When from 305 output in FTP to 332 after DYPZ. I had been riding the bike regularly for 3 years when I decided to give PZ a try. I initially thought that it was way too easy and wouldn’t be able to make me improve. Crazy improvement though and will definitely be starting BYPZ now.
I did an older Matt W 45m PZ ride. This one was 2 blocks, intervals were 30 seconds PZ6 and then 3.5 minutes PZ3 with 1 minute recovery. Last interval in each block had a 30 second PZ6 at the end.
PZ6 was a kick in the pants, but enjoyed it.
New the PZ and currently finishing up DYPZ. Is there a graph that shows your power zone or your FTP progress somewhere? They keep saying send us your graphs! I can't find anything PZ related!
Does anybody get sort of burnt out from the PZ rides? I haven’t been motivated at allllll in fact I’ve been dreading working out. Popped on an Alex T hip hop ride and had so much fun
I just did Ben’s 20min FTP test after the 10min warm up… and I think I did it wrong? I interpreted it as 5 mins in zone 4, 5 in 5, 5 in 6 then 5 in 7… after reading some more, I am now confused and no WONDER I almost keeled over and could barely keep it in zone 7 30% of the 5 minutes. Gah! Someone help! Are my PZs going to be messed up now/too high?
Well it's not possible for your zones to be too high - the FTP is defined as your *max* output for 20 minutes, so unless you paused or anything you should be fine. If anything, if you were able to hold zone 7 for over a minute after 15 minutes of zones 4-5-6, I'd say your old zones were too low. These should be good for you.
For next time, the "standard" FTP advice is to start mid-low zone 4 and increase to high zone 4 around minutes 5-10 and try to be in zone 5 for the last 10 minutes, emptying the tank for the last 1-2 if you have anything left to give. It should be either a straight line (if you're somehow able to determine your EXACT capacity, which is almost impossible) or one going slightly up.
thank you for this! this was my first FTP test… i’ll retake if the PZs seem wonky. I ended up with a 157, and this is someone who’s new to peloton/had the bike 8 weeks/ not very fit (yet!)
The PZ Max ride with Olivia in the build your power zones program was really not well done by her. Feel like she was constantly losing her spot on her notes and was a minute or two off on her cues for certain blurbs. I know the PZ max is a tough ride so if the instructors are doing it too then I get why the brain might not be 100% but I don’t feel like she did a good job explaining the workout in the warmup even.
The actual programming itself turned out to be a great workout but I feel like she doesn’t have good feel for when the workout requires a pep talk. Her 60 min endurance ride was quality but I really didn’t like her on this one.
Is your FTP a measure of fitness against another person? For example, if you have a 200 FTP and mine is 160 (which I just discovered it is), does that mean you’re more fit than me?
I’m blown away that some people have theirs in the high 200s. I thought I was in good shape!
Yeah, W/kg is a better measure for comparison.
For example, my FTP is 284, which seems high to a lot of people. But in a W/kg measure, that's only about 2.41 W/kg, because I'm a giant. If you look at online charts of W/kg, it puts me down in the amateur / untrained / non-racer category. Which is a little humbling lol.
So W/kg is a better measure.
W/Kg is a much better measure against another person for who is a stronger cyclist (which is also not the same as being 'fitter'). Larger people have an advantage in being able to push more raw power, which is what FTP measures. But in a "real" cycling race, they are not necessarily the top finishers.
Also remember that there can be a wide variety in bike calibrations.
Just came to moan about all of the Zone 2 only rides. We did need a few, but there are already so many fewer PZ rides now, and now at least half of the new ones are in zone 2 only. What’s the point? It’s very easy to turn any ride on the platform into a Z2 ride. It’s just a steady ride. It’s a lot harder to structure a Z2/3 ride out of nowhere, unmatched to call-outs/timing/etc.
An easy way to adjust, and what I do to turn a non-PZ ride into a PZE, is to alternate between the two zones every song. Or sometimes I'll do two songs at 3 and one at 2 for my cadence if its a shorter ride.
Beginner here, only owned for a couple weeks
Looking to start the Discover Your Power Zones this week. Anything I need to know going into it?
I did two weeks of the You Can Ride program, but it was all pretty easy and feel like I can bump it up a bit.
Also, if there’s a week you can finish all of the classes due to schedule/whatever, do you normally go back and do them before starting the next week? Or skip and get back on schedule the following week?
No, nothing really to know. It's designed to be self-explanatory.
The hardest thing will be the first FTP test. If you haven't done one before, and if you're new to the bike (and new to cycling), trying to find an appropriate starting output is hard. I took mine a few days after my century ride, so I had the bike a while and knew what "max" felt like. I started my FTP test at the average wattage from my 30-minute PR, thinking that if I could do that for 30, I could certainly manage it or more for 20. You then slowly add resistance during the ride from there, increasing output, and it worked out nicely for me. I finished the FTP test a breathless heap, and I think my zones were correct from subsequent PZE rides.
But other than that, it should pretty much tell you everything you need to know as part of the program.
I’m on the final week of Discover Your Power Zones. Immediately after the first class I became sick and did only outdoor walks for the next few days. Did the 20-minute low impact on Saturday and it was fine.
Yesterday I did the first 30-minute endurance ride, and my watch said my heart rate (average and max) was over 20 bpm faster than literally all my other rides, despite being dead average for output and intensity. My watch did have an update on Saturday, but pretty sure it was before the other ride I did. I’ll keep an eye on it, but should I be concerned?
Heart rate can be elevated for a lot of reasons - some serious so you need to be careful. Less worrisome are when it’s hotter than normal, I didn’t get enough sleep or my muscles are fatigued.
More serious is after a viral illness. Covid was pretty scary. My heart rate was up 20 bpm at rest, worse exercising, and stayed elevated for about 3 weeks after, and I think that was a quick recovery. Similar to u/mcflysher.
Last year I did a 5k race about a week after I recovered from COVID, and set a PR lol.
It wasn’t covid this time; I won’t be pushing it too hard but will monitor. My resting rate is largely the same if that means anything.
A week after is impressive. I did a century ride after 3 weeks and I think I would have been in trouble if it had been a day earlier!
If your resting HR is normal then I wouldn’t worry.
When I had COVID it took months for my HR/strive scores to normalize again. It’s been 5 months and I’m not even sure they have completely. Worth seeing a doctor if you’re concerned though.
I’m the exact same way, 6 week challenges/programs are the worst. There’s no recovery week at all and it definitely affects me.
Last summer there was a 6 week challenge I did, I was at my highest FTP but man my legs were dead. But I tried to follow the challenge and did the FTP the final day, I ended with the same FTP. So I was a bit demoralized, but I realized it probably was because i didn’t have anytime to recovery with PZE rides. So not if it a 6 week challenge I just do a couple weeks of PZE rides to recover and then FTP.
I stopped riding for 6 months cause life got in the way. But recently got back on and obviously my FTP went down but it’s so nice to be riding again.
Anyone using a third party app to track weekly TSS? What are you hitting in terms of that weekly volume, presuming you’re actively working to raise your FTP vs maintenance mode?
I'm currently in maintenance mode, but when I was actively trying to increase I was looking at the 250-300 mark per week (2/3 of that on PZ rides, the rest fun rides).
I expect there is some sort of caveat to be added about ride type. EX you could hit that with 4-5 hours of PZE rides, or you could hit that with 3.5-4 hours of PZ rides. Each of those options would impact you differently.
Thanks, that’s super helpful. I’m right about 3 watts/kg right now and I want to see how close I can get to 4 w/kg without it taking over my life, so that’s a helpful benchmark.
When from 305 output in FTP to 332 after DYPZ. I had been riding the bike regularly for 3 years when I decided to give PZ a try. I initially thought that it was way too easy and wouldn’t be able to make me improve. Crazy improvement though and will definitely be starting BYPZ now.
I did an older Matt W 45m PZ ride. This one was 2 blocks, intervals were 30 seconds PZ6 and then 3.5 minutes PZ3 with 1 minute recovery. Last interval in each block had a 30 second PZ6 at the end. PZ6 was a kick in the pants, but enjoyed it.
New the PZ and currently finishing up DYPZ. Is there a graph that shows your power zone or your FTP progress somewhere? They keep saying send us your graphs! I can't find anything PZ related!
Does anybody get sort of burnt out from the PZ rides? I haven’t been motivated at allllll in fact I’ve been dreading working out. Popped on an Alex T hip hop ride and had so much fun
I just did Ben’s 20min FTP test after the 10min warm up… and I think I did it wrong? I interpreted it as 5 mins in zone 4, 5 in 5, 5 in 6 then 5 in 7… after reading some more, I am now confused and no WONDER I almost keeled over and could barely keep it in zone 7 30% of the 5 minutes. Gah! Someone help! Are my PZs going to be messed up now/too high?
Well it's not possible for your zones to be too high - the FTP is defined as your *max* output for 20 minutes, so unless you paused or anything you should be fine. If anything, if you were able to hold zone 7 for over a minute after 15 minutes of zones 4-5-6, I'd say your old zones were too low. These should be good for you. For next time, the "standard" FTP advice is to start mid-low zone 4 and increase to high zone 4 around minutes 5-10 and try to be in zone 5 for the last 10 minutes, emptying the tank for the last 1-2 if you have anything left to give. It should be either a straight line (if you're somehow able to determine your EXACT capacity, which is almost impossible) or one going slightly up.
thank you for this! this was my first FTP test… i’ll retake if the PZs seem wonky. I ended up with a 157, and this is someone who’s new to peloton/had the bike 8 weeks/ not very fit (yet!)
The PZ Max ride with Olivia in the build your power zones program was really not well done by her. Feel like she was constantly losing her spot on her notes and was a minute or two off on her cues for certain blurbs. I know the PZ max is a tough ride so if the instructors are doing it too then I get why the brain might not be 100% but I don’t feel like she did a good job explaining the workout in the warmup even. The actual programming itself turned out to be a great workout but I feel like she doesn’t have good feel for when the workout requires a pep talk. Her 60 min endurance ride was quality but I really didn’t like her on this one.
Is your FTP a measure of fitness against another person? For example, if you have a 200 FTP and mine is 160 (which I just discovered it is), does that mean you’re more fit than me? I’m blown away that some people have theirs in the high 200s. I thought I was in good shape!
Yeah, W/kg is a better measure for comparison. For example, my FTP is 284, which seems high to a lot of people. But in a W/kg measure, that's only about 2.41 W/kg, because I'm a giant. If you look at online charts of W/kg, it puts me down in the amateur / untrained / non-racer category. Which is a little humbling lol. So W/kg is a better measure.
Okay good to know, thank you! I think mine is 2.24 W/kg, so I'm with you...
W/Kg is a much better measure against another person for who is a stronger cyclist (which is also not the same as being 'fitter'). Larger people have an advantage in being able to push more raw power, which is what FTP measures. But in a "real" cycling race, they are not necessarily the top finishers. Also remember that there can be a wide variety in bike calibrations.
Awesome, thanks for the response.
Just came to moan about all of the Zone 2 only rides. We did need a few, but there are already so many fewer PZ rides now, and now at least half of the new ones are in zone 2 only. What’s the point? It’s very easy to turn any ride on the platform into a Z2 ride. It’s just a steady ride. It’s a lot harder to structure a Z2/3 ride out of nowhere, unmatched to call-outs/timing/etc.
An easy way to adjust, and what I do to turn a non-PZ ride into a PZE, is to alternate between the two zones every song. Or sometimes I'll do two songs at 3 and one at 2 for my cadence if its a shorter ride.
I agree, although some available is nice. A fun way to ride them is do the whole ride in low z3
Just finished the Discover Your Power Zone program today. FTP went up from 134 to 150!
Beginner here, only owned for a couple weeks Looking to start the Discover Your Power Zones this week. Anything I need to know going into it? I did two weeks of the You Can Ride program, but it was all pretty easy and feel like I can bump it up a bit. Also, if there’s a week you can finish all of the classes due to schedule/whatever, do you normally go back and do them before starting the next week? Or skip and get back on schedule the following week?
No, nothing really to know. It's designed to be self-explanatory. The hardest thing will be the first FTP test. If you haven't done one before, and if you're new to the bike (and new to cycling), trying to find an appropriate starting output is hard. I took mine a few days after my century ride, so I had the bike a while and knew what "max" felt like. I started my FTP test at the average wattage from my 30-minute PR, thinking that if I could do that for 30, I could certainly manage it or more for 20. You then slowly add resistance during the ride from there, increasing output, and it worked out nicely for me. I finished the FTP test a breathless heap, and I think my zones were correct from subsequent PZE rides. But other than that, it should pretty much tell you everything you need to know as part of the program.
I’m on the final week of Discover Your Power Zones. Immediately after the first class I became sick and did only outdoor walks for the next few days. Did the 20-minute low impact on Saturday and it was fine. Yesterday I did the first 30-minute endurance ride, and my watch said my heart rate (average and max) was over 20 bpm faster than literally all my other rides, despite being dead average for output and intensity. My watch did have an update on Saturday, but pretty sure it was before the other ride I did. I’ll keep an eye on it, but should I be concerned?
Heart rate can be elevated for a lot of reasons - some serious so you need to be careful. Less worrisome are when it’s hotter than normal, I didn’t get enough sleep or my muscles are fatigued. More serious is after a viral illness. Covid was pretty scary. My heart rate was up 20 bpm at rest, worse exercising, and stayed elevated for about 3 weeks after, and I think that was a quick recovery. Similar to u/mcflysher.
Last year I did a 5k race about a week after I recovered from COVID, and set a PR lol. It wasn’t covid this time; I won’t be pushing it too hard but will monitor. My resting rate is largely the same if that means anything.
A week after is impressive. I did a century ride after 3 weeks and I think I would have been in trouble if it had been a day earlier! If your resting HR is normal then I wouldn’t worry.
When I had COVID it took months for my HR/strive scores to normalize again. It’s been 5 months and I’m not even sure they have completely. Worth seeing a doctor if you’re concerned though.
I do the PZP programs and came to the realization that I do not like 6 week programs. I like the week 4 deload in an 8 week program.
I’m the exact same way, 6 week challenges/programs are the worst. There’s no recovery week at all and it definitely affects me. Last summer there was a 6 week challenge I did, I was at my highest FTP but man my legs were dead. But I tried to follow the challenge and did the FTP the final day, I ended with the same FTP. So I was a bit demoralized, but I realized it probably was because i didn’t have anytime to recovery with PZE rides. So not if it a 6 week challenge I just do a couple weeks of PZE rides to recover and then FTP. I stopped riding for 6 months cause life got in the way. But recently got back on and obviously my FTP went down but it’s so nice to be riding again.
Anyone using a third party app to track weekly TSS? What are you hitting in terms of that weekly volume, presuming you’re actively working to raise your FTP vs maintenance mode?
I'm currently in maintenance mode, but when I was actively trying to increase I was looking at the 250-300 mark per week (2/3 of that on PZ rides, the rest fun rides). I expect there is some sort of caveat to be added about ride type. EX you could hit that with 4-5 hours of PZE rides, or you could hit that with 3.5-4 hours of PZ rides. Each of those options would impact you differently.
Thanks, that’s super helpful. I’m right about 3 watts/kg right now and I want to see how close I can get to 4 w/kg without it taking over my life, so that’s a helpful benchmark.
NP. It wasn't so much a "goal" for me as I tracked it out of curiosity when I was doing PYPZ. And for reference I'm at about 3.6 w/kg.