Zwift Academy Road: Coaches, Tips and Tricks

Workout Mode: Reading the HUD

Zwift’s heads-up display (HUD) has a lot of information to help you understand your cycling workout. Learning to read this info makes Zwifting even more fun and effective. This simple point-by-point list and video break it down. 

  1. Menu: The Menu is where you can find features like your profile, avatar customization, settings, and summary of your stats for the current ride, and more. 
  2. Workout: This is where you see all the intervals that make up your workout. You’ll also see the name of the workout as well as your
    time remaining to complete the workout.
    Next to each interval, you’ll see a star. You get a full star for successfully completing an interval. You’ll get a half-star for a semi
    successful interval. And no star for a failed interval. 
    If your trainer has a hiccup communicating with the game, you may lose points for your effort. Apologies in advance for that.  
  3. Current Efforts: See your current output.
    The large number is your watts (power).
    Cadence and heart rate will also show up here if you have those sensors paired.
  4. Rider Level: This is our progression system. The more you ride, the more points you earn, the higher your level. The max is 50.
  5. Speed: Your current speed in Zwift and takes into account factors like drafting, the grade, and your weight. You can change the
    display to Imperial or Metric units in Settings. 
  6. Total Ride Distance: This is the total distance traveled in Zwift for your current ride. You can change the display to Imperial or
    Metric units through Settings. 
  7. Total Ride Elevation: This is the total elevation climbed in Zwift for this ride. You can change the display to Imperial or Metric units
    through Settings. 
  8. Total Ride Movement Time: This is the total moving time for your current session. Any time you stop, this counter will stop as well. 
    Note that segments track your total elapsed time spent inside that portion of the course. If you're setting a lap time, the
    leaderboard timer doesn't stop. Ever. Even if you really need to grab another water bottle.
  9. Rider XP Bar: This progress bar shows how far along you are to your next rider level. You unlock new gear each time you level up. 
  10. Minimap: This gives you a better idea of your location on the course. You can change the view of the map by clicking or tapping on
    it. One click zooms out a bit, and the second click zooms way out for an overhead view.
  11. Course Profile: At the bottom of the minimap is a zoomed-out view of the course profile, so you can see what's coming up for the
    route you're on. The big pin is you, and the arrow indicates the direction you're riding. All the smaller pins are other Zwifters around
    you. The upside-down pins indicate the segments on the course in relation to your current position. The percentage shows the
    current grade of the course. As the grade increases, the numbers will increase in size and turn red.
  12. Riders Nearby: This is a list of all the other Zwifters who are online, sorted by how close they are in proximity to you. You can see
    their w/kg, approximately how far ahead or behind you they are, the length of their current ride, and which country they're from. If
    someone has a jersey for a segment, it will show up here.
  13. Action Bar: Normally hidden, you can bring up the Action Bar by pressing the 'Up' arrow key (Mac/PC), tapping on the screen (iOS),
    or swiping up on the Apple Remote's touchpad (Apple TV). You can also access these tiles from the Zwift Companion app while in
    game.
  14. Drops: Redeem these in-game credits for items in the Drop Shop. You earn Drops by cycling in Zwift. The farther you go, the higher
    you climb, the more calories you burn, the more Drops you earn.