Homebrewtalk Peloton

[Kent88]

The hardest thing about PZ riding without a bike where you can't do the FTP test and without an actual power output number is that it requires that you estimate your zones based upon perceived exertion rather than actually knowing your output. I.e. for me, the Peloton has an output number, and based on my FTP test I know that the middle of Zone 2 is about 200W, and the middle of my Zone 3 is about 255W, so when I'm on a PZE ride and they call out a zone, I just need to keep my number there. Without that, you'll be having to estimate.

That said, IMHO the best instructor for learning to estimate is Denis. Try this 60-minute PZE ride. The warmup is a flat road for one song, then spin-ups, and then a build where he describes how Zone 2 and Zone 3 should feel. Generally Zone 2 is going to be the maximum of what you could do while keeping your mouth closed and breathing entirely through your nose. Zone 3 is going to be (on Peloton) probably 4-5 points of resistance higher than that at a given cadence, and is going to be where you pretty much immediately have to open your mouth to breathe, but you're not getting ragged or feeling like you're going to run out of steam. As long as you can manage to stay in the right perceived exertion ranges, PZE is nothing "advanced" or that you need to ease into.

I figured my lack of an official Peloton bike would be a hindrance to PZ rides. Heck, when I found my cadence monitor/display on this stationary late last spring (or early summer?) I realized how off my perception of cadence was, and after my summer hiatus I'm having trouble remembering how I equated resistances. Perception isn't easy to get dialed in.

Yeah, that's kinda my accountability system. I know I'm the type that if I start skipping one day during a week, it's going to be two days a week, and then three days a week, etc. I'm not disciplined enough to, say, take one rest day per week and still know I'm going to make working out a priority on the other 6.

This sounds similar to my issue. I'm hoping this century ride I want to participate in next spring will give me the motivation I need to shrug off the broken streaks and keep plugging away. There are a few different distance options at that event, and I think I've settled on a floor of riding at least the x-many mile loop, and that isn't what I usually feel like I can ride early in my cycling season. So it'll be tough to get daily streaks going, with all the weekend trips to visit family we'll be doing over the next couple months, but I want to make it easier on myself when I really start training in January.

But yesterday I just wasn't feeling it. I did the 120-minute ride Monday and didn't want to ride again Tuesday, and I knew it was the last day of the month and I'd already gotten gold in the strength challenge for the month so I figured I'd put off starting strength to today so it counts for November. So all I did was a 10 minute stretch, which maintained my daily streak but didn't require much effort.

Have you tried the 20-min recovery rides? Or I found probably the only standalone 10-min low impact ride that Hainsby did Nov 2022. Not saying "dang it, go do this!", just wondering if those options are on your radar, or maybe they just don't interest you.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I figured my lack of an official Peloton bike would be a hindrance to PZ rides. Heck, when I found my cadence monitor/display on this stationary late last spring (or early summer?) I realized how off my perception of cadence was, and after my summer hiatus I'm having trouble remembering how I equated resistances. Perception isn't easy to get dialed in.

This sounds similar to my issue. I'm hoping this century ride I want to participate in next spring will give me the motivation I need to shrug off the broken streaks and keep plugging away. There are a few different distance options at that event, and I think I've settled on a floor of riding at least the x-many mile loop, and that isn't what I usually feel like I can ride early in my cycling season. So it'll be tough to get daily streaks going, with all the weekend trips to visit family we'll be doing over the next couple months, but I want to make it easier on myself when I really start training in January.

Especially if you're an outdoor rider, I think the lack of the official bike won't be as big of a hindrance as you'd think. The other way to think of Zone 2 is your "all day" pace. I'm sure to an extent you know that feel already from outdoor riding, the level of exertion that you'd be at if you were going to ride for several hours. Zone 3 is higher, and mostly added in to PZE rides for training purposes because you're trying to cram more work into less time--i.e. you might go on a 3-4 hour outdoor ride for training, but rarely do that duration on the stationary bike. So Zone 3 wouldn't actually be a typical endurance exertion you actually use for a long ride; it's marginally higher but still something that you could do a long time.

So I'd say if you want to train for a century ride, DEFINITELY start working on longer PZE rides. Yes, having to work on perceived exertion rather than measured output is a little harder, but it's probably better than trying to do the shorter (20-45 minute) high-exertion rides on the platform.

Putting in the time on those longer rides will help get you ready. I can say it's done absolute WONDERS for my cardio endurance...

Have you tried the 20-min recovery rides? Or I found probably the only standalone 10-min low impact ride that Hainsby did Nov 2022. Not saying "dang it, go do this!", just wondering if those options are on your radar, or maybe they just don't interest you.

I'll occasionally do a low-impact, but I haven't really enjoyed the "recovery" rides. They are too gentle, too soothing, too boring lol... When I want a less intense ride I'll usually look at the difficulty rating as well as the metrics (you can only see these on the bike) on a music ride with an instructor I like, which tell you the expected total output of the ride at the bottom and top of the callouts. From there I can determine whether the ride is suitable for a day that I just want to flush the legs, and where in the callouts I need to ride to get what I'm looking for. And if I don't like the callouts but like the playlist/instructor, I sometimes just ride the whole thing in zone 2.

 

[Rodent]

excellent conversation in these last few posts!

makes grateful to have this thread and you fellow HBTers here to share the ride with

 

[Kent88]

Especially if you're an outdoor rider, I think the lack of the official bike won't be as big of a hindrance as you'd think. The other way to think of Zone 2 is your "all day" pace. I'm sure to an extent you know that feel already from outdoor riding, the level of exertion that you'd be at if you were going to ride for several hours. Zone 3 is higher, and mostly added in to PZE rides for training purposes because you're trying to cram more work into less time--i.e. you might go on a 3-4 hour outdoor ride for training, but rarely do that duration on the stationary bike. So Zone 3 wouldn't actually be a typical endurance exertion you actually use for a long ride; it's marginally higher but still something that you could do a long time.

Is there a different metric one can use? I think I've read about testing heart rate that can yield zones similar to an FTP test / PZs. Is there anything like that which could work? I have a wahoo heart rate sensor strap and my stationary Schwinn has a spot on the handlebars with heart rate sensors.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Is there a different metric one can use? I think I've read about testing heart rate that can yield zones similar to an FTP test / PZs. Is there anything like that which could work? I have a wahoo heart rate sensor strap and my stationary Schwinn has a spot on the handlebars with heart rate sensors.

Yes, you can use heart rate instead. I'm sure there's a lot more in-depth study, but here's something I found: Training with heart rate vs training with power | Which is best for you?

This one says for aerobic work, to target 70-80% of your HR Max. How to Use Heart Rate Zones for Training & Exercise | WHOOP

A few points:

• There is a simple calculation for HR Max of 220 minus your age. There are others that are deemed more accurate. That's fine for many people, but there are also severe outliers. Long story but I was getting some things checked out a few years ago that had me on a treadmill stress test with a cardiologist. According to 220-age, my HR Max at the time should have been 182. But I'm a severe outlier and my own personal max was 203... Now that I'm older my max should be 175. I can sustain 175 for quite some time on rides. On my most vigorous rides, I've peaked in the 190s. I just run hot.
• Because of the heart rate lag, and the fact that most PZE rides alternate between zones 2 and 3, you may choose to pick a heart rate to target and ignore the callouts. You can just ride the entire ride (post-warmup) targeting a steady heart rate. One downside to this is that it will be "noisy"--depending on rest, nutrition, caffeine, an effort at one cadence/resistance level one day might produce a different heart rate day to day. Also, on longer rides you might find that your heart rate is creeping up at a specific cadence/resistance and as a result you start reducing output to keep it down, which doesn't necessarily give you the benefit of a progressive overload workout.
• To avoid the above, what you could potentially do is some testing to find specific cadence/resistance combinations that tend to produce certain heart rates if you sustain them for 5-10 minutes. You could maybe call one of these "zone 2" at maybe 71% of your HR Max, and another "zone 3" at 79% of your HR Max. If you do this, you would simply keep the cadence and resistance at those levels when the instructor calls out zone 2 or zone 3. That would at least give you consistent output for the zones, and would allow you to work through the day-to-day variation in HR. It would also give you a target such that if your HR tends to drive above those numbers towards the end of long rides, you stay at consistent outputs and that gives you the progressive overload benefits. Over time you'll probably start to see that those specific cadence/resistance ranges are failing to center around 71/79% of your HR max, which would be an indication that you're leveling up your cardio capability and need to increase cadence and/or resistance to actually exert yourself enough to see gains.

But absolutely, there are ways to work around a lack of a power meter. Heart rate is an excellent metric, but as I mention above I'd choose the third bullet point so you start to get it dialed in more to cadence/resistance targets that correlate to HR, rather than just targeting a specific HR number for a whole ride...

 

[Rodent]

my max heart rate is supposedly 162, but I recently did a 20 min cardio workout where I was over 167 for over 2 minutes with a peak in there at 209bpm. I could easily have pushed harder and kept this up for much longer, but that's not necessarily something I prefer to do when home alone for my workouts. you can see my 30 Oct Shadow Boxing workout stats in the app if we're connected and you want the reference.

no way I could have done this a year back, when even approaching my max heart rate would have sent me to the ER (or worse)

 

[Kent88]

Looks like tracking heart rate is a valid alternative to PZ.

Here's something I found on heart rate zones



If that's correct, heart and PZ zone 2 are pretty close to the same.

I think I'll have to figure out my zones some time soon and see how that PZ ride you suggested feels.

Right now, I have to readjust from the outdoor cycling to indoor cycling.

 

[Rodent]

took the Denis Morton post-ride stretch session from 9 Nov 2023 earlier today. definitely not your typical stretch routine if you frequent the 5/10 min post ride stretch offerings by others. I'd recommend it as a supplement to your regular post ride stretch. I know I plan to add this as a regular part to my daily stretching, even on days I don't ride

 

[Kent88]

Well, I tweaked my neck and back. Hopefully a little time with a heating pad will resolve it.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Took Emma's 30 minute 2000s Ride live today for my 300th, and got a shoutout. My LB name even made Emma laugh. So that was kinda cool.

Tough class. I was only about 20 kJ off my 30 minute PR. LOTS of climbing.

 

[Rodent]

Took Emma's 30 minute 2000s Ride live today for my 300th, and got a shoutout. My LB name even made Emma laugh. So that was kinda cool.

Tough class. I was only about 20 kJ off my 30 minute PR. LOTS of climbing.

you do have a great username over in the Pelo world

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

you do have a great username over in the Pelo world

The funny thing about it is that I've never actually had a "beer gut". Yeah, I'm overweight, and was even more so when I started Peloton. But I'm just one of those guys that gets a little fat all over, instead of having the round protruding beer belly.

But it still seemed like an appropriate name for a homebrewer...

 

[Kent88]

Well my neck and back are improving. I managed a 10 minute ride last night and I don't feel like it's a problem this morning. I added a beginner level upper body workout to my stack in case I'm feeling good this evening. After my last Arms and Light Weights video I was really sore, it clearly set back my recovery. I remember this video not being very difficult to follow along with.

Edit: tricep kickbacks with an already sore back are less than a good idea. The verdict is still out on whether it was a bad idea.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Who's excited for the Blink-182 artist series that just dropped?

I'm thinking of making tomorrow "Blink Day" and doing Kendall's 10-minute shadowboxing and Andy's 30-minute full body strength to start... Take a break for a bit, then take back to back Bradley's 10-minute warm up, Erik's 20-minute, and Kendall's 30-minute rides...

The only other Blink artist class will be a run, and, well, I don't run. So not planning on trying that.

 

[Rodent]

Kendal now has a blink-182 ride

 

[Rodent]

I hit the 30 hour mark post outpatient type surgery, so I'm cleared to do more than just sit around like algae. how better to celebrate by taking a 10 min recovery ride, eh? had to do it as I discovered yesterday morning that I was a day off from a 60 consecutive day achievement - thought it was yesterday and not today so I could have a few days off post surgery.

I pulled back when I could tell I was going to warm up enough to 'glisten' as I'm sure that sweating to a workout would get me a stern word from my doc on Monday. had to limit participation in a 5 min post-ride stretch due to several of the stretches pulling against the stitches

15 min of light duty is better than being moss all day long. hoping this little setback doesn't kill my chances for hitting the 15K mark this year

 

[Rodent]

Kendal now has a blink-182 ride

View attachment 834123

I rode for about an hour this morning before remembering this ride had recently dropped, so headed over and gave it a spin.

definitely some **** content in the bLinK-182 lyrics and instructor commentary, but nothing close to what I hear at work on a daily basis.

super fun ride that wasn't as challenging as I had feared, and the live drums on several songs made this one of my favorite rides taken since I got my bike. I'll definitely ride this one many times again

 

[Rodent]

15 min of light duty is better than being moss all day long. hoping this little setback doesn't kill my chances for hitting the 15K mark this year

given today's activity I'm now ahead of my avg exercise min/day needed to hit the 15K objective for this year.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I rode for about an hour this morning before remembering this ride had recently dropped, so headed over and gave it a spin.

definitely some **** content in the bLinK-182 lyrics and instructor commentary, but nothing close to what I hear at work on a daily basis.

super fun ride that wasn't as challenging as I had feared, and the live drums on several songs made this one of my favorite rides taken since I got my bike. I'll definitely ride this one many times again

Yeah, I completed "Blink-182 Day". Did Kendall's shadowboxing, Andy's strength and then a stack of Bradley/Erik/Kendall rides. I saw you on the "a friend is working out now" thing but I was just starting Bradley's warm-up while you were in Kendall's ride so I couldn't catch up.

Erik's ride was tough. Combination of a lot of cadence and resistance together. Taking it I thought I was going to bonk out on Kendall's ride. But Kendall's was good... It was either cadence OR resistance pushes, so never both at once.

And it was a fun ride. I was worried I'd have a problem on it, but then I look up and there's 8 minutes left and I'm "where did the time go?!" lol...

given today's activity I'm now ahead of my avg exercise min/day needed to hit the 15K objective for this year.

Congrats!

 

[Rodent]

Yeah, I completed "Blink-182 Day". Did Kendall's shadowboxing, Andy's strength and then a stack of Bradley/Erik/Kendall rides. I saw you on the "a friend is working out now" thing but I was just starting Bradley's warm-up while you were in Kendall's ride so I couldn't catch up.

Erik's ride was tough. Combination of a lot of cadence and resistance together. Taking it I thought I was going to bonk out on Kendall's ride. But Kendall's was good... It was either cadence OR resistance pushes, so never both at once.

And it was a fun ride. I was worried I'd have a problem on it, but then I look up and there's 8 minutes left and I'm "where did the time go?!" lol...



Congrats!

Bradley's warmup was also a fun ride, and he was as jovial as most always. I took that after I'd ridden for an hour, and felt fresh enough that I gave Kendall's ride a go.

wish there was a bLinK-182 cooldown ride and post-ride stretch to accompany - I'd likely work that combo at least once per week as a routine

since it was Sat today, I didn't think to check for you in the friends working out notification ... bummer

 

[Rodent]

rode my 500th ride today in Christine's live 45 min climb ride. my legs were pretty fried to start given how much I rode this weekend, but I took extra stretching time beforehand and found a second wind as the ride progressed. finished 234/673 with 13.53 miles at an average of 45% resistance and 76 rpm

today also marks my 1-year anniversary for my health emergency event last year, and I get confirmation of all the positive changes later today at my yearly physical.

I'm also slightly ahead of my 300 mi/month goal @ 206.3 mi at 20 days in to Nov

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I just finished the Turkey Burn ride. I knew they were giving a special PR badge, so I went for it. Basically just ignored the callouts and chose a cadence/resistance combo ~10W above my previous PR average wattage, and just tried to ride it steady-state. I managed it. It was still hard as hell lol...

@Rodent I saw your invite to the stretch but didn't get the notification on my phone until after it started, so didn't quite make it.

 

[Rodent]

Happy Thanksgiving all!

I just finished the Turkey Burn ride. I knew they were giving a special PR badge, so I went for it. Basically just ignored the callouts and chose a cadence/resistance combo ~10W above my previous PR average wattage, and just tried to ride it steady-state. I managed it. It was still hard as hell lol...

@Rodent I saw your invite to the stretch but didn't get the notification on my phone until after it started, so didn't quite make it.

not a prob, and you probably were better off with the streaming session vs the live session. definitely some IT challenges for the live riders attempting to join the live class. I finally got in at around the 20 minute mark, and about two minutes later the instructor noted a 'welcome to all those riders who are just joining us' (you may have heard that comment in the stream)

bummer, as I had rested two days and was definitely ready for a new PR. even joining 20 minutes late I was right 100 points below my previous PR - definitely would have exceeded it had I had the full 45 minutes of ride time oh well, we don't ride just for PRs or badges

I had over 25 Peloton friends who were signed up and at the peak only saw eight who were able to login to the live session

Unsure if it's in the streaming version, but it was announced at the end of the live class that the new Guinness record was achieved. I think I need to add 'Guinness World Record' to my resume in the noteworthy accomplishments, but not provide details. let it be a conversation enabler in an interview should somebody be curious

 

[Rodent]

for the record, I re-rode the Turkey Burn ride via stream replay and exceeded my previous 45 min ride PR by 78 (~20% increase) after having rode what I see now was the difficult 25 min of the live stream. feels good to know I could do it if I had been able to join in without the login issue, and then actually do it on a second try later in the day despite being a bit pooped from the morning try at PR in the reduced time

so I have a set of today's Turkey Burn Live badges, and a paired set of Turkey Burn Stream badges

 

[Kent88]

I had every intention of getting right back at it when we got back to our house on Sunday after visiting all the family, but the kids and I picked up a bug while we were out. I think my spouse did as well, but she endures illness better than I do.

Just finished up a quick arms workout video. I might make Silver for this month's activity challenge. Considering I tweaked my neck and back earlier this month, the traveling, and this cold, I'm ok with what I have been able to do.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

FYI they screwed up the December Strength Challenge again, where it counts every workout of any modality as strength.

It is now fixed, but to get an accurate count, you have to leave the challenge and then rejoin.

 

[Rodent]

so I have to give my Gold medal back now?

 

[Kent88]

I was just credited for 3k minutes in the Annual challenge (and I know I'm communicating with people over 14k), my spouse did 17 yoga videos this year, so I think my goal is to follow along with 17 more videos (/ bring total workouts up to 240) before 2024, and make it at least close to an honest 3k. That'll be close enough for me.

 

[Rodent]

Made it to Day 5 after surgery 2 of 3, and finally feeling like I'm ready for another ride. I probably pushed it a bit this past weekend, but I kept my cadence/resistance low and rode an extended time to keep my movement up.

Stitches out this coming Monday and then it's back to the regular push (and breaking a sweat) though maybe still staying light on stretching for another week or so

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I was just credited for 3k minutes in the Annual challenge (and I know I'm communicating with people over 14k), my spouse did 17 yoga videos this year, so I think my goal is to follow along with 17 more videos (/ bring total workouts up to 240) before 2024, and make it at least close to an honest 3k. That'll be close enough for me.

Hey, it's a start, right? I had zero minutes in 2021. Only exercise I did was walking the dog and playing golf. Got the bike in June 2022 and put up about 4500 minutes. Set the goal for 15K in 2023 and need another 136 to get there. I've been thinking about it, and I'm not going to extend my goal for 2024. I know I could go 18K or 20K, but I think 15K is a pretty goldilocks number for me...

Now that you've got a sense of how it all works, try and figure out an achievable goal for 2024 and go for it!

Made it to Day 5 after surgery 2 of 3, and finally feeling like I'm ready for another ride. I probably pushed it a bit this past weekend, but I kept my cadence/resistance low and rode an extended time to keep my movement up.

Stitches out this coming Monday and then it's back to the regular push (and breaking a sweat) though maybe still staying light on stretching for another week or so

Glad to hear it!

Speaking of going hard, yesterday I did my first 90m PZE ride since my last FTP test, so managed a PR with it as my new zones were higher. Wasn't planning on riding today, but as I got onto the app for my strength exercises today saw that Denis had a 30m live rock ride about 15 minutes after strength would end... So I did it. And though I wasn't planning on pushing, it was live... So I pushed a bit.

Ouch. That's enough for today (except probably a stretch after my upcoming work call).