Meetups are a handy tool if you’re looking to ride with a specific group of friends, and the new “Keep everyone together” option has made them even better.
But there’s one Meetups feature which Zwifters are still looking for: the ability to do a group workout. That is, to set up a Meetup with whoever you’d like, where each person is doing the same structured workout and you all stick together for the duration.
Ideally, this would work like the official group workout events happening all the time and available via the Zwift Events calendar. Except this is an event you plan, with just the people you want to invite and the workout you want the group to complete.
You may think this isn’t possible on Zwift–but it actually is.
Here’s a simple Meetup hack that lets you organize a group workout on Zwift today.
It Starts Like Any Other Meetup
First, create your Meetup. They’re very easy to plan via the Companion App. If you’ve never done it, here’s a simple guide.
Just a few important notes as you organize your Meetup:
- Do it for a set duration, not distance. This ensures your Meetup won’t end before the workout does. We recommend setting it for 5-10 minutes longer than the workout length, so you can hang out in your Meetup for a bit once the workout is over.
- Be sure to select “Keep Everyone Together” under “Customize Your Meetup”, otherwise riders with different FTPs will become separated as they’ll be holding different wattages even if they’re doing the same workout.
- It’s a good idea to put instructions for finding the workout in the “Message Your Group” field, so everyone knows what the workout is called and where to find it. You can also message the group while everyone is waiting for the Meetup to begin.
One Step Magic
Once your friends have joined the Meetup and you’re sitting together waiting for it to begin, it’s time for the magic to happen. Are you ready?
Click Menu>Workouts or hit “E” on your keyboard. This will open the workout picker window:
Choose the correct workout, click “Workout”, and you’re ready to go!
You’ll now see the workout plan on the left:
The workout will begin once the Meetup begins. Each rider can control their workout independently, adjusting FTP bias or skipping sections if they choose. With the “Keep Everyone Together” option you will all stay together regardless of wattage variances between riders.
In some ways this is a better experience than official group workouts, because the group moves faster in a Meetup (a more realistic speed, instead of the very slow group workout speeds).
When the workout ends, each rider will get the typical workout summary screen pop up. If the Meetup is still going, you will remain in the Meetup even though the workout is finished.
Notes
The biggest challenge here is getting each rider to select the correct workout. But the cool thing is, if the rider picks the wrong workout, or even neglects to pick a workout, they will still ride with you! Your Meetup can have one rider doing workout A, another free riding, and another doing workout B. And everyone can stick together.
Have You Tried It?
Tried this hack? Share your experience below! Got questions? Share those too, and we’ll try to answer them.
Great tip, I’ve started doing weekly meetups and have been wanting to do workout mode instead. Will definitely try this.
@HPLCycling has a regular Sunday morning meetup. Several meet up participants do a workout, while others just free ride. It’s a great way to ride together with your crew while sticking to your training plan.
thanks it was just that I was looking for
I thought experience while in workouts was determined by the time spent in the different blocks and not by distance. Have I understood it wrong? Or how is this better xp than the official group workouts?
“In some ways this is a better experience than official group workouts, because the group moves faster in a Meetup (a more realistic speed, instead of the very slow group workout speeds).”
Hi Seb,
Lost in translation, I think. When I say it’s a better “experience” I’m not talking about XP. I’m talking about our actual experience!
Ohh too focused on getting to lvl 50, Haha!
I even thought about it halfway through my comment. Thanks for the clarification!
Just tried it with a couple of mates. It worked quite well! Really enjoyed it! Thanks for pointing this out Eric.
My pleasure! Glad it worked for ya.
Does it also work when you subscribed to a training plan (build me up, f.ex.) ?
Yeah, should work fine, since you just click and choose a workout anyway.
Does it work for custom workouts? I’m guessing no, because other people can’t see or select a custom workout that I’ve made in Zwift. Just checking, though, in case you’ve tried this.
It works, but everyone would have to have that custom workout on their system in order to select it. https://zwiftinsider.com/load-custom-workouts/
Do all participants in the group need to select Workout on the system or just the invitee users?
All participants have to select the workout themselves.
We like to have one person riding the workout on
a flat course and all others riding free ride. That way it requires some effort to stay together. Doesn’t work well for short or very high watt intervals, but for anything 1min or longer is pretty good.
Eric, can Duration be used to run laps of a shorter course? I’ve been running bi-weekly meetups and I’m stuck with picking from only a couple of courses that will allow us to ride for about 1:30… such as Out and Back Again. Could you pick a short loop and set the Meetup for Duration? If so, that opens all kinds of doors!
Sure, why not? That would definitely be the way to do it… pick something like Volcano Circuit CCW, then set the duration to 90 minutes.
Thanks Eric, this is PERFECT!!! Works so well, finally an option to really do a private group workout.
—Tiffany’s husband, Don (she’s more famous than I am in zwiftland, but I got her started!)
Rock on, Don! And say hello to Tiffany from us!
Larson!
Awesome! Did a meetup with my buddy, he was using Trainer Road and I was doing a Zwift workout and we rode together the whole way via a meetup exactly as you described it. Thank you.
If my friend can’t start until half hour after me, does he still have ability to select a workout? Perhaps the same one? Or does the workout have to be selected by everyone prior to the meetup commencing?
You can select a workout whenever you want during the ride, it’s just that you won’t be doing the same intervals as the other guy, if you start at different times.
More importantly: meetups don’t currently allow for late joins. So your friend can’t join the Meetup after it begins.
so, here is what happened to me. I created a meet up and sent invite to my friends. Meetup was at 8pm, I logged in to zwift, on the main menu top right, I saw the count down so I thought it will automatically start and put me into the world. but it did not, then I saw my friend and clicked on ride with then it I was able to ride but this was not the meetup I choose. So do I have to choose a workout, then go into watopia etc and wait for the counter to finish?
Yes, you have to be in the actual game (not just the join screen) to get a prompt to join the event.
Confusing, I know. Lots of folks have made that mistake. Works the same way for all events.
Eric – is there a procedure for AppleTV to use this hack? With no keyboard I joined a meetup but wasn’t given an option for the workout picker.
Click Menu>Workouts from within the Meetup.
does this work with Events, e.g. upcoming Fondo? the specific example is wanting to do the Fondo but using one of the 10-12 ftp builder workouts.
No, you can’t do a workout at the same time as you’re doing an event like a fondo. The only way to do a structured workout during an event is if you do an official group workout event.
Me and my friend are doin the same plan but we is not in sync so we’re not on the same workout. Can we still do a meetup and do the workout we’re on even if it’s two different workouts. For example i’m on Ham Sandwich and my friend at what goes up goes down, can we do it in a meetup?
Sure, you can do two different workouts. It may be weird, as your friend might be going hard at a time when you’re going easy… so your speeds will be somehow averaged together. But it can be done, sure.
My sister and I have followed all the steps but it doesn’t keep us together, I ride away from her and out of screen from her. I send the meetup with duration and keep it together mode. We both join the meetup when it’s time and then select the workout while we’re waiting in the meetup for it to start. I wish the the clock would start for the first interval of the workout when the meetup timer starts but it does not. We have just both agreed to start pedaling when the count down ends and the meetup starts.… Read more »
yet another question – will this work with a Ramp test ? assuming we all set the jnitial ftp at 100w as advised in the manual for the test?
Seems like it would, but I’ve never tried it!
Hm I on appletv, my wife next 2me on laptop, she a freeride in the meetup, and I did a workout on appletv in the meet. But erg mode was not working on appletv. Only when laptopsession stopped erg on appletv worked in the meet.