Update (February 10, 2025): Zwift updated this challenge with an expiration date, saying it must be completed by February 28.
Today, Zwift launched the first of its new challenges: Cardio Crusher. These new Challenges could, perhaps, be labeled as “mini-Challenges” since they’re easier to finish than the “big” Challenges (Tour Italy, Ride California, and Climb Mt Everest).
You can work toward one Mini Challenge while also working toward one of the Big Challenges. So you may be working on accumulating elevation for the Climb Mt Everest challenge, while knocking out the workouts for Cardio Crusher.
Access Cardio Crusher from the homescreen banner, or under the “Challenges” row:
To finish the Cardio Crusher challenge, you’ll need to complete the challenge’s five workouts:
These workouts start short (“Make It Sting” is only 15 minutes long), but each workout is 10 minutes longer than the previous, meaning the final workout (“Kitchen Sink”) is 55 minutes long.
Finishing Cardio Crusher earns you some solid training, of course. But you’ll also get a bonus of 1000XP!
Hacking Your Way to Route Choice
Currently, clicking a workout from the Cardio Crusher list of five takes you straight into Watopia, to the spawn point near the desert start pens. This differs from how the game usually works, where clicking a workout takes you to a detailed view, then you’re able to select a route to ride when you begin the workout.
Zwift tells me this is intended behavior, as they wanted to reduce the number of clicks, especially for new users. Fair enough!
So if you want to choose which route to ride for these workouts, you’ll need to go about it a different way:
- First, you need to make sure you’re registered for the Challenge. That means you need to click the Cardio Crusher card from the homescreen, and click on one of the five workouts listed. Once you’ve done this, you’re “signed up” and will receive progression credit when completing the workouts in the Challenge.
- Next, instead of picking a workout from the Cardio Crusher homescreen, find the workout in the main Workouts collections. You can do this by clicking “Workouts” from the homescreen. The workouts are stored in different folders, so here’s the list to save you the time of tracking them down:
- Make It Sting: 30 minutes to burn
- Ignite: 30 minutes to burn
- Half Hour of Power: 30-60 minutes to burn
- Climb Time: Fitness Jumpstart
- The Kitchen Sink: 30-60 minutes to burn
Workout Details
Since Zwift takes you straight into the game when clicking a workout from the Cardio Crusher screen, you don’t get to see the workout’s details unless you choose the workout using the alternative method above.
If you’re like me, you like to see what you’re signing up for before you start riding. Here are screenshots of each workout, with the rider’s FTP set to 250W:
More About Mini Challenges
Zwift announced these new Mini Challenges in their “This Season on Zwift” press release last week. Cardio Crusher is the first of the new Challenges, while the second, “Route Chaser: The Grade” arrives on October 3.
Zwift tells me these new Challenges aren’t time-limited like the monthly Missions, although it’s possible that some of them may be removed from the game down the road. But for now, the idea is that a library of Mini Challenges will be built up over time, each inspiring Zwifters to build fitness by engaging the game in a particular way while earning an XP bonus.
Questions or Comments?
What do you think of the Mini Challenge concept? Got any ideas for more Mini Challenges? Share below!
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