It’s October in the Zwift community and time for Zwift Academy.
What’s Zwift academy? “Join the world for Zwift Academy—our epic annual training program—where we share the road to ride, race, run, and reach new goals together.”
I’ve joined the Women’s Road Academy. You complete the academy by completing all 12 events: 8 workouts and 4 group rides OR races. I’m out to complete Zwift Academy but top riders are taking part in order to compete. See How you could land a pro contract with Zwift’s talent search program.
It’s recommended that you complete the workouts in order for maximal benefit but my work schedule comes way first. My outdoor gravel riding took second place this past week. And so Zwift came third. Hence, I found myself with time to ride at the time that the second workout was scheduled as a group workout. (I can go back and do #1 solo when I have some free time.) Generally I think they’re more fun as group workouts.
The second workout is all about sprinting. There’s a long warm up, followed by 4 short (6 second) seated sprints with lots of rest in between. These sprints don’t “count.” They’re there to prime you for the two longer efforts at the end, a 10 second and a 20 second maximal all out sprint. Again, there’s lots of rest in between sprints. You can see the spike-y sprint efforts on my ride report below.
Read about workout 2 and watch the coaching advice here.
Here’s a description of the workout: “A good sprint is the icing on the cake. You could be an excellent climber or a strong Time Trialist, but you’ll find it hard to win without a good sprint. This workout tests how strong your sprint is, and what PEAK power you can do over 10 and 20 seconds. Having a powerful sprint is about hitting that 10sec or 20sec effort to the best of your ability– leaving nothing behind as you empty the tank. With an effort so short, there’s no room for mistakes. Today we’ll make sure your muscles are PRIMED for you to hit PEAK powers in this session. 3x sub-maximal 6sec sprints begin this process of neuromuscular activation, followed by a maximal 6sec sprint. All sprints should be performed seated in the saddle. We then move onto a MAXIMAL 10sec sprint, which can be done either in or out of the saddle, followed by a maximal 20sec sprint. 5min recovery between maximal sprints to allow for maximal rest, allowing for replenishment of your phosphocreatine and recharge of your anaerobic system, which is also used in the longer sprints.”
Enjoy!
