So OP here again. Just in case anyone finds this thread.

I did find the classes boring but I also took to heart what the endurance classes were working towards. And I got really close with Denis hahaha, who I like a lot.

I retested my FTP today and improved by almost 17%! I am still not 100% in and I will admit I don't do any of the max classes, I just do a HIIT or theme class because those feel like what max classes are going to do and they are more fun and consider that my 'powerzone max' time. But I do do the endurance classes to force myself to do longer lower intensity rides and clearly, it is working in improving my numbers.

Thanks to all who encouraged me!

Op here. I’ve been doing powerzone classes and honestly just find them straight up boring. Not sure how long I’ll last. I get what they’re doing but I feel like the music variety is really lacking and the energy even more so. I wish I could input a PowerZone plan into a Cody or Kendall class

It is a Facebook group. Search for progressive overload training

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

I just finished my third PZ challenge in a row and am totally burnt out on Matt Wilpers (as much as I love and appreciate him). I'm sitting out the next challenge because I need some other instructors in my life. But I'm curious by what you mean by the lack of transparency? I just got my peloton last february so I'm not up on my PZ Pack history.

If you look at the PZP page Angie pimps out Matt's Coaching, she has her own team that is Peloton based training through Matt's company, and Matt's bike fittings. The PZP Challenges are dominated by Matt rides. Angie claims on the PZP that there are not enough 45 and 60 minute rides by the other instructors that would fit into the PZP Challenges, but that is BS. It is not exactly a hidden fact that Angie and Matt are friends.

What I do know. PZP was not started by Angie, she was invited to join by the original founder. Matt helped to plan the original challenges, this was before Denis was added as a PZP instructor. PZP was originally an officially sponsored Peloton page.

At some point in time the original founder of PZP left, no idea why but there was a falling out with Angie. Peloton dropped the PZP as an official Peloton page when Angie's started selling subscriptions to her website. Angie also has a tendency to boot people who question her methods or ride selection from the PZP FB page. I am active on other Peloton boards and have seen the Admin from PZP pop up when someone says something negative about Angie on a different FB site. And the Reddit Peloton group does not allow discussion of Angie or PZP on their pages because of her behavior.

What is unknown is how much money Angie makes from the bike fittings and Wilpers coaching team or the website. There appears to be a financial incentive for Angie to focus on Matt rides and not include the other instructors.

There are elements of the challenges that I enjoy but I am so over Matt rides after 5 PZP challenges. I do them when the POT has them on the challenge schedule but that is about it. I like the Progressive Overload Training group because they choose a variety of rides, to include PZ rides, and a variety of instructors every week. Things stay fresh and burn out is less.

Is the progressive overload training group on Facebook? How do I find them?

Anonymous wrote:What is a pzp challenge and who is Angie? I’ve had my bike fir less than a month.

Power Zone is one method of training. Peloton has a lot of Power Zone classes (PZ) and a Discover your Zones program to introduce people to the concept, classes, and instructors. It is a great way to get in shape because the classes have specific zones (1-7) that you work in for different periods of time in order to improve as an athlete. It is really a great program. I loved it when I first started because it removes the leader board from the picture, you train based on your zones. The instructors rarely call out resistance or cadence cues but zone cues. If an instructor calls out zone and makes a cadence suggestion, they are focusing on improving a specific area. So cadence of 60 would mean they are working on leg strength, cadence of 90 would be more cardio vascular.

PZP is a facebook group, the Power Zone Pack, who is run by Angie. It is a large group that focuses on Power Zone classes and training. There is a lot of good info there and lots of good advice.

Angie also puts together power zone challenges. They are 6-8 week long programs. You sign up and are assigned a team. You can choose 3,4, or 5 rides a week. Each week, she puts out a schedule of rides that are meant to get progressively more difficult in order to help people grow. There are normally 2 rides that are 45 minutes long and one 60 minute long ride. each ride you complete earns points for your team. Some teams are super competitive and some teams barely have people finishing the assigned number of rides. Each team has its own vibe. Each team has its own FB page where people post graphs of their rides and chat with one another. The Teams are what make the challenge awesome. I have met a lot of good people to ride with on my teams.

One of the downsides to the challenge is that Angie really likes Matt and most of the rides are Matt rides, so you had better like Matt or be on a team that doesn't care about scoring.

The challenges can be pretty awesome but people burn out on them. They do a great job of providing structure and accountability and are pretty great for the camaraderie. Angie is a savvy business woman who is making money off of subscriptions to her website (you can unlock more advanced metrics), setting up a coaching team that she gets a percentage of, and selling gear. Nothing wrong with any of that.

What is a pzp challenge and who is Angie? I’ve had my bike fir less than a month.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

I just finished my third PZ challenge in a row and am totally burnt out on Matt Wilpers (as much as I love and appreciate him). I'm sitting out the next challenge because I need some other instructors in my life. But I'm curious by what you mean by the lack of transparency? I just got my peloton last february so I'm not up on my PZ Pack history.

I did about 8 challenges in a row and have sat the last 2 out because while I really appreciate the structure of the challenges, it gets boring only doing PZ classes and I didn't want to ride more than around 4 times a week as I do other exercise too (weights, pilates) I'm not sure exactly what PP means about lack of transparency but I think the real issue is that most PZ classes, especially those over 45 minutes, are Matt. A few months ago I saw someone try to put together a different challenge with fewer Matt classes and it was really hard to do! Now that Christine and Olivia are on board they are increasing, but as of now there are 205 Matt classes, 58 Denis classes, 37 Christine and 23 Olivia. So.. mostly Matt!

There are a lot of Matt classes but with 118 45 minute classes by the other instructors there are more then enough that Angie could include a 45 minute ride option with a non-Matt instructor for both 45 minute long rides. As a matter of fact she does, but she has started adding on the hour long option, for extra points, which is always a Matt ride. CDE has 4 60 minute PZEs that could be used at the beginning of a challenge while Matt is the only one with 60 minute PZ classes. Essentially, there are more than enough other rides by the instructors that Angie could easily structure the challenge so that you could ride with three instructors in a week on a 3 ride team in a challenge pretty easily.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

I just finished my third PZ challenge in a row and am totally burnt out on Matt Wilpers (as much as I love and appreciate him). I'm sitting out the next challenge because I need some other instructors in my life. But I'm curious by what you mean by the lack of transparency? I just got my peloton last february so I'm not up on my PZ Pack history.

If you look at the PZP page Angie pimps out Matt's Coaching, she has her own team that is Peloton based training through Matt's company, and Matt's bike fittings. The PZP Challenges are dominated by Matt rides. Angie claims on the PZP that there are not enough 45 and 60 minute rides by the other instructors that would fit into the PZP Challenges, but that is BS. It is not exactly a hidden fact that Angie and Matt are friends.

What I do know. PZP was not started by Angie, she was invited to join by the original founder. Matt helped to plan the original challenges, this was before Denis was added as a PZP instructor. PZP was originally an officially sponsored Peloton page.

At some point in time the original founder of PZP left, no idea why but there was a falling out with Angie. Peloton dropped the PZP as an official Peloton page when Angie's started selling subscriptions to her website. Angie also has a tendency to boot people who question her methods or ride selection from the PZP FB page. I am active on other Peloton boards and have seen the Admin from PZP pop up when someone says something negative about Angie on a different FB site. And the Reddit Peloton group does not allow discussion of Angie or PZP on their pages because of her behavior.

What is unknown is how much money Angie makes from the bike fittings and Wilpers coaching team or the website. There appears to be a financial incentive for Angie to focus on Matt rides and not include the other instructors.

There are elements of the challenges that I enjoy but I am so over Matt rides after 5 PZP challenges. I do them when the POT has them on the challenge schedule but that is about it. I like the Progressive Overload Training group because they choose a variety of rides, to include PZ rides, and a variety of instructors every week. Things stay fresh and burn out is less.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

I just finished my third PZ challenge in a row and am totally burnt out on Matt Wilpers (as much as I love and appreciate him). I'm sitting out the next challenge because I need some other instructors in my life. But I'm curious by what you mean by the lack of transparency? I just got my peloton last february so I'm not up on my PZ Pack history.

I did about 8 challenges in a row and have sat the last 2 out because while I really appreciate the structure of the challenges, it gets boring only doing PZ classes and I didn't want to ride more than around 4 times a week as I do other exercise too (weights, pilates) I'm not sure exactly what PP means about lack of transparency but I think the real issue is that most PZ classes, especially those over 45 minutes, are Matt. A few months ago I saw someone try to put together a different challenge with fewer Matt classes and it was really hard to do! Now that Christine and Olivia are on board they are increasing, but as of now there are 205 Matt classes, 58 Denis classes, 37 Christine and 23 Olivia. So.. mostly Matt!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

I just finished my third PZ challenge in a row and am totally burnt out on Matt Wilpers (as much as I love and appreciate him). I'm sitting out the next challenge because I need some other instructors in my life. But I'm curious by what you mean by the lack of transparency? I just got my peloton last february so I'm not up on my PZ Pack history.

Most people areot doing that and I would imagine those who are use a different bike or something like training peaks with the Peloton. I would also guess that there are facebook groups that build programs together.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

that's the issue. The whole point of a good training plan is progression of specific traits in a way that will result in a higher FTP- I'm a long time trainer road user, so I am probably very biased, but I think the way workouts string together is more important than any one workout. The + bike is accurate, the original peloton is anything but

There are plenty of class options on Peloton that someone could use but you have to look at the classes and put together a program. Both the PZP website and mPaceLine have a library of the Power Zone classes, TSS ratings and class plans that are easily used for building a program. It is totally doable. I am not saying that a road bike or other type of trainer might not be easier for some folks, but PZ training is very much manageable on the Peloton. Heck, you could even build your own class in the ride your own ride mode.

if you are trying to peak at a certain time and train towards that, that sounds like a pain

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

that's the issue. The whole point of a good training plan is progression of specific traits in a way that will result in a higher FTP- I'm a long time trainer road user, so I am probably very biased, but I think the way workouts string together is more important than any one workout. The + bike is accurate, the original peloton is anything but

There are plenty of class options on Peloton that someone could use but you have to look at the classes and put together a program. Both the PZP website and mPaceLine have a library of the Power Zone classes, TSS ratings and class plans that are easily used for building a program. It is totally doable. I am not saying that a road bike or other type of trainer might not be easier for some folks, but PZ training is very much manageable on the Peloton. Heck, you could even build your own class in the ride your own ride mode.

Point being as long as your baseline is your bike and you are comparing you vs you, it's still possible to track your progress

I think another good way to benchmark your FTP accuracy is with heart rate, if your heart rate numbers roughly match your zones you are in a decent zone of comparison. For me I think my bike is reasonably calibrated based on a variety of different factors including other tracking devices. When I look at my ouput vs others I think of it as a 10% variability for comparisons sake. It's never going to be an exact science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:two things jump out,

1. Peloton does not have an accurate power meter- not even close. If knowing your power on a peloton is that important, get some assioma or Garmin vector pedals.

2 Peloton trains for cardio health and fitness and is not a very focused plan. If you really care about FTP, get either a training peaks plan or just use trainer road

Peloton is known for not being accurate at reading power. Cyclist racing the tour de france don't put out 716 watts for 45 minutes.
There is an article on velonews raving about a olympic rower that shocked everyone when his 20 minute power being 480 watts. He has professional cycling teams interested in him

The bike + is actually suppose to be very accurate. I have seen people doing comparisons to the bike plus with the power meters they are using on their outdoor bikes and the numbers are matching.

The Power Zone classes at Peloton are excellent. You can take PZE, PZ, and Max classes very easily. Lots of different lengths, ranginging from 20 minutes to 90 minute classes. The big issue is that there is no specific regular running program so you need to patch one together on your own. Some people enjoy the Power Zone Pack challenges because there is a plan and the TSS increases each week. It has it's pros and cons. I have stopped doing them because it is too Matt focused and I am sick of taking 4-6 Matt rides a week and I don't appreciate the lack of transparency with the Matt/Angie connection. But the challenges do put together a solid training plan with 3-5 45-60 minute long PZ rides.

that's the issue. The whole point of a good training plan is progression of specific traits in a way that will result in a higher FTP- I'm a long time trainer road user, so I am probably very biased, but I think the way workouts string together is more important than any one workout. The + bike is accurate, the original peloton is anything but