Hi Hoping someone can help. Every time I try to do a workout, as I build power, despite nailing the prescribed wattage, it will quickly become impossible to pedal - so much resistance that standing and pushing with all my might wont budge the pedals. I have to wait until my cadence falls to zero, erg mode resets, and then I can pedal again - which completely disrupts my workout. This happens on workouts and FTP tests which really defeats the purpose. Please help.
Hi @Laura_C_Team_4_13, welcome to Forums. This is Juan from Zwift.
Thank you for posting your concern here. I understand that the resistance issue is definitely ruining your experience. My first recommendation is to check if your trainer has firmware updates. Firmware updates for smart indoor trainers are crucial as they improve performance and stability by fixing bugs, improving accuracy, and adding new features.
Another possible cause could be a “death spiral” in ERG mode. This torturous event occurs when you are in Erg mode trying to maintain a particular power output, then your legs get tired and your cadence drops. To keep hitting your power target, your trainer will increase the resistance. Try lowering the power targets so you can maintain the targets.
If after ruling out these causes the issue persists, feel free to contact us at support@zwift.com. We would be happy to take a look at your in-game logs for personalized support.
If this happens during a structured workout in ERG mode - it’s likely that your functional threshold power (FTP) number is set a bit too high. Your FTP value is a measure of how many watts you can sustain over a period of time (30 seconds / 5 / 20 / 60 minutes) and is a proxy for your current level of fitness.
Try lowering your FTP manually (instructions here) by say - 20 watts at a time, and try that same workout. 20 watts should make a significant difference.
Having an accurate FTP test is very important in structured workouts because your watt targets are a certain percentage of your FTP. Periodically as your fitness fluctuates, you should take a proper FTP test. They will all challenge you - that’s the whole point - but the newly created test on The Grade route in Watopia is the most fun method IMO.