power source).