Confession time: I’ve never done one of Zwift’s Training Plans.
There are multiple reasons for this, including:
- Zwift’s Training Plans when first released were quite inflexible. I didn’t want to commit to a plan then have the whole thing fail if I had to skip a workout or take a few days off.
- I don’t like structured training, so it’s hard for me to commit to any training plan.
- If I commit to a training plan, I want to know my personal journey is being overseen by a knowledgeable expert. I don’t like the nagging thought that I’m just plugging into a cookie-cutter plan that isn’t tailored to my needs.
Because of these reasons, I’ve only worked through training plans twice in my cycling career – but both times the plans were built and managed by a paid cycling coach. And while I saw some improvement from those structured training soirees, it didn’t feel like dramatic improvement.
Which is why I’ve spent the vast majority of my cycling life just doing the rides I want. Racing on Zwift or chasing a Strava KOM outdoors when I want hard efforts. Riding at a social pace with friends on easy days. It’s an easy, casual, fun approach to cycling… but it doesn’t lead to maximum fitness.
[adinserter block=”4″]
Time for a Change
This past winter, I realized I was lacking motivation and losing some fitness. Or at least, it felt like I was losing fitness.
Part of the issue was being stuck in a ZRL B1 league full of strong B’s, getting my butt kicked every week. Then there was the news that my daughter and her hubby are expecting our first grandchild in June 2023. Joyful news, to be sure! But at 43 years old I didn’t like the way “Grandpa Eric” sounded. Much too old.
Throw in a few weeks of being under the weather and with my astounding ability to pack on pounds quickly and I knew it was time for a change. I considered finding a coach to set up a structured program as I’ve done in the past, but in the end I opted to commit to the “Build Me Up” Zwift Training Program.
This program was designed by Shayne Gaffney of GC Coaching – the last guy who coached me. So I knew what the program would be like, and I trusted its designer. On top of that, most of the issues people have with training plan inflexibility in Zwift have been resolved in the past year, as Zwift now lets you do the plans on your schedule, mark them as finished if you do them outdoors, etc.
Planning My Training Plan
As I work through Zwift’s “Build Me Up” training plan, I’ll be recording myself riding each workout and documenting my progress with a weekly post here on Zwift Insider.
Writing about my progress through the plan has a four-fold purpose:
- Looking back and “journaling” my experience helps me maximize what I’m getting out of the plan.
- The content I put together may help some Zwifters who want to better understand what it looks like to go through a training plan.
- If I run into issues with how the plans work, I can share those and bend Zwift’s ear a bit, which may lead to improvements down the road.
- Committing to this series makes me accountable to you, dear reader. (Thanks in advance for the help!)
Intro to “Build Me Up”
“Build Me Up” is classified as an intermediate plan on Zwift, and I think that’s accurate. Due to the overall length of the plan, as well as the length of its workouts, this isn’t a plan for a beginner cyclist.
The plan is 12 weeks long, and most weeks contain 4 workouts totaling 5 hours of ride time. There are a few exceptions, though:
- Every 4th week (weeks 4, 8, and 12) is a recovery week with fewer and easier workouts.
- Weeks 7, 8, 10, and 11 contain 5 workouts and require more than 5 hours. Week 11, the longest week of the program, has 7 hours of workouts, including 2 2-hour sessions!
The training plan’s description includes this paragraph, which I think speaks to the strengths of Build Me Up and explains why I chose this particular training plan from Zwift’s library:
If you’ve struggled to sustain training load or progress for months, this plan provides a logical and structured approach to long-term improvement. If you want a coach’s guidance but don’t want the cost of accountability of hiring one, this plan offers rich instruction while still allowing you to do your own thing. You’ll come away from this both a better cyclist and a more-informed athlete.
Without further ado, let’s jump into this week’s workouts!
Daily Journal – Week 1
Saturday, March 18: Ramp Test
I hadn’t done a ramp test since the summer of 2022, and based on the way I’d been feeling in recent races, I figured my FTP would test out at 295-315W. But I surprised myself by holding out until 15 seconds into the 440W interval, for a 1-minute average of 430W. That means Zwift gave me an FTP of 321 (in the ramp test, your FTP Is 75% of your best 1-minute power).
I think ramp tests are friendly to me – I’m better at holding short-term power than long, steady stuff. Still XERT says my FTP is 316W, while Intervals.icu says 313W. So I think my FTP Is somewhere between 313 and 321W.
Bonus: I chose the La Reine route for the test, and it turned out to be timed perfectly so I grabbed the Petit KOM jersey since I was climbing the KOM during the toughest part of the test!
Saturday, March 18: Red Unicorn
I wasn’t sure how smart it was, but my legs felt good, so I decided to do the first tough workout of week 1 just after my ramp test.
Red Unicorn is a 90-minute workout, and the main set of intervals is 4 sets of 6 over-unders (OU) of 1 minute at 255W, 30s at 335W. (They’re called “over-under” because you’re under threshold, then over it.) Shayne’s a big fan of OU, and these “unicorn” workouts are some of the core weekly workouts for the first 4-week block of the plan, happening once a week but getting tougher each week.
My choice of La Reine for the day was perfect, as I finally crossed that route off of my badge list, and made it to the top of Ventoux just as my workout ended!
How tough was it? The power intervals themselves weren’t so bad, but following Shayne’s on-screen instructions for bike positioning and cadence changes made it much more challenging. Out of the saddle, down in an aero position, low cadence, high cadence… he makes you do it all! Which is a good thing – it got me out of my comfort zone, out of my rut.
[adinserter block=”1″]
Wednesday, March 22: Pedaling Drills
After a tough TTT for the ZRL finals on Tuesday, I opted for this 30-minute workout because it looked like an easy one that focused on cadence and form, not big power numbers.
The workout turned out a bit more challenging than I’d anticipated, but it still wasn’t anything leg-sapping. The one-legged drills were really interesting, as I tried to remove any dead spots in the pedal stroke. My left leg was especially challenging, and I found I needed to really lift up on the backstroke to kill any dead spots. Part of the challenge with the one-legged work was just getting in the right gear. The high cadence work was good, too. In the end, this was a recovery ride… with challenges!
Thursday, March 23: Devedeset
This 1-hour workout’s main set consisted of 3x 10-minute sweet spot intervals (90% of FTP, so 290W for me).
I chose the Road to Sky route for this workout, as I’ve always enjoyed the Alpe for sustained efforts. This workout wasn’t too bad – it was work, but didn’t push me to the limit. My heartrate bumped up a bit with each set.
One thing you don’t see in the pretty workout profile images are the instructions given on screen during the workout. And those can really change the feel of the workout! For example, on this workout you’re instructed to hold 85-95 RPM for the first 10-minute block, which is a cadence that feels great to me. But the next block is seated, at 70RPM… I don’t like that as much.
The third set was a mix of standing up (2x 1-minute intervals) and seated, with the final 4 minutes being high rpm (105+). The final minute was at max RPM (I was around 115) and it felt great, actually. Like I wasn’t even pushing hard – just spinning.
I made it ~9km up the 12km Alpe, but didn’t keep going to the top. (Next week’s sweet spot workout, called “Halvfems”, should just about get me there – it’s basically just like this workout, but with 12-minute blocks instead of 10.)
Friday, March 24: Zone Benchmarking
This workout looked pretty easy, which was good, because I needed a recovery day before hitting the Orange Unicorn hard the next day! This workout is done to test whether your FTP setting is accurate, so if you’re confident in your FTP setting, you could skip this without losing any valuable training.
Still, I thought it would be good to do the workout and see what it contained. In the end it was perhaps just a bit more effort than I would have preferred for an easy day, but I don’t think it’ll kill me for tomorrow’s hard workout.
Summing Up Week 1
I’m feeling motivated and happy with my progress after the first week. I’m sure after a few weeks I’ll want to skip a workout and jump into a Zwift race – and I’ll probably find a way to do that. But for now, I’m happy sticking to the plan and being pushed outside of my routine so I can build fresh fitness.
Coming Up Next Week
Four workouts next week, totaling 5 hours:
Questions or Comments?
Have you gone through “Build Me Up”? How was your experience? Share below!
I should have joined you on this journey. Never too late, I guess. I tried doing Zwift workout – “The Knife’s Edge”. It was a 30 minute workout, I only made it for 10 mins. Doing workouts on the SB20 is a whole different experience. Ride on, brother! Get used to being called grandpa now, so it wont be such a blow when its real. 😉
Since all the weekly workouts of the Training Plans have become “free”, I no longer understand which is the most correct order of execution. How should I organize their execution? Should I rely on a “pyramid” or “wave” TSS order? Or should I perform the workouts as presented in the Plan?
I would say do them in order per the plan, doesn’t really matter if they straddle weeks, so long as they get done progressively.
I would say at least do them in the correct week, if possible. Most plans seem to progress on a weekly basis, not a per-workout basis.
I’ve done this twice. Once had to stop due to covid but completed 2nd time around. I didn’t register a change in ftp but my repeatability of hard efforts has definitely improved.
Think I might try this one too. Been in a slump and need some motivation and to build back up some FTP that I’ve lost after covid and my slump
I’m almost finished week 8. My dilemma was that I had been building up my volume before starting this plan, and I didn’t want to drop that down by only doing the planned workouts. I decided to basically prioritize the plan workouts and tack on extra easy miles afterward, and some longer zone 2-3 rides on non-workout days just to hit my volume goals. The last few weeks of Build Me Up look to be pretty packed, so I will probably only do the workouts from there until the end of the program.
I only really pushed myself in one non-workout ride right around the end of week 6, and that resulted in an 11 watt boost to my FTP. I had only been getting a 1 or 2 watt increase per week to my FTP prior to starting BMU, which is the reason I decided to do the plan. So I would say it’s been worth it so far!
The downside is that now all of my workouts are a bit harder at my new FTP. It also put me on the cusp of being upgraded to a Cat B, just when I finally started feeling good mixing it up at the front of the C’s.
I’ve only had one workout that really made me struggle, which I chalk up to just be being tired that day. That was the only ride where I gave in and lowered the FTP bias a few percent just to finish.
Anyway, I have no regrets so far. I think I picked the perfect time to do it as I will be finishing up around when the IRL group rides start up again. It’s also tough to stay disciplined to my training schedule when there are always other interesting rides and events going on, but I can only fit so much in
as someone who has only returned to cycling and indoor cycling late in 2022, the various structured training plans on zwift have been invaluable in getting me to perform workouts that have really helped increase my fitness quickly.
I have opted for the build me up lite, and an FTP test afterward to gauge any progress, and have repeated this plan several times, even fast-tracking the workouts when I felt fitter and had more time.
With that said, there is still a lot of improvements that could be made from my perspective, for example, the chat prompts that are re-used in the “lite” versions are obviously taken from the full version, it just feels a bit lazy that their context isn’t correct at certain points.
Up until about a week ago I would have said the app could use alot more of these tailored workouts, but I’ve also started participating in group rides, group workouts etc so maybe this is a natural progression as you find your feet in the zwift world.
awesome article! cant wait to read more of these training logs. good luck eric!
The best training plan on Zwift. Coincidentally just doing it now too as a comeback from a calf tear. (Do TT Tune Up after it to go to the next level).
Question. I am complete FTP Builder. I note it is 12 weeks, does not seem to have light weeks… But my questions is, should I undertake and FTP test during the course of the 12 weeks so that it recalibrates my training. I completed on eat the start, feel I have improved but then am concerned about how much the program ramps up at the end?
I’m no expert on that plan, but I would say if it’s not telling you to re-assess, then don’t. You can always increase your FTP bias % during the workout if it seems too easy for ya!
I’ll be interested to follow your journey! I’m in the latter stages of the GCN Zero to Hero sessions which has been a brilliant reintroduction to structured training. Sessions are well designed too, I recommend it for anyone considering giving training a go. Might try ‘build me up’ next, or the Time Trial Tune Up.
Wishing you much improvement on your journey, Eric!
I’ve done this plan three or four times already, and looked into others and always came back to Build Me Up. It’s really motivating, and just as challenging as what you can achieve (whereas I often thought I couldn’t in-between, but almost always did so).
I would be interested what you think about Dylan Johnson’s point on Zwift’s training plans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmVZshpLaqs) — tl;dr; intervals in Zwift’s training plans are often pretty wildly scattered within sessions in order to be motivating, which is rather suboptimal from a physiological POV. This makes very much sense to me, whereas I know I have gained substantial FTP improvements with Build Me Up already (but maybe it would have been even better with more systematic HIITs). On the other hand, if you’re saying that motivation is key, then this one is for you (at least from my experience).
I think Dylan makes some very good points. Zwift’s workout library is a bit of a mixed bag. Some workouts are overly complex, as Dylan says. Some plans are less than good.
I think Shayne Gaffney’s work at Zwift created some really solid workouts, though. And I think Build Me Up is probably the best. As far as I can tell, Dylan’s various complaints, most of which are well-founded, don’t apply to BMU. Except maybe that there are, perhaps, too many hard workouts per week.
But what do YOU think?
Yes, this very much fits my impression. Scattering different physiological needs within sessions seems to jeopardize the effect certain intervals may have, and BMU’s workouts are less designed this way than other Zwift workouts (whereas it still has quite a few of those in there; e.g., Exigent where you have it all over the place).
And sure, another point of Dylan’s videos is that Polarized Training is somewhat better than Sweetspot Training—and I changed this very thing last year that I (in the building phase) ride <140bpm for 2–4hrs on Zwift two times a week and then throw in high-quality intensity into remaining training sessions. I see, however, that Zwift would need other distractions and motivating aspects of a workout except a gray or blue constant power graph plus text messages to make low-intensity training part of their training plans for most people. But then again, BMU manages this part also well that if you have long durations for certain zones to always keep you on the watch through different targets like cadence or position changes.
So, yeah. I concluded that the way BMU motivated me to show up for 12 weeks w/ 3–5 sessions per week compensates for the general shortcomings of Zwift training plans, so I'd probably do it again (if I could find the time for 12 weeks of not racing ZRL, not racing Chasing Tour, not racing IRL, or the like🙄).
I signed up for Build Me Up right when I got my Kickr and just stuck to the program. I felt it was well balanced and the commentary was spot on – helping get you out of your comfort zone in a very structure and methodical way. End of day it resulted in a 10% increase in my FTP that I was really happy about. I then started the Dirt Destroyer program and it just didn’t do it for me. Workouts seemed too easy, not much in terms of on screen comments, inconsistencies (ie 95rpm but the program says 70rpm on screen). I’ll definitely be doing Build Me Up again in the future …
I’m on week 7 and I find I keep pushing above the initial FTP limit (after upping this by a good few watts after week 4). Some sessions are a lot harder than others….so far I’m enjoying the mixture of difficult / easy (I was previously riding around aimlessly on zwift – pushing my 1 hour power on every ride which is a bit of a curse in itself!). Was sat around 260W at the start and upped to 274W now and managing to hit everything ok without requiring a third lung, leg or second heart 🙂
Just finished the Build Me Up plan, coming back from a serious illness. Brought my FTP from 217 to 224, was hoping for more but it’s improvement. Week 9 seemed like the hardest week. Good luck to you!.
I’m in my second go-around, back-to-back Build Me Up plan. I have 2 weeks left of the second go round. This plan drastically improved my FTP after first completion.130ish to 158 if memory serves. Im 61 so we’re not talking big numbers but considering the fact V02 max decreases with age, this was magic. Toward the end of the plan, the wattage goes ludicrous and I adjust using the arrow keys. I’m wondering if my FTP will improve again. Also, it took me a couple of extra weeks to complete the plan but FTP still improved. I highly recommend Build Me Up but be prepared to work haaaaard!
Hi Mary: Any additional rides outside? I’m struggling to understand how to manage training load when combining Zwift training plans with my weekend rides.
I’d be interested to know this as well
Hey Luis, I have been doing extra mileage while doing the BMU plan and have been managing fine. I haven’t really felt like the workouts were too tough until recently (I am in week 9 of 12 now). But, part of that is that my FTP went up 11 watts from a Tour de Zwift ride and now the workouts adjusted to new FTP. I will probably only be doing the BMU workouts from now until the end
I finished this plan a few weeks ago and was impressed with the results. My FTP rose from 185 to 227. The schedule was pretty gruelling for me and I had to give up most other activities but did add in a few easy rides. I think you have to get used to structured training too, which I haven’t done for probably 10 years. Those few first weeks seemed really tough. If you are a youngster you’d probably have better recovery but this old woman needed more rest. Having a Zwifty friend who was doing the plan at the same time also helped a lot. I finished the plan just over the 12 week schedule (14 weeks is the maximum you can spread it over) but had to play catchup a bit on rest weeks or weeks when I was feeling strong. I also analysed each week and tried to alternate low TSS with high TSS especially in the later weeks. The plan does not ask you to raise your FTP during the 12 weeks but I did when I felt it got too easy and spent the last 1/3 of the plan at 210 before the final increase in the official FTP test at the end. I never had to turn the bias down and I completed all workouts successfully. This is not to say it was easy, there were so many ‘Oh my god, I’m not going to make it!’ moments but somehow did. This is how I guaged that my FTP was set correctly. Overall I enjoyed it in a weird painful way and would recommend it to anyone that wants to increase their FTP but also to anyone who wants to become a better all round cyclist.
This is a very cool post grandpa Eric! I myself (grandpa too and 59) did that training plan at least 4 times, just finished the latest. I like it too that you can do it now at your pace, since I fell sick with a very bad cold in week 7 and had to take a break from training. One time I got a similar situation and had to restart the plan because it was somewhat “automatically” canceled(?).
What I find difficult is to assess my FTP correctly, I think I am taking the test a little too conservatively and thus, the training might not be as efficient as it could. Other than that, I find it hard to do 1h30 trainings since I mostly train before work early morning.
In anyway, I generally started the plan in the early weeks of January so they finish end of March. After that I do some group rides and random training to be ready for summer in Quebec in May!
Keep up the good work and newsletter!
I did this exact plan late last year after being frustrated in zwift races. While my ftp didn’t really go anywhere, I learned a lot about myself and the type of rider I am. I don’t know if I would do it again, but thought it was worth doing.
You don’t find these types of workouts a bit unstructured? My problem with most of the Zwift training programs is that they don’t target specific zones. They seem all over the place, just like this one did/does.
I have never done a Training plan on Zwift, so maybe this is a dumb question but do you do the planes in ERG mode?
Always. Makes it easier to put the right effort.
Hello Eirc, thanks for sharing this valuable information. I’m about to start my third week at BMU. I’m struggling to get the BMU workouts done and combine them with outdoor cycling as we’re in the middle of the season. And I need to take some rest in order to perform. How to keep up with BMU and still go outdoors on weekends or in the evenings? I don’t want to trade the weekend outing for Zwift at home alone. Any suggestion will be much appreciated. By the way, m I able to finish it on a period longer than 12 weeks?
Yeah, it’s not really a plan you can do if you want to mix in serious outdoor riding apart from the plan’s workouts. There are just too many every week (4 most weeks, 5 some weeks!)
In theory, you may be able to lengthen the plan (say, make it twice as long), doing half as many workouts each week, and mixing in your outdoor training. I’m not a coach, so I’m not sure if that’s a workable plan or not.
I know this post is a bit old but I’d just like to comment from a beginner’s perspective. A true beginner really. I did an FTP test when I first got Zwift and registered an Earth shattering 111. Started the build me up program at that FTP and it was well suited for my abilities. I’m in week 6 now and have upped my FTP twice so far. First time to 125 and recently again to 135. I feel I might be able to push it even a bit more but it just crossed over to the 5x per week so I want to see how I do before getting to ahead of myself. I can already feel a massive improvement in my overall fitness and leg strength/stamina. VO2 max is increasing as well. Seems funny when I look at your plan and your warmup at 190W is higher than any segment of any workout I’ve done so far, haha. Seriously though, I truly believe that if you set your FTP correctly and you don’t mind a really sore ass most weeks, this workout plan is pure gold. At least it has been so far. We’ll see how it progresses for me as I tackle the harder half of it. Can’t wait to get outside again in the spring and test out how this has changed my outdoor riding ability.
Awesome, Pete! Disciplined training like Build Me Up will increase your fitness faster than anything else, as long as you stick with it. Keep up the good work, and Ride On!
Thanks Eric! Great to see that you’re still responding to comments even nearly 9 months later. This is an excellent blog post and account of the BMU workout plan. Now in week 8, I’m maintaining all the workouts as prescribed but haven’t upped my FTP just yet. A little tentative as I look at what’s coming up, lol. Thanks for doing all of this. To someone getting into this and running through a first training on Zwift it’s been really helpful!
Great to dip in to your journey and see what might be coming up each week……
I’ve just finished my 12 week programme and it’s certainly had a few moments!
I’m 56 and had never undertaken a structured training plan before however kind of enjoyed it at times anyway.
There were a few sessions where you just have to drag yourself through it although cadence and position did slip a few times.
FTP went from 235 to 258 so I was very happy with the 10% increase.
Would I do it again, hmm not so sure
That’s a big increase. Nicely done!
I was pleased. Maybe the increase as I’ve never done any formal training plan, intervals etc before. I thought I was fairly fit at the start having just completed the Gran Gaunche (recommended!) and wanted to use this plan to maintain fitness for the summer and a trip to the Pyrenees 😀 Early in the plan was very tough it seemed, yellow unicorn still stands out although The Circus won’t be forgotten in a hurry!