I have been struggling with Zwift XP for the better part of a month, and I still can’t figure out what it is going on. Here is the situation:
I always do structured interval workouts.
It seems I am not getting my XP/mile credits.
Example: I rode for 100 minutes today, completing 37.2 miles on the Tempus Fugit route. By my calculations, that is 1116 XP.
I hit all of my intervals and saw the XP that I was expecting for completing each interval. A couple of these were in the 335-XP range. I estimate that I should have received 1200 XP just for my intervals/recovery based on what I saw on the screen. (I have ZC on an iPhone connected to an iPad, which I watch on a TV.)
Based on these factors, I was expecting at least 2000 XP for the ride, but received only 1136.
Seriously, what is the disconnect here? I don’t want to have to continue to go back and forth with support, while earning way fewer XP than I feel like I should. At the rate I am going - and I ride 75-90 minutes six times a week - I may not reach level 50 before I wear out my current bike!
I can provide lots more specifics about my setup, etc., which has not changed in a year or more.
When you’re doing a structured workout you do not get XP/km, you only get the XP for the workout sections (which varies depending on what type of sections are in the workout as per the link shared in the last response - i.e. there’s different XP given for ramp up sections, intervals, free ride, and single blocks in a workout, but in any case you won’t get XP/km during the workout).
When you’re doing a structured workout you do not get XP/km, you only get the XP for the workout sections …
I think this hits the nail on the head. If I read the OP right, he seems to think that you double dip on XP in a structured workout, i.e. the XP per workout segment is in addition to your regular XP/km. No, you don’t.
There is one legitimate way to double dip, though: do a workout up the Alpe du Zwift. You finish your workout, then you U-turn and let your avatar coast back down. Easy bonus XP - plus, you’d normally earn very few regular XP for going up the Alpe, so as you climb your workout XP structure is replacing what would otherwise be a low-XP scheme.
Also, you get bonus XP from the prize spinner at the top (if you have earned one of the rewards already, you get bonus XP when the spinner lands on the same reward). The issue with this bit is that you may not be right at the top at workout finish, depending on how fast you are. I think that a bunch of people can probably get to the top if they do Road to Sky in a 100 minute workout, or they’re within pretty easy reach of the top.
Thanks for this. I actually didn’t realize until people started responding that you can’t double-dip. I actually hadn’t thought of it as double-dipping, just earning. But regardless, at least now I have a more realistic expectation going forward.
I did some calculating, which I know is dangerous. So take it with a grain of salt, but if you use the data from zwift insider (i.e. 12 xp per min for intervals, and 10 xp per min for zone blocks without doing any fancy 62 second zones), then you get the equivalent XP to a zone block by going 30km/hr on a ride, and the equivalent of an interval block by going on average 36km/hr on a ride.
So… if you are trying to maximize XP on a specific route… if you are planning to average below 36km/hr then an interval workout session (only intervals) would technically get you more XP. If you are gonna average 36km/h or more, then riding without the workout would get you more.
Now, when you complete a new route and receive a new route badge it gives you approx 20xp per km more for that route whether or not you are on a workout, which means your best bang for the buck in general is to do new routes, especially if you don’t just want to cycle the alpe.
That said, going up the alpe de zwift on an interval workout and going down when the workout is done is very solid XP, especially with the wheel spin at the top which also gives XP once you have the item.