Zwift Academy Workout vs. Output Metrics

General Discussion
1

I just completed my first workout in the ZA Road 2020. I didn’t pay attention to where I was dropped into on the map. I’m curious how much attention I should pay to my speed, distance, and elevation/climb? It says I only road 5 miles and climbed 2,000 feet, but since this was a workout, I know the ride metrics were much different than the actual reported metrics. I wasn’t in ERG mode - and not sure if I should be doing these in ERG mode. I wasn’t set by default. My workout is logged in Garmin Connect and Trainer Road with the miles, speeds, and climbs from this ride, but it doesn’t seem like these were the real performance metrics.

I also noticed that there was a lot of emphasis placed by the workout creator on improving my FTP in this workout. I wasn’t sure if I should have expected any changes to be reported in my FTP from this workout, or should I have taken and FTP test prior to this to see the changes once I complete the academy? Thanks for any advice.

2

yes, you should be in erg mode for all workouts.

for ftp, i did a ramp test prior, then after the full ZA i will do it again to seek improvement; i wouldn’t expect to see increase within each workout - you can look at the stages and tell with the recovery stages that a 20 min max over existing ftp won’t occur