David Hampton and Zwift’s TT Tune-Up Training Plan

 

In a time trial, it’s just you against the clock. You need to bring your best effort, and Zwift’s “TT Tune-Up” training plan will help you get there.

Time trialist David Hampton tried out the plan, and before long, he was beating his best times.

“I noticed a massive difference,” he says. “It is extremely difficult. You do an FTP test beforehand, so it knows exactly how to push you. But sometimes I would look at the numbers and just think, ‘How on earth am I going to do what it wants me to do?’ But I would do it, because I just wanted that star.”

Hampton’s hard work in training paid off. In September 2021 he set off for Cambridge, UK, to ride in a 25-mile time trial. His personal best time for that distance was 57:48. That day, he smashed it! Hampton crossed the line at a time of 54:09.

“I thought, ‘How have I done that?’” he said. “I felt really proud… It was a feeling of, ‘I deserve this because I tried so hard to do it.’”’

Personal records in 25-mile, 50-mile, and 100-mile time trials followed, along with several trophies from his cycling club, the Ashford Wheelers.

The “TT Tune-Up” cycling plan is 8 weeks long, but you can shorten it to as little as 5 weeks if needed. With 6 workouts per week, and a 6-hour-per-week average training time, it’s listed as “advanced” level for a reason! The last few weeks ramp up in difficulty, so make sure you’re fueling well and getting good rest between sessions. Learn more about this plan and Hampton’s story below.

TT Tune-Up Training Plan

You’ve got a hold on base fitness. Now we target systems to get you sharp for your goal event. Work on your peak power so you can close a gap or sprint towards the finish line.

This plan is designed for a focused cyclist who wants a program that will push and challenge them. With six workouts a week, this plan asks for commitment, but it pays you back with significant fitness gains at the top end. If you like to race the clock, this plan will give you the tools to ride stronger and faster. No matter what the terrain throws at you, this plan will provide you with the tools to respond, recover, and succeed.

This plan assumes you’ve got good training under your belt and are ready to raise your fitness to the next level. This plan does not feature a lot of downtime or recovery, so come into it fit and rested. This plan is a great way to get ready for the start of the season or after a big event for making a second push late in the year.

If you’ve struggled to raise your level in races against the clock, this plan will provide deep fitness and the ability to dip into the well repeatedly. This plan asks you to dig deep in training, and it rewards you with the ability to do so again, and again, and on race day.

Click for more info and a guide to Zwift’s Flexible Training Plans

“The thing I like most about it is purely how much it pushes me,” Hampton says. “I’ve spoken to friends, and every single one of them have given up and said it was too hard. But that’s the whole point. It’s going to push you to your limit, and that’s what I love about it.”

He advises Zwifters who try the plan to be prepared for that challenge. Go ahead with a workout even when it seems like it’s going to be too hard, and see what you can bring out of yourself.

“Just get on there and do it,” he says. “It feels so much better after you’ve done it.”

Even if you don’t have a race to prepare for, you can do a training plan to reach a personal goal. Hampton feels a rush of satisfaction when he achieves any kind of personal best – even if it’s just a Strava segment or Zwift leaderboard time.

“When you get on that turbo trainer on a cold rainy day because the training plan you are doing tells you to,” says Hampton on a post in the Zwift Riders group, “just think, ‘I’m getting faster if I do this, and slower if I do not.’”

Hampton mostly trains indoors on a road bike instead of his dedicated time trial bike. He has his aerodynamic position dialed in, so he only switches to the TT bike when a race gets close.

If you need to find or work on your position, you’ll benefit from training more on a TT bike. Go ahead and get aero, even when the only wind is coming from your fans!

In Pursuit of Speed

Hampton has been cycling since 2012. He used to go out for rides on his own until he noticed a local gathering of cyclists nearby. They were racing time trials, and when he asked how he could get involved, he was told he needed to join a club.

He turned up to his first time trial on a steel bike he bought in 1986. The first goal he worked toward was to do a 10-mile time trial in under 25 minutes on that bike, which he did. A year or two later, he got a carbon TT bike and started training more seriously. Hampton now enters time trials of different distances throughout the racing season.

Around December of 2015, Hampton joined Zwift while looking for something to make training indoors easier. At first, he only used it in the winter. Living in Ashford in Kent, United Kingdom, the cold and wet weather kept him from riding outside a lot that time of year. He noticed a big improvement in his fitness once he kept training indoors year-round.

“Zwift Riders (the Facebook group) and the Zwiftcast podcast really helped me learn how to use it,” he says.

Zwift made it easier to do the type of structured training that helped him get faster and stronger, like the “TT Tune-Up” plan he first tried in 2020. He aims to keep using that plan to sharpen his fitness for important goals. It’s tough, but he enjoys the challenge.

“I’m 53 years old – I’m not a youngster,” he says. “If I can do it, anyone can do it. But you’ve got to dedicate the time.”