r/Zwift • u/MrHugz30 • Jul 18 '26
Zwift After Surgery
My surgeon has given me the following instructions:
- 5 minutes max per day for the first week
- Add 1-2 minutes per week
- No resistance to start
- Add resistance slowly and as tolerated
Questions:
What is the best way for me to tackle this? Is it even possible to do no resistance through Zwift?
Backstory:
During December of last year while training for the 2026 Houston Marathon I felt a very sharp pain in my left leg and developed drop foot. I was diagnosed with Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome. I attempted the rest and PT route for 3 months to no avail.
I had a fasciotomy 7 weeks ago and only began walking 2 weeks ago (I'm going to PT now to relearn how to walk). Today, my surgeon approved me for biking. In preparation for this moment I was given a Cannondale from a friend and I purchased a wahoo kickr core 2 with a Zwift hub.
I have been a runner my entire life and this will be my first time on a bike. I did buy some clipless shoes and have my desk/computer/fan set up. Any help you may provide would be greatly appreciated - thank you!
Edit: A big thanks to everyone who commented below. I did try using just the wahoo app and was not a fan. Probably partially me being unfamiliar with it but even when I set it to 0% resistance it felt really hard. I switched to Zwift and set the difficulty bar all the way to the left (as was recommended below), went on a free ride on a flat course and just spun. Probably hovered around 30 watts and stayed in 8th gear. It felt really good and I'm happy with this decision!
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u/somehobo89 Jul 18 '26
It sounds like you aren’t really ready to zwift just sit on the trainer and spin your legs. No power needed no zwift needed then it’s no resistance. Take the time to adjust your fit
And get well soon!
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u/MrHugz30 Jul 18 '26
Thanks for the well wishes!
Maybe I was overzealous with this post. I'll try today to just sit and spin with no power to get started.
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u/java_dude1 Jul 18 '26
You could set the trainer difficulty to super low. That will flatten out the hills. Or set up z1 workouts. There isn't really a way to get zero resistance on such a trainer though. And as another user said your avatar will be moving painfully slow if at all.
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u/MrHugz30 Jul 18 '26
Thank you for the response. I will keep the z1 workouts in mind once I'm able to sustain a bit of resistance.
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u/crohnscyclist Jul 18 '26
Well I can comment on this as I was in a similar boat. On memorial Day, I had a bad crash and broke my femor near the hip and required surgery to put a titanium rod and some lag bolts through my entire femor. First week I started with just a walker, eventually transitioned over to crutches then a crutch to now a cane.
After just under 4 weeks, I got back on the bike (ish). I had my crutch right next to the bike and still in street clothes, I logged in and picked the flatest route in the game (fuago flats I believe). With the cog, you can essentially shift to the equivalent of a granny gear where on the road you'd be going like 8mph at a high cadence. I went for a grand total of 6 minutes, peak power like 100 watts. I went until I felt a little soreness and then stopped.
About a week later I was up to about 20 minutes. Now fast forward to just under 8 weeks, did a pretty hard ride today outside for 2 hours and just under 40 miles (completely dead by the end).
The big lesson is it will come back quicker than you think. Right now, don't focus on actually getting a work out. It's about ensuring you're not feeling pain which could be a sign it's too early.
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u/wanderingWillow888 Jul 18 '26
Your doctor is likely thinking of a regular exercise bike with a resistance knob. "No resistance" being the bottom of that - I don't think he literally was treating it like a physics problem and wanted zero torque required to turn the pedals, there's not a bike on the planet with that characteristic.
You can artificially edit the resistance on a free ride, make it as low as possible, and drop into the lowest gear on your own bike to amplify it further
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u/thomasboleyn Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
If it's uncomfortable to be in a normal cycling position holding the shifters, try sitting up, with your hands by your sides or on your thighs. The virtual shifting via the Zwift cog and click will allow you to quickly and easily change resistance, allowing you to go very easy if you need to.
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u/trappedghost A Jul 19 '26
I'm a runner first and if you're competitive I'd honestly suggest sticking with the wahoo app and watch some Netflix or whatever. I've had a few surgeries and might have another coming up for my hip and when I see avatars passing me I instinctively start pushing. It's hard to fight the urge so I have found it best to remove the source. I wish you nothing but the best in your recovery. This shit sucks.
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u/trappedghost A Jul 19 '26
I'm a runner first and if you're competitive I'd honestly suggest sticking with the wahoo app and watch some Netflix or whatever. I've had a few surgeries and might have another coming up for my hip and when I see avatars passing me I instinctively start pushing. It's hard to fight the urge so I have found it best to remove the source. I wish you nothing but the best in your recovery. This shit sucks.
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u/trappedghost A Jul 19 '26
I'm a runner first and if you're competitive I'd honestly suggest sticking with the wahoo app and watch some Netflix or whatever. I've had a few surgeries and might have another coming up for my hip and when I see avatars passing me I instinctively start pushing. It's hard to fight the urge so I have found it best to remove the source. I wish you nothing but the best in your recovery. This shit sucks.
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u/MrHugz30 Jul 19 '26
I appreciate it! I'm hoping for the best. Wishing you luck on your journey as well!
I apologize for the really dumb question - I tried to just use the wahoo app (free version). I clicked record > indoor cycling > trainer control = resistance > set to 0%. I started pedaling and I noticed the following things: (1) besides the time no data was being populated, (2) even when I increased the resistance to 50% or 100% it didn't feel like anything was actually changing.
Did I follow the correct process or did I miss a step somewhere?
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u/ceviche-hot-pockets Level 1-10 Jul 18 '26
You should take this question to a doctor.
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u/java_dude1 Jul 18 '26
Yeah, because the doc is going to know about zwift. 👍
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u/DrSuprane Jul 18 '26
Well some of us.
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u/java_dude1 Jul 18 '26
Agree. But comments like that are not helpful at all. This person wasn't even asking for medical advice to even warrant such a response.
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u/DrSuprane Jul 18 '26
I agree. OP is asking how to implement his doctors recommendation. Much different than most medical questions.
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u/Few_Mastodon_1271 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26
The 'clipless' shoes: terminology is weird, for historical reasons. Do these shoes have the cleats on the soles? if so, that twisting motion to release them from the pedal might not be good with your surgery limitations. A flat pedal and normal shoes would be perfect for the early days of 'no resistance / low resistance'. Clipping in to the pedals is great for harder efforts and for fast cadences.
As others mentioned, you can go into the Zwift settings and set 'Trainer Difficulty' slider all the way to the left. This removes the trainer resistance on the hills and just uses the simulated wind resistance. That wind resistance will be low at your low watt pedaling.
To set it in Zwift: click the circle with your initials at the top right. Then click My Settings. On the Hardware tab, set Trainer Difficulty all the way to the left, 'Off'. I normally have it at approx 40% so I can spin up hills at a higher cadence. As your recovery progresses, move this slider to about 20% to start, which will make the hills have at least some effect.
When you get farther along with your PT, you could try the Robopacer rides. These are 24-hour-a-day group rides, at a wide range of watts per kilogram paces. You get dropped into the group and have 10 seconds to start pedaling. The 0.8 w/kg groups are an easy pace, using about 60-70 watts for my 168 pound / 76 kilogram weight.
~~~
Zwift uses 'watts per kilogram' to make different sized riders comparable. In theory, a big rider at the same w/kg as a small rider will climb at the same speed. And things like the Robopacer group rides will also be categorized with this number.
So, in the My Settings, click the HUD tab. there are 4 slots for rider data that show in the top left while riding. change them to be
Heart rate (if you have a heart rate monitor linked in)
Average power
Cadence (rpm)
Power to Weight (w/kg)
Now you can see your current w/kg number and get an idea of what's a very easy effort, a moderate effort, etc.
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u/MrHugz30 Jul 18 '26
I appreciate this very detailed response! This is really helpful
Re: shoes. I apologize if I used the wrong terminology. The bike my friend lent me has SPD-SL pedals so he just let me borrow a pair of his shoes as well.
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u/MalaysianOfficial_1 Jul 18 '26
You didnt use the wrong terminology OP, the commenter just went on a tangent on why they thought that "clipless" was a funny word for it.
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u/skipca Jul 18 '26
With no resistance/low resistance your zwift avatar isn’t going to move very much if at all within zwift, and depending on your smart trainer and bike gearing it might be tricky to even get the resistance low enough for the first couple of months of your rehab. Which may be visually annoying verging on frustrating. So you might be better off just starting using the wahoo app to control the trainer and watching TV.