I’m a brand new Zwifter and have successfully done my trainer setup as per Zwift instructions. I’ve successfully done all the “introduction” sessions but now I’m overwhelmed by all the “beginner” options and pland, I’m desperately looking for an online Zwift coach to guide me with the way forward.
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Hi there, I guess it sorta depends on your goals. Do you have any specific goals you’re trying to achieve with Zwift? Do you want to just ride around for a certain amount of time, do a training plan to improve FTP, do social rides, do you want to try racing, or do you want to just mess around and have fun?
If you’re just getting used to Zwift it might be good to simply try different routes based on how long you’re riding to start picking up route badges. You could join a pace partner if you would like an always available group ride etc.
So, maybe put in a few details in terms of what you’re looking to do with Zwift, some details of your riding experience, and maybe some idea of your goals, and someone can give you some options that would work best for you.
there is only racing on zwift, just do racing. @Andries_Vermeulen
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A couple good sources of information for beginners:
- If you’re willing to use Facebook, join the Zwift Beginners group there and ask away
- Join a club that includes people who ride at the time of day you prefer. I recommend joining one that has events on the public calendar. A good club will be invested in your success and you’ll get unlimited free advice from experienced people.
You are of course welcome to keep posting questions here on the forum and you’ll get some support.
When I started using Zwift the first thing I did was complete all of the routes (except PRL Full) in order from shortest to longest. I was training for a long event outdoors so working up to the long routes was very helpful. But if your goals are different then it might make sense to do something else. I also enjoyed doing some social group rides such as the BMTR Short Adventure and BMTR Fundo rides. If social rides sound interesting I would suggest starting with some of the popular ones like these if the ride times work for you.
Join some of the events, look for some of the more popular events in your timezone that fit your level of abilities.
I would forget about racing for the start until you get to know the peculiarities of Zwift and learn more about the strategies of racing effectively (such as managing your performance to stay in a lower category).
Riding all the routes and trying to tick-off all the route badges is a good starter which will help you level up quickly as well.
You’ll want to do the Everest challenge so you can work towards getting the Zwift concept bike:
By the way, if you like climbing, you can do a vEverest - you’ll get another badge for that:
This seems to be a common and difficult question to answer and ask.
The best route seems to be the one that is based on your goals.
I think determining your goals is the hardest aspect of training.
My goals:
Have fun, maintain my fitness and try to improve it.
I also don’t want to ride my bike more than I already do.
I have no plans for any big races and I don’t really have an on or an off season - just indoor and outdoor seasons and road rides and XC MTB rides.
I’m 60 y/o and want to avoid injury.
I ride 6 hours a week, I like to race (indoor) or spirited club ride (outdoor) once a week so that leaves 5 hours of training per week.
It’s hard to find a workout designed for these terms.
To be honest, I’ve not hired a trainer or tried a training specific program.
Actually, this reply is helping articulate what I would tell a coach.
For now I do a 3 hour (50 mile) zone 2 ride weekly, (road bike), 2 VO2 max interval workouts (1 hr each) and the race/group ride.
I’m getting older and not willing to invest more time so I’ve told myself this is what it is.
Sounds like a well-balanced plan. Depending on how hard you go with the workouts you’ll either maintain or build fitness.
If it was me, I’d consider (at least for some training phases) swapping out one of those VO2 workouts for some muscular endurance work (Sweetspot, Threshold or Over/Unders) and progressing time in zone.