Always interesting content Matt, no need for you to ever doubt that. The number of comments and likes etc the video has got it testament to that. I probably won’t explain this very well, but I’ve always found that if excercise feels like a chore, and you’re a slave to it, you will go from not enjoying it, to hating it, to actively avoiding it. First and foremost, it’s got to be enjoyable and fun and then the bonus of fitness/weight loss etc comes with it over time. I think a few others have said this too, but especially with everything else you’ve got going on, don’t put as much pressure in yourself to do/achieve anything just yet. Don’t feel guilty about missing rides and most importantly just make sure you have fun when you are on the bike.
I’m more of a runner than a cyclist, but I was told something that I think still holds true. You’ll have a third of your cycles that feel great, a third that just feel fine, and a third that feel a bit rubbish. It’s just the way it goes for everyone, and the ability to focus on that next cycle/run after a bad one is what makes the difference. Sounds like it’s a tiring life for you right now, but your perseverance will win out - good luck!
matt matt matt. i've followed you over many months now, and i so want you to succeed in your journey up. please understand that your fitness level is such, that any bike time, doing steady work will reap your rewards. just ride easy and steady. be consistent and focus on time on the bike. forget ftp. forget interval training and focus on feel. be consistent. PLEASE!
you're right ! just ignore numbers for a while and enjoy riding. Practicing is still better than lying on the couch. Ftp, watts, cadence and all numbers are here to help and guide, not to scare you: your goal is greater ! Ride on !
Matt, haven't seen any of your videos prior to this one. But you deserve a thumbs up, ride on, or whatever expression of sympathy helps you 🙂. Juggling your life especially with a young child can be a challenge, so in line with some of the people underneath, just ride and enjoy! Top tip, with spring slowly coming try to ride outside, next to the exercise you'll also get some vitamin D from the sun, that will boost your mental state!!
I had Covid in late 2022, which caused me to drop out from the T2.5 World Tour. Long Covid severely affected my riding well into 2023. When I got back into riding for the longest time I felt light-headed, almost faint, after a tough effort or just riding near my old FTP. I'm happy to say I've recently re-entered C cat and even improved my sprint from pre-Covid numbers! I think what worked for me was plenty of low-effort riding to ease myself back on the bike and listening to my body. If my body said to go slow, then I went slow. If my body felt like I needed rest on a given day, then I took a rest day. I also think a mindset change (and slapping a T2.5D into my Zwift name as I was no longer a C) helped me, I wasn't at my old level and I shouldn't have been even trying to do the same efforts while recovering. Little by little the symptoms went away and I could push myself on the bike more and more. Of course, the low-intensity plan wasn't perfect and I gained quite a bit of weight during that time that I'm now working on losing. All in all, I think the key is to listen to your body and the most important thing is just to get on the bike and ride at whatever pace you're feeling that day. Some days are slow, some days are faster than you'd expect. Little by little, the improvements will come. It's a marathon, not a sprint. (And that hurts to say as a sprinter! 🤣) Just my 2p. 🙂 - Julia
Added you to Zwift followers, you deserve a follow mate. I've had 16 months off Zwift and have been rowing rather than bike. It's so hard getting back on zwift - all about small gains and not beating yourself up. Always happy for a ride if you need company. Stay strong (on Zwift under Miles Orchard)
I find that both physical and mental energy comes and goes in waves. When i'm in-the-shit, I focus on the knowledge that the better times will always return 🙏
Sometimes I need to just get some unstructured rides to get some mental momentum. I think with me it's "what's at rest tends to stay at rest and what's in motion tends to stay in motion." An unstructured ride on a flat course like Tick Tock or Sprinter's Playground (it has 4 sprint arches so you get more game interaction) and ignore watts and zones. Just ride a bit. Don't set a time for how long you want to ride. The goal is to get that feeling that it's fun to ride. After you rekindle the fun then you can add structure.
Sometimes I have the feeling that Zwift is bad for base training or even getting started. All those stats and races push you harder than initially planned. I struggle to get any Zone 2 training in without a considerable time spent in higher zones. (maybe just me being too ambitious :D) Anyway, what got me started were slow outdoor rides and just getting the distance in. No Avg. Watt pressure and just spent a good time on the bike enjoying the outdoors and get to see places. Just a few years ago I struggled with 50k and now I am training for a 300k this year :) I am sure you'll get there and consistency is the key! Ride on Matt!
Zwift's biggest strengths are simultaneously the platform's biggest weaknesses. You've hit the nail on the head. Far too easy to push/race when the vast majority of riding should be at an endurance pace. From memory Matt wasn't a big fan of the robopacers but for switching off and putting the miles in, having a big group that's riding at a fairly consistent pace is very helpful. Zwift encourages its users to race, and ride every day. Neither of which are particularly helpful or healthy even, if weight loss or general cycling fitness are your aims. Racing can be exhilerating of course and there's no harm in that.
Hey Matt! Just a heads up on threshold, it's not tempo, it was asking for threshold, which is 95%-105% as it says on the chart you showed :) A slightly "easier" way of finding about your threshold is to do SST workouts and adjust over and over to complete always pushing to see if you can get the edge of completing or not. If you push the edge of completion on SST you will be pretty close to threshold while getting amazing workouts still.
Hi Matt. If you're struggling to sort out zones, but you have a reasonable idea of what your FTP is, then just customise exisiting Zwift workouts and set whatever wattage you think is right for what you are aiming for (eg 95% for Threshold, up to 75% for Endurance etc). ERG mode is your friend
i havent watched lots of your content (nearly none) and im no expert, but i would recommend hiking. fresh air, doing incline routes. lower heart rate but it helps your aerobic base. imo cycling (or running for that matter) for the long term is only fun when one can push hard but dont feel trashed afterwards. otherwise the motivation may go out the window very soon and its always a struggle. i wouldnt bother going through that. ... good luck and have fun in whatever you do 🙂
I didn't understand... you mentioned the Garmin was suggesting a threshold session with two 7 minutes intervals at 245W, so that would put your FTP at approximately 245W... which I think makes sense no? Anyways cheers man, looking forward to keep following your journey 🦾
Always interesting content Matt, no need for you to ever doubt that. The number of comments and likes etc the video has got it testament to that.
I probably won’t explain this very well, but I’ve always found that if excercise feels like a chore, and you’re a slave to it, you will go from not enjoying it, to hating it, to actively avoiding it. First and foremost, it’s got to be enjoyable and fun and then the bonus of fitness/weight loss etc comes with it over time. I think a few others have said this too, but especially with everything else you’ve got going on, don’t put as much pressure in yourself to do/achieve anything just yet. Don’t feel guilty about missing rides and most importantly just make sure you have fun when you are on the bike.
I’m more of a runner than a cyclist, but I was told something that I think still holds true. You’ll have a third of your cycles that feel great, a third that just feel fine, and a third that feel a bit rubbish. It’s just the way it goes for everyone, and the ability to focus on that next cycle/run after a bad one is what makes the difference. Sounds like it’s a tiring life for you right now, but your perseverance will win out - good luck!
matt matt matt. i've followed you over many months now, and i so want you to succeed in your journey up. please understand that your fitness level is such, that any bike time, doing steady work will reap your rewards. just ride easy and steady. be consistent and focus on time on the bike. forget ftp. forget interval training and focus on feel. be consistent. PLEASE!
you're right ! just ignore numbers for a while and enjoy riding. Practicing is still better than lying on the couch. Ftp, watts, cadence and all numbers are here to help and guide, not to scare you: your goal is greater ! Ride on !
Matt, haven't seen any of your videos prior to this one. But you deserve a thumbs up, ride on, or whatever expression of sympathy helps you 🙂. Juggling your life especially with a young child can be a challenge, so in line with some of the people underneath, just ride and enjoy! Top tip, with spring slowly coming try to ride outside, next to the exercise you'll also get some vitamin D from the sun, that will boost your mental state!!
I had Covid in late 2022, which caused me to drop out from the T2.5 World Tour. Long Covid severely affected my riding well into 2023. When I got back into riding for the longest time I felt light-headed, almost faint, after a tough effort or just riding near my old FTP. I'm happy to say I've recently re-entered C cat and even improved my sprint from pre-Covid numbers!
I think what worked for me was plenty of low-effort riding to ease myself back on the bike and listening to my body. If my body said to go slow, then I went slow. If my body felt like I needed rest on a given day, then I took a rest day. I also think a mindset change (and slapping a T2.5D into my Zwift name as I was no longer a C) helped me, I wasn't at my old level and I shouldn't have been even trying to do the same efforts while recovering. Little by little the symptoms went away and I could push myself on the bike more and more. Of course, the low-intensity plan wasn't perfect and I gained quite a bit of weight during that time that I'm now working on losing.
All in all, I think the key is to listen to your body and the most important thing is just to get on the bike and ride at whatever pace you're feeling that day. Some days are slow, some days are faster than you'd expect. Little by little, the improvements will come. It's a marathon, not a sprint. (And that hurts to say as a sprinter! 🤣) Just my 2p. 🙂 - Julia
Don’t put pressure on yourself, Matt. Focus on enjoying the bike, sleeping (when you can) and what you are eating. The rest will follow. Take it easy!
Added you to Zwift followers, you deserve a follow mate. I've had 16 months off Zwift and have been rowing rather than bike. It's so hard getting back on zwift - all about small gains and not beating yourself up. Always happy for a ride if you need company. Stay strong (on Zwift under Miles Orchard)
I find that both physical and mental energy comes and goes in waves. When i'm in-the-shit, I focus on the knowledge that the better times will always return 🙏
Sometimes I need to just get some unstructured rides to get some mental momentum. I think with me it's "what's at rest tends to stay at rest and what's in motion tends to stay in motion." An unstructured ride on a flat course like Tick Tock or Sprinter's Playground (it has 4 sprint arches so you get more game interaction) and ignore watts and zones. Just ride a bit. Don't set a time for how long you want to ride. The goal is to get that feeling that it's fun to ride. After you rekindle the fun then you can add structure.
Sometimes I have the feeling that Zwift is bad for base training or even getting started. All those stats and races push you harder than initially planned. I struggle to get any Zone 2 training in without a considerable time spent in higher zones. (maybe just me being too ambitious :D)
Anyway, what got me started were slow outdoor rides and just getting the distance in. No Avg. Watt pressure and just spent a good time on the bike enjoying the outdoors and get to see places. Just a few years ago I struggled with 50k and now I am training for a 300k this year :)
I am sure you'll get there and consistency is the key! Ride on Matt!
Zwift's biggest strengths are simultaneously the platform's biggest weaknesses. You've hit the nail on the head. Far too easy to push/race when the vast majority of riding should be at an endurance pace. From memory Matt wasn't a big fan of the robopacers but for switching off and putting the miles in, having a big group that's riding at a fairly consistent pace is very helpful.
Zwift encourages its users to race, and ride every day. Neither of which are particularly helpful or healthy even, if weight loss or general cycling fitness are your aims. Racing can be exhilerating of course and there's no harm in that.
Hey Matt! Just a heads up on threshold, it's not tempo, it was asking for threshold, which is 95%-105% as it says on the chart you showed :) A slightly "easier" way of finding about your threshold is to do SST workouts and adjust over and over to complete always pushing to see if you can get the edge of completing or not. If you push the edge of completion on SST you will be pretty close to threshold while getting amazing workouts still.
Also Packers!? I was wondering if you were in Wisconsin at first, but with accent and that park look, assuming you are in UK. Go Pack Go!
Hi Matt. If you're struggling to sort out zones, but you have a reasonable idea of what your FTP is, then just customise exisiting Zwift workouts and set whatever wattage you think is right for what you are aiming for (eg 95% for Threshold, up to 75% for Endurance etc). ERG mode is your friend
Thanks for sharing. Life is hard sometimes. Easy rides is never wrong. Try to enjoy yourself 🙌
Matt, what are you talking about? You seem to mix up Threshold (Zone 4) and Tempo-Training (3)? After all that years?
i havent watched lots of your content (nearly none) and im no expert, but i would recommend hiking. fresh air, doing incline routes. lower heart rate but it helps your aerobic base. imo cycling (or running for that matter) for the long term is only fun when one can push hard but dont feel trashed afterwards. otherwise the motivation may go out the window very soon and its always a struggle. i wouldnt bother going through that. ... good luck and have fun in whatever you do 🙂
I didn't understand... you mentioned the Garmin was suggesting a threshold session with two 7 minutes intervals at 245W, so that would put your FTP at approximately 245W... which I think makes sense no? Anyways cheers man, looking forward to keep following your journey 🦾