Can you look at your ramp rate to help with long term fatigue? Have you just been slowly upping the volume and that’s what is doing it?
IMO intervals are simply a way to allow you to get more volume/make it easier to do the same volume of a given intensity within the day. It’s both mentally and physically easier to do 4x10 at 90% FTP than 40 minutes at 90% FTP or to do 5x9 and get slightly more volume. And the harder the effort, the more breaking it up works for me. Fatigue-wise, I’m not sure it makes any difference, and I don’t treat it differently in terms of recovery.
I now realise, specially after the replies I’ve received here which is so helpful that I should focus on my power not only heart rate.
I tend to keep my cadence low 65-100 rpm. I prefer climbing to sprinting.
I hate high cadence, but my legs are suffering at the moment, so today I did a short intervals of 30 minutes (two sets of 7x1 minute intervals) cadence aim of 110 rpm and power of 125 (zwift sets these variables based on my detected 20 minutes FTP of 109).
It was tough and still my heart rate barely made it to 169bpm. I am happy with the power, it is increasing slowly which is a reason for me to show off a little☺️ after all it was hard work.
However, with a little rest I still have plenty of energy to ride more but not at this intensity.
Here are some snapshots of today’s short workout: first two images from Garmin rest from Zwift
Subject: Improving Cadence and VO2 Through Speed Work
Hello G_E,
Thank you for sharing the information. As I suspected, your cadence appears to be on the lower side, which may be limiting your performance.
Here are a few suggestions to help enhance both your leg speed and VO2:
Forget About Heart Rate on Short Intervals
During shorter intervals, heart rate isn’t as important. Instead, focus primarily on your cadence and leg speed.
Leg Speed Drills
Incorporating short intervals designed to boost cadence can significantly improve your neuromuscular pathways and muscle fiber activation. The goal is to push your cadence up to 140 rpm, which I understand is quite fast, but this will train your body for better leg speed, even if you rarely hit that number during regular rides.
Address Gear Grinding
As you mentioned that you tend to “grind” gears, this may be a factor holding back your explosive power. Speedwork drills will help address this by encouraging faster leg movements.
Here’s a short workout I suggest you try, but be sure to take 1-2 easy days before attempting this, so you’re fresh:
5-10 min @ 60-40% intensity, starting at 100 rpm and easing down to 85 rpm
Important Notes:
The key here is to spin your legs as fast as possible before switching gears. This will prevent the tendency to grind the gears at a lower rpm, allowing you to reach a higher cadence.
For these sessions, try not to focus on your heart rate. I recommend hiding your HR from the display entirely to keep the emphasis on cadence.
Perform this session twice a week at most, and continue focusing on leg speed. Over time, you should see improvements not only in your cadence but also in your climbing ability.
Let me know how it goes—I’m confident this will make a difference.
Operating any of the virtual cycling apps on Apple TV using the BT remote is a bit of a hassle, and I wouldn’t want to use a workout creator on Apple TV!
I run Zwift on my Apple TV and on my MacBook. I save zwo files in Documents/Zwift/Workouts/xxxx (xxxx is a multidigit number I think is my Zwift account) on my MacBook, and they are listed in my Zwift workouts when I open Zwift on the Apple TV.
Zwift DOES run on Apple TV hardware but doesn’t have the workout builder. You may find that the iPad version is the same. If your smart TV has the Apple TV app then that doesn’t support Zwift. The workout builder seems to be limited to laptop or desktop versions.
Correct! You would think Zwift will make life easier for its users by allowing users to upload to Apple TV. After all, Apple TV is widely used to allow multiple bluetooth connection. Not to forget the price we pay for Zwift subscription!
yeah, with a computer its simple to setup automatic workout syncing from TrainingPeaks to Zwift. Shows up immediately on AppleTV.
Once you have a library of workouts in TrainingPeaks, you can use phone to put them on calendar and then it syncs to Zwift.
I rarely use my phone to create workouts, starting years ago with Garmin Connect app (works well) and more recently tried it with Intervals. Never tried syncing those to Zwift as I ride outside 99% of the time.
Great. How long can you accélérate to 125 rpm, from 90 to 125 RPM? At first, try with a very light gear to help you spin faster. Once you get it, and not all over the saddle jumping around it will be time to try a new sprocket.
