Why Zwift is Ideal for Those Working at Home
If you find yourself staring at a computer for hours at a time, take a break and ride your bike indoors.
If you’re anything like me, you can find yourself sitting and staring at your laptop for hours on end, even when you’re at home. Come to think of it, many of us are only at home, and with the global pandemic’s impact on modern work, many of us are losing patience, and motivation, with our routines. The sourdough starters have been made. The Zoom happy hours have lost their appeal. Your watch buzzing to remind you to stand or walk is easy to silence and ignore. If you find yourself bored with your at-home workout routine, I’d like to suggest Zwift.
I’ve been riding bikes for quite awhile, but it’s only relatively recently that I started riding with the indoor training program that bills itself as, “…an app for cyclists, runners, and triathletes that makes indoor training fun.” In my time on Zwift (currently 161 hours, or 369 pizza slices) I have to agree that Zwift takes what can be a mind-numbing prospect — exercising indoors — and turns it into a reason to look forward to getting out of that desk chair.
So, why should you try Zwift? Read on below.
You don’t need a lot of time. I ride my trainer most days, but I generally find that I don’t need more than 30–45 minutes to get a great workout. I race often, usually 2–3 times per week, mainly because I’ve found the best workout for me is to place someone faster right in front of me. So, in a 45-minute race, I can get my heart rate up, get a great workout, and chase whoever I want.
Nerd out about…everything. Zwift gives you the opportunity to nerd out about everything. Feel free to get obsessed over your bike setup. Pore over Zwiftpower spreadsheets to figure out your normalized power and determine your rider phenotype. Or endlessly watch YouTube videos previewing race courses and which bike is fastest on a slight incline when riding on cobblestones. There is endless data at your fingertips.
Be as social as you want to be. You can chat the entire time you’re riding, just don’t ruin your keyboard by sweating all over it. Hop on Discord and chat with your friends — while breathing heavily…so heavily. You can even ride and/or race on a team, like DIRT (Dads Inside Riding Trainers) — don’t worry, moms, and everyone else, are welcome!
You can also do an individual workout and keep to yourself entirely. If a training plan isn’t your thing, ride along with a virtual pace partner, like Cara Cadence. Participate in weekly rides during which you don’t speak to anyone — but you still get the feeling of riding with others.
It’s a video game. There are power-up’s (you can even turn invisible — briefly). You can customize an avatar with increasingly outlandish kit as you level up. There are multiple worlds in which to ride — even a volcano. You’ll even find easter eggs. This isn’t a class with an instructor just yelling out, “You can do anything.” Zwift takes what every video game nerd loves about playing (leveling up, world-building, community) and makes it actually healthy.
I love riding my bike outside, but there are many advantages to training indoors — especially during the winter months when frostbitten fingers may not be that appealing. Not to mention the fact that I have yet to have a car not give me enough space on the shoulder of the road. Ride on!
