What about the Dynamic Cyclist programs for strength/yoga/stretching makes it better than Systm? I also use Rouvy for more realistic rides.
@Heretic Dynamic Cyclist exercises are more cycling specific, especially the injury prevention series which I find great to do in a recovery week. They use proper equipment (not just water bottles and inner tubes) and the program is structured and extremely varied
Each to their own, of course, but thatās my tuppenceworth
3 Likes
Well that is worth more than a penny for my thoughts.
2 Likes
Just a reminder that if you have Strava Premium you also have access to https://recoverathletics.com which you can try.
5 Likes
I, for one, didnāt know that. Thanks for sharing!
1 Like
ā¦they do a poor job advertising it, but itāll automatically pull in uploaded workouts and give you suggestions for post-ride stuff, itās been on my list to actually seriously try it but I havenāt as of yet
2 Likes
I get ads for it on my Free Strava subscription. It might be with it, IF and only if it really does something that I havenāt found out about somewhere else.
Both of these are absolutely true. As for me, itās the closing the gap message which I find most distracting.
As for the Ride Ons, well I canāt reach out to the mouse or the phone to return it since I ride on a dumb roller and a momentary lost of focus will send me and my bike crashing on the floor.
So far, since I started the 1 year āfree subscriptionā I have only logged into Zwift a couple of times, mainly to do long recovery rides. Plus, itās the year end and I am generally not on a training plan at this time of the year, so Zwift is sort of like an entertainment for me while I ride, although there isnāt any music or videos to occasionally look at.
Would I be a Zwift convert???
I doubt it as I find SYSTMās content more engaging especially The Sufferfest and On-Location rides. Not much of a AWW and Pro-Rides person. The Inspiration seriesā¦ well letās just say, Iād only fire them up if I really have nothing else to ride to.
5 Likes
+1 on that! I donāt find them inspirational at all TBH and once you have done them once then itās goodbye!
3 Likes
Hahaha, I think staring at the blank wall in front of me is much more inspirational 
Just joking. I think there was only 1 maybe 2 which are quite OK.
1 Like
If I need a Z2 ride, I go to Rouvy, and play some music.
It is much more realistic, and I get to refine my RPE.
2 Likes
Iād say my experience was (and still is) the other way round.
Started with Zwift long ago (I guess it was 2017) and played a little, but the way app renders switchbacks with speeds of about ā70 kphā was just constantly flipping me out, my brain canāt handle that (having descended in the Alps not that fast, āonlyā at the speeds of 60 ārealā kph, but still braking before turns ā¦ a bit). The idea of competing in virtual races didnāt appeal to me too much, just not my thing.
After a few months there were a promotion from Veloviewer, 2 months The Sufferfest for free or so. I knew the name and TBH, the image behind was so badass, I hesitated if I should try it for about a month or so. In the end, I did. Well here we are now, a few Tours of Sufferlandria, some Full Frontals and all the misery and enjoyment later.
I absolutely love āon locationā videos, most of all those places I have been to for real, - and by far no virtual reality can get that close. Some workouts from Sufferfest are still sending shivers down my spine (ISLAGIATT, Kitchen Sink e.g.) but wellā¦ #IWBMATTKYT FTW! And plug in the āRechargerā time to time.
I tried Zwift again, but the thing is those hairpin turns still send my brain out of the trainer and the social aspect does not appeal to me (well again), simply because I like to ride alone. Or, well, try catching Mike Cotty #onLocation.
The opinion above is very, very subjective. Again, I love to ride alone. Just makes me who I am.
13 Likes
At least now I know I am not the only weirdo who prefers to ride alone even in the outdoor setting unless itās someone I know or who rides at more or less the same pace as I do.
If itās outdoors, itās mostly just zone 2.
4 Likes
+1
I donāt ever mind connecting with another rider when Iām out on a ride and if we fall into similar enough pace, Iām glad to share some company. And I donāt mind modifying my pace if the company is good, as long as I donāt have a time crunch to meet or my legs need something much different that particular day.
But riding alone is what Iāve done the most for the last 30-ish years, and I donāt regret it one bit. Iām GLAD to have some riders I can join on occasion, and much more rarely, even a small group of locals who connect for a ride, but Iām inwardly motivated to ride whether Iām alone or not. I consider that a strength and an asset that helps me stay active, and not dependent on someone elseās schedule or motivation.
Iāve expressed some of my thoughts about Zwift before, nothing has changed.
Itās WAY out of character for me. Iāve done exactly 1 real Zwift ride, in spite of a year membership granted when RGT went away. I found it as non-engaging as I expected it to be. I wasnāt a fan of RGT either, but I did at least do a few rides on it. The videogame aspect of Zwift TOTALLY turns me off; buying gear, using whatever Power-ups do, all of that stuff is SO NOT biking as far as Iām concerned. It obviously appeals to some, but means nothing to me, and only assures me that I fit somewhere else.
SYSTM is in my opinion radically better at engaging me, keeping me working to meet power or cadence targets, and leaving me feeling good about the workout I just completed. There have been only rare exceptions to that.
Today, I did Butter followed by High Time.
Kicked my Chamois BUTTār!
Nonetheless, I didnāt whine when the High Time long sub-threshold effort was dragging on, even though it was getting tough because Butter had already drained reserves to a pretty low level. I placed my mental focus elsewhere and just maintained the nearly constant output, hardly ever allowing myself to know how much more time was left.
That finished the December Challenge for me, easiest Challenge month I remember, although Iāve not done a huge number of Challenges. Todayās High Time effort wouldnāt have been too bad if it had not followed a relatively tough Butter workout.
Guess you could say Iām STILL a SYSTM CONVERT!
3 Likes
I did have an experience of having no one behind me, to someone tailing me all of a sudden and not wanting to take the pull.
Glad that I dropped that person on the climb 
4 Likes
Iām still not a huge fan of it. I run it concurrently along with Wahoo or another platform app to get my structured workout. Zwift is good for a āmeetupā with friends on bad weather days.
The badges and XP portion is a nice touch, but I find myself gaming the platform just to get these versus get a real workout in compared to other apps like Wahoo. Once my year subscription is up, I seriously doubt Iāll renew.
To be fair, I didnāt love RGT either.
4 Likes
I can totally agree with on this. I havenāt tried their structured workouts and I donāt know how it comes to SYSTM.
I used to Zwift, came over to Suf and loved it. But Iām back on Zwift now. I enjoy it for zone 2 (beats an open 60, especially now GCN+ is on the way out) and a weekly race. But I much prefer the structure of the Suf workouts and the ability to export them directly to my Bolt. At the moment I see myself carrying on both subscriptions.
4 Likes