I have run some data on my training from the last handful of years. 2015 is missing as I had a significant injury that had me off the bike for months:
There are some clear trends here that I am confident are a result of indoor training and specifically using Zwift as a training platform. Some context:
I am a 46 year old husband, dad, bike racer (road and track) and coach, with a full-time job that keeps me very busy. My general approach to the years discussed here was:
2014: Training indoors one day per week (or on bad weather days), completing a one hour session only.
2016: Training indoors one to two days per week (or on bad weather days), completing a one hour session only.
2017: I discover Zwift and start using it more often as the year progresses. Estimate is three days per week indoors.
2018 - 2019: Zwift use increases as I race regularly and complete all interval sessions indoors. Estimate is four to five days per week indoors.
The trends are clear:
- Total TSS (if you don't know what TSS is, click HERE) remains pretty much the same across the five years, but the total number of hours it takes to complete that load is steadily decreasing.
- This obviously means that there is less time spent on the bike each week as more TSS is generated per hour.
As a busy human being, this can only be a positive situation. This is why in my coaching role I strongly suggest to any athlete who is time crunched, that they must spend time training indoors and preferably on Zwift.
Ride on!
