I signed up to this training plan at the weekend having completed and enjoyed the Dirt Destroyer plan back in Feb. I’ve been riding the Zwift MTB pretty much since I started and want to continue to do so.
First proper session this afternoon, “Back to Basics”, imagine the disappointment as I get welcomed to the “Dirt Destroyer” training plan, and continue to read, pretty much, all the same info, prompts and questions from that plan, typos and grammatical errors included.
I’m the last person to moan, really I am (honest, I’m British…), but this just smacked as lazy and really disappointing. I’ll see the plan through, as I want some structure back in my training rides, i just hope it’s not all an extended repetition of DD.
we are on the same track. I completed the Dirt Destroyer few weeks ago and train now in the third week of the Singletrack Slayer.
I can only say, go for it!
For me it really differs from DD. The workouts are different and focus on some more specific topics. I think it’s only the first workout which is copy paste. Sure, some are similar but not many. During the workouts I really enjoy the „Science session“ during the workouts as many theoretical background is given. Kev Poulton did a great job. Enjoy the plan!
Hey Volker, thanks for the reply. I’ve done the first two sessions of Wk1 now and yes, i agree, theyre good workouts and different from DD.
Maybe I was a little harsh in my first judgement, when i’m wrong, i’ll say i’m wrong. It’s still a shame that first introduction is from Dirt Destroyer but things get much better after that.
Just finishnig up my first week of Singletrack Slayer. I do like the interval training here and keeps me working physically and mentally. Though this program has you working out everyday. I’ve done planned workouts by personal coaches before and they also had me do endurance rides from 2-4 hours couple times a week and have a day of rest. I can see this plan for those that don’t have 8+ hours to train each week but I would think a rest day is important. I’ll modify my training weeks but will definitely do 4-5 of these workouts a week.
Do you all modify your weekly schedules? Gotta get out on the trail sometime right?
I binned the plan off in the end, combo of missing a few sessions but also wanted to ride outside more over summer. Plan to pick it back up again come winter. How’s it going for you?
The plan was great. I completed it with only few missed workouts. Some only because of time problems.
I think it’s good to have a time window to follow the plan but sometimes I missed it by only 30minutes and the training was gone and I had to do an alternative. Very annoying.
With kids and family life a bit more flexibility is needed.
I skipped few endurance or tempo sessions to do outdoor rides. But not that many.
Towards the end of the 10 weeks I really felt the fatigue. But I tried to stick to the plan. For me it would be too hard to do the plan right before an A race (as it is in the description). I needed a rest week after the plan. Though the FTP improvement was significant after that. So I‘m very happy with the plan.
Additionally I would love to have the individual workouts available in the library. These a brilliant.
I would also like to have a MTB Cross Country Marathon plan which prepares for a 3-4h race.
Same here! I am unable to sign up for the Plans due to race season. I would love to try the workouts from plans (many from Singletrack Slayer) without creating my own custom workout. An export workout / import to Custom folder would be a workable option for me.
Hi
So I have just started this and in some instances I want to do 2 in a day because I can’t commit to do this every day for however many weeks. I would like to do a morning and an evening on some days though. Is there a way to unlock the next one immediately?
Many thanks
I completed the full plan in 2021 right before the race season. I use WHOOP and it was showing some serious fatigue by the end of the plan and I needed a full week off just to get my recovery scores back up. This plan calls for riding 7 days a week for 10-12 weeks. I think you need to be smart and chose your rest days in here, otherwise you will just over train and do more harm than good in the long run.
That being said, I came out of this block in the best shape of my life. I ended up winning 6 out of 7 races (one 2nd place) and took the overall series for my age.
I’ve started the plan again for 2022. Unfortunately I started it a little late and the full plan is going to run past my 2nd race in the series, so it’ll be a challenge to battle the fatigue that you build up from this and being fresh for race day. This will result in me missing a few of the sessions on race week.
I finished Dirt Destroyer as was pleased with the training load. I would like to have a mix of low and high intensity, which singletrack slayer looks to offer.
However, I can’t commit to 7 days a week.
Could anyone recommend the workouts per week, so I can choose 3-4 workouts a week. I won’t commit to the plan but choose from the workouts.
Should I have one high and 2-3 lows?
Just pick the first 3-4 per week?
The two first and two last?
If you were to talk to a coach or trainer, they would try to figure out your present level of fitness and health, what sort of training on the bike you have been doing up to now, and your goals - just general fitness, or do you have events on a calendar that you’re preparing for, and what are the characteristics of those events? In other words what kind of rider are you now, what kind of rider do you need to become to meet your goals, and how much time is available (weekly hours and weeks until you need to be ready for something). Four workouts a week is a big upgrade over three workouts a week, and how many hours you have matters a lot as well.
Thanks Paul
You’re absolutely correct.
I’ve been riding for close to two years again, on local trails and fun tracks within driving distance.
I don’t have any races in mind, just that I want to become as fast as some of my friends I ride with. They are in a decent (very good) shape
So 4 hours a week, is my current state. And hope to do 3 indoor and 1 outside ride through the winter.
My FTP is currently 231, I need to hit about 280-300 to match the other guys
A jump from 231 to 280-300 is quite large. It’s not out of the question, but hard to achieve with low training volume. It’s probably worth asking whether greater FTP is the whole answer to sticking with the stronger group. If you’re getting dropped on short climbs but otherwise able to hang on while avoiding long pulls on the front, then you may want to focus on shorter duration power, which is easier to train with limited time and would involve higher intensity efforts in training. If they’re just grinding you down on longer mostly flat rides, or long climbs, then FTP is probably a good gauge of progress. Sweet spot training often produces short term FTP gains with limited time so you could look at the SST Short (50 min) and SST Long (2 hours) workouts, or other workouts where most of the time is spent just below threshold. If you’re able to get your training hours up to 6 or more per week then it would make sense to add some 2+ hour workouts mostly in zone 2. Doing a lot of sweet spot training often ends up reaching a plateau that makes further gains difficult without a more balanced mix of workouts that require more time on the bike at lower intensity.
Very nice with constructive feedback. And I believe my goal is races between 60-90min.
Our 2-3 hour Sunday ride is mostly Z2, for them, and I’m getting there with a mix of Z2/Z3.
Would have been nice with more training plan or workout options in Zwift for MTB.
Dirt Destroyer 5/hours week
Singletrack Slayer 7/hours week
Annika Langvad series
Think I’ll try Annika’s series and maybe mix with some Z2 training.
Also want to try out some of my own recorded rides on Garmin in Zwift - sounds fun but also hard to get a feeling on how fare you’re on the track.
The rest is toward road or gravel, and cadence is too high for my taste.
Does any “online coach” offer plans that can be imported on Zwift?
I suspect there are dozens or even hundreds on Training Peaks or FasCat, ranging from free canned plans, through paid-for canned plans, all the way to individual online coaching.
It just depends on if you want to spend money … and how much.
You do have the option of ignoring the cadence targets. You’ll have to tolerate the app barking at you to spin faster, but you’ll still get credit for completing the workout if you meet the power targets.
I have no experience with his work but this coach offers free sample workouts as ZWO files so you could see if you like the product.
It’s still a shame that first introduction is from Dirt Destroyer but things get much better after that. 
