Riding Outside Now Counts on Zwift! Plus New Fitness Tracking, Map Updates & More

The first ever Zwift Community Live event is currently underway in Mallorca. Envisioned as a way to bring together Zwifters, Zwift content creators, community leaders, pro riders, and Zwift team members, the gathering serves both as a way to celebrate all things Zwift, and to strengthen the community aspect of the virtual training program by riding outside (and as Zwift CEO Eric Min suggested, maybe a chance to show off some of that Zwift-derived fitness).

More than just riding outside though, thanks to new updates to Zwift, those miles now count on Zwift. While gaining XP for gameplay for your rides outside is a nice bonus, the real benefit of the change comes when you consider the new fitness tracking feature in the Zwift Companion App.

Fitness Tracking now a Feature

Zwift pointed out that fitness tracking is a relatively simple feature, yet it’s really hard to do it well. For the first time, riders will get an idea of their fitness trends over time with the ability to set weekly goals for metrics like time, distance, calories, stress points, or kilojoules.

Rolling out on April 8th, Zwifters will be able to track their fitness progression with the new Zwift Training score which averages recent training load, workout volume, and intensity and presents that in a simple number that’s easier to comprehend. The training score is also used to calculate your training status which compares long-term fitness (42 days) and short-term fatigue (7 days) to tell you whether you’re ready, fresh, productive, overreaching, or detaining. At launch, all your existing Zwift workouts will be visible in the fitness tracker, and you can scroll back through that previous history to view your weekly training record.

• Ready – Ready to start or return to Training 
• Fresh – Active and ready for a challenge
• Productive – Consistently training and recovering well
• Overreaching – Training heavily but in need of more recovery. Rest weeks are essential for recovery and peak performance.
• Detraining – loss of fitness due to reduced training.

In addition to the training score, you’ll also see your week streak, or how many weeks in a row you’ve logged activity in Zwift. Streaks should be much easier to maintain now that rides outside count as well, but it’s still a good motivator. Zwift says that since they introduced streaks in November 2023, 53% of users have a 4-week streak or greater, and 9% have a whopping 24-weeks streak or more. If you happen to have a 4-week streak or better, Zwift also states that you are 1.5x more likely to see an auto-detected increase in FTP.

Need more streak motivation? While it may have started as an April Fools’ gag, Zwift is bringing pocket Scottys on full time. As Zwift’s official mascot, the cuddly cartoon squirrel started popping up in jersey pockets a few days ago for April Fools. Now, after a 4-week streak, you’ll be awarded a Scotty medallion. Ride a 12-week streak, and that medallion becomes a Scotty keychain. Finally, ride 24 weeks in a row, and you’ll get a live Scotty that will hang out in your jersey pocket. And if you find that to be too much fun for your serious training program there’s a way to switch it off in the menu.

Outdoors Counts on Zwift

So what does Zwift mean when they say outdoor now counts? It’s not that you’ll be able to ride along to the game while clocking mileage in the real world. To make it work, you’ll need the latest update of the Zwift Companion app and a compatible cycling computer or device from Garmin or Wahoo. Zwift mentions that Hammerhead compatibility is expected later this summer, but no official time was given.

You’ll need to be a current Zwift subscriber and to enable the permissions in the Zwift Connection portal so the Wahoo or Garmin app can interact with the Zwift Companion app. Once that’s all set up, all that’s left to do is ride. Once a ride is recorded through the GPS app, it will be uploaded to the Zwift Companion app and will be logged in the fitness tracker. Outside activities show with a half sun peeking out from the top of the bar, and if you tap and hold on that bar, the sun will rise, telling you how many XP (experience points) you earned for that ride.

Zwift is an indoor training program after all, so don’t expect the same level of in-game rewards while riding outside. Rides outside will only gain you 5 XP per km, while rides indoors will net 20 XP per km. Outdoor rides are also capped at 1000 XP per ride. Zwift pointed out that riders will not earn drops for outdoor rides or earn credit towards (virtual) bike upgrades.

This is all very new for Zwift and their intention was to make it so people couldn’t game the system outdoors in a way that would drastically alter the indoor experience, but they’ll be monitoring how it goes and may make changes along the way.

Tracking Fitness Trends: Coming Soon

Coming later this summer, Zwift will expand on the fitness tracking features of the Companion App with fitness trends. This will be a more detailed fitness tracking page with more data.

More HUD Updates

Zwift is constantly making improvements to the HUD (Heads Up Display) to give riders more of what they want to see while training. The latest updates that will launch soon include the addition of splits with a lap button added to the action bar. This should enable riders to more easily create manual workouts and time themselves on specific parts of the course.

You’ll also find a new critical power display with peak power for the last 5 seconds, 60 seconds, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes. Additionally, the HUD will be configurable with more options than ever, including Power balance (L/R), Average w/kg, Average Speed, Weighted Power (WP), and Body Temp and Heat Strain Index (HSI), enabled by a new integration with CORE Body Temperature Sensors.

New Routes in France!

In preparation for the upcoming Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, the Zwift France map is getting some updates. Along with 8 new connection routes, Zwift is adding new cobbled sectors to emulate the Hell of the North. These updates should go live on April 7th, and there will be a new Route Chaser Challenge to explore the new routes and gain bonus XP for completion.

The imposing Ven Top climb also gains a slight update with the addition of timed segments in the HUD to help break the climb down into more manageable chunks. Make it all the way to the top? You’ll be rewarded with the spinning reward wheel like on Alpe du Zwift.

zwift.com