Wednesday’s Zwift Group Workout: The Sweetspot Sandwich

TRI247 Workout Series #112 – ‘The Sweetspot Sandwich‘

Wednesday, 18th March 2020 7.00pm UK time on Zwift

(ZWIFT LINK >>> https://www.zwift.com/events/view/365895)

Races might be few and far between all over the world at present, but let’s make the best of the training opportunities we do have. Thanks to Zwift, you can self-isolate, train hard and get your fix of social interaction all in one, thanks to the TRI247 Workout Series!

If you’ve not (yet) joined us in this popular weekly session that’s is well into its third year now, there’s no better time than now.

This week’s session is one of our popular ones from the archives, called The Sweetspot Sandwich. In cycling terms, sweetspot refers to that effort that gives you the ‘bang for your buck’ return, because you’ll get a good physiological return on your efforts, without requiring extended recovery.

As always, the session is open to ALL standards and everyone is welcome, so join us at 7pm, UK-time.

If you are new to Zwift and are not sure how it all works, it’s well worth checking out these recent articles we’ve published to find out more:

• Getting started with Zwift Cycling
• Five ways to train on Zwift
• Using Zwift for iron-distance training: what do Pro athletes do?

The Sweetspot Sandwich session

This session is, at its core, a relatively straightforward 7x 4:30 at ‘Sweetspot’ effort, with 2:00 recovery.

The slight twist – hence the session name – is that the first and last 15 seconds of each interval will be just above FTP effort and thus provide a ‘sandwich’ around the four minutes of sweetspot effort. The logic here is that often you will start a ride fast (perhaps too fast), and then need to settle back into your sustainable effort. Similarly, there may be a pace increase at the very end of a ride, for example, get a good position going into transition.

Overall, the set doesn’t require huge power outputs or speed at any point, but will require mental focus and resilience to maintain the effort through the session as fatigue starts to build from the previous reps.

Main set details, seven repetitions of:

• 15 secs @105% FTP (Zone 4/5)
• 4minutes @88% (Sweetspot effort – high Zone 3)
• 15 secs @105% (Zone 4/5)
• 2minutes @65% (Recovery)

Join us at 7p.m. on Wednesday 18th March 2020 (UK time) on the virtual roads of New York. Set your reminder now on the link below or via the Zwift Companion app.

[TIP – It is always worth having the (free) Zwift Companion app to hand on your mobile device. Within the workout screen you can toggle your FTP by +/- 10% ‘on the fly’, which will immediately change your power targets during the session. Legs feeling heavy, can’t quite hold your power targets? It happens! Rather than can the session, how about moving your targets down 5% first, before giving up completely? Alas, the body isn’t a machine and can’t always deliver as you hope/think it should, so a bit of flexibility and not getting too obsessed with the numbers can be a good thing!

On the flipside, perhaps you are having a good day or increasing the overall training stress of the session better meets your own training goals for that day? In that case, you have the option of nudging your baseline up in the same way.]

The session is genuinely open to everyone of ALL abilities. Group workout mode works fantastically in Zwift and ensures that the power targets are tailored to YOUR level. It makes no difference if your FTP is 400 watts or 100 watts, the targets you see will be specific to you – all while being part of the on-screen group.

[To set your reminder, click here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/365895]

You can find the custom workout files from all of the previous TRI247 Workout Series sessions on these links, to download and do ride again in your own time:

Custom Workout downloads from previous Zwift sessions:

• Lucy Charles ‘Over-Unders’
• Lucy Gossage ’12 Days of Christmas’
• Lionel Sanders ‘Intervals’
• Joe Skipper ‘ Burner’
• John Levison ‘High Five’
• Ruth Purbrook ‘Over Gears’
• Tim Don ‘Comeback’
• Reece Barclay ‘Mix Session’
• Harry Wiltshire ‘Grim Reaper’
• Paul Shanley ‘Pyramids’
• Karl Alexander ‘VO 2 The Max’
• Jenny Gowans ‘Norse Steps’
• Matt Bottrill ‘Lactic Builder’
• John Levison ‘Russian Steps’
• Sam Begg ‘What Goes Up, Must Come Down’
• Paul Shanley ‘70.3 Minutes’
• Karl Alexander ‘The 13:50 (10 to 2)’
• Richard Stannard ‘FTP Advancer’
• Race Force ‘ChainGang’
• Simon George ‘The Giant’
• Natarsha Tremayne ‘Stomp The Pedal’
• Chris Standidge ‘The Championship Decider’
• Lesley Levison ‘Spiked Tempo’
• Bex Rimmington ‘ Maximal Efforts’
• Coach Kevin Poulton’s ‘Progressive 11’s’
• ‘The Kitchen Sink’ – set by TRI247 Editor John Levison
• John Levison ‘A Bit of Speed too…’
• ‘Glasgow Revisited’ – John Levison
• ‘Club Relays Madness’ – John Levison
• ‘John Levison’s A Bit (More) Speed Too’
• The Dragon – John Levison
• Sweetspot with a Kick – set by TRI247 Editor John Levison
• John Levison’s ’40/20’s FTP Booster’
• Micro Burst Intervals
• Short and Sweet(spot)
• Micro Burst Intervals 2
• Sweetspot Sandwich
• The Sweet Ladder
• 50 Shades of Power!
• Lucy Gossage’s New Year Set
• Paul Lunn’s Kona Quest
• Progressive 4×4’s
• Louise Minchin’s Dare To Tri Big Gear Set
• Gill Fullen’s Lactic Legs Challenge
• Steve Clark’s Ramp It Up To The X
• Hywel Davies’ Hurtbox Time Bomb Intervals

Joining Instructions:

The workout will begin promptly at 7.00pm UK time, Wednesday 18th March 2020. It is worth logging in 10 or 15 minutes before the session to make sure you are set up and ready to go, where you will be able to warm up in the virtual ‘holding pen’.

Look for the TRI247 Workout Series event in the list on the right of the screen once you have paired your sensors. Click to JOIN and you will be taken to the start line ready to begin the workout.

Make sure you have set your FTP level correctly before you join the workout as all the intervals are based on a percentage of FTP so it is important to get that right. If in doubt, dial the FTP number down 10 or 20 watts as it is better to finish the session than to feel like it is too challenging.

If you have never used Zwift before but don’t want to miss out, head to the Zwift support page for tips on how to get the most out of your setup.

After the session head over to the TRI247 Facebook page for some post ride chat.

Zwift Group Rides: TRI247 Workout Series

The cool thing about a group workout on Zwift is that varying levels of ability can ride together in a group and all finish the session together having done the same relative effort, even if the actual watts are significantly different. It is not a race, but a shared goal to get a good session in the training log.