Peloton "power zone" classes - question

[Anonymous]

OP here. First of all, thanks for all the helpful responses.

To the PP: I think it's worth it, too. The PZE are definitely a different kind of class, and it's nice to alternate between them and the regular classes. I've also noticed that having my Zones there on the screen pushes me to work harder in non-PZE classes, and forces me to be more disciplined in the PZE ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things:

PZ endurance classes are not supposed to be as strenuous as the average theme class done at a high intensity.

Many beginners don't take the FTP test properly, so their zones are not as high as they really should be. The FTP is absolute all-out effort. You should feel like you are about to pass out at the end, and you really need to be giving close to an all-out effort the whole time. If you ride too low for the first 18 minutes and then push it at the end, you will feel like you're dying at the end, but your zones will be lower than they should be. Basically, about 3 minutes into the test, you should already feel like you are dying and be doubting your decisions in life.

NP here, and this is really helpful! But also why I am absolutely terrified to try it. Is it worth it, in your opinion?

DP: it’s worth it, but you shouldn’t be dying three minutes in. It’s a 20 minute ride, and if you flame out early, you won’t hit your maximum average output. I say this as a former competitive rower: our distance races were 20’-ish, and you absolutely had to pace yourself. It’s the same thing here. It should be hard throughout, but you shouldn’t start dying until you have about five minutes left. More, and you’ll gas yourself too early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things:

PZ endurance classes are not supposed to be as strenuous as the average theme class done at a high intensity.

Many beginners don't take the FTP test properly, so their zones are not as high as they really should be. The FTP is absolute all-out effort. You should feel like you are about to pass out at the end, and you really need to be giving close to an all-out effort the whole time. If you ride too low for the first 18 minutes and then push it at the end, you will feel like you're dying at the end, but your zones will be lower than they should be. Basically, about 3 minutes into the test, you should already feel like you are dying and be doubting your decisions in life.

NP here, and this is really helpful! But also why I am absolutely terrified to try it. Is it worth it, in your opinion?

DP: it’s worth it, but you shouldn’t be dying three minutes in. It’s a 20 minute ride, and if you flame out early, you won’t hit your maximum average output. I say this as a former competitive rower: our distance races were 20’-ish, and you absolutely had to pace yourself. It’s the same thing here. It should be hard throughout, but you shouldn’t start dying until you have about five minutes left. More, and you’ll gas yourself too early.

I might have been exaggerating a bit, and I understand what you're saying, but often when beginners "pace themselves" over 20 minutes they wind up undershooting, and you can't totally make up for 17 minutes of undershooting by pushing yourself in the last three. My point is that it really needs to be a steady intense effort, the most you can possibly do for 20 minutes, and that usually involves starting early at a point where you doubt you can make it. The FTP test is as much mental as physical.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. One thing I find frustrating -- I wish that they'd list in the description of the PZ class which zones you'll be working in. Is there some other way to determine that? (Like are all PZE classes 2 and 3, and all PZ classes 3-5, or something?). Or maybe it IS listed and I'm missing it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. One thing I find frustrating -- I wish that they'd list in the description of the PZ class which zones you'll be working in. Is there some other way to determine that? (Like are all PZE classes 2 and 3, and all PZ classes 3-5, or something?). Or maybe it IS listed and I'm missing it? [/quote

For new classes, there is not, though CDE will sometimes preview her classes on social media. PZE will always be only zones 2 and 3. PZ Max will always include zone 6 or 7 pushes. regular PZ classes could be almost anything. For older classes, I think the information on zones is available through the app mPaceline (iOS app). Also, there are FB groups in which people will post their charts and you can see from that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. One thing I find frustrating -- I wish that they'd list in the description of the PZ class which zones you'll be working in. Is there some other way to determine that? (Like are all PZE classes 2 and 3, and all PZ classes 3-5, or something?). Or maybe it IS listed and I'm missing it?

I've heard it described as follows:
PZE: Zones 1 - 3
PZ: Zones 1 - 6
PZMax: Zones 1 - 7

They're mostly defined by how high they go up to. The structure really varies by coach, IME, and the preview usually affords a good description of what the class will include. Wilpers and CDE are very, very clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. One thing I find frustrating -- I wish that they'd list in the description of the PZ class which zones you'll be working in. Is there some other way to determine that? (Like are all PZE classes 2 and 3, and all PZ classes 3-5, or something?). Or maybe it IS listed and I'm missing it?

PZE is Z2-3
PZ is Z1-6
PZ MAX is Z1-7

Each of the rides will have a different structure to work different skills and areas. There are apps that have all the classes graphed out. Power ZOne Pack and mPaceLine are the two I use. They both have the classes fully graphed out so you can see the structure and TSS before hand. mPaceLine is $25 a year, PZP is more expensive, I want to say $60ish. I'll be keeping mPaceLine next yer but drop PZP.

Denis and CDE are more likely to call out a specific cadence to hit then Matt or Olivia. The lower the cadence, the higher the resistance and the more you work your legs muscles. Matt and Olivia tend to more with ranges and suggest higher cadences, which puts more pressure on your cardio. But they all switch it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. One thing I find frustrating -- I wish that they'd list in the description of the PZ class which zones you'll be working in. Is there some other way to determine that? (Like are all PZE classes 2 and 3, and all PZ classes 3-5, or something?). Or maybe it IS listed and I'm missing it?

It isn’t listed except as PP has said, that PZE is 2 and 3, PZ is 3-6 and PZM is 3-7. Sometimes if you watch the preview of the class they’ll say what the class plan is. Otherwise, the way to know is to join the powerzonepack.com website - if you don’t know about it, it was set up by a rider called Angie Verbeck, she also sets up the challenges people do through that website and Facebook. The current challenge has about 10,000 riders on it, so what started as a simple way to gather riders together has become a huge thing and now also a small business. Her website is free for some things, like the challenges, but if you pay for the subscription, it has every single PZ class in the library and you can view the graphs for each class before so you can see what you’ll be doing. You can also search the library by zone to find a class you want.